The article reviews "Ornament & Information," an exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center organized by the Chicago-based culture agency Gertie. The show features fifteen contemporary artists who have lived or worked in either Chicago or Vienna, exploring the concept of ornament as a response to Adolf Loos' famous 1908 essay "Ornament and Crime." Works by artists such as Gaylen Gerber, Valentina Triet, B. Ingrid Olson, Max Guy, Devin T. Mays, Benjamin Hirte, Joseph Strau, and Micah Schippa Wildfong examine ornament as decoration, as the opposite of utility, and as salvaged material, revealing its multiple dimensions and meanings.
The exhibition matters because it reopens a century-old debate about ornament in art and architecture, connecting Vienna's modernist legacy with Chicago's architectural history—from Louis Sullivan to Mies van der Rohe. By juxtaposing contemporary artists from both cities, the show challenges the enduring influence of Loos' anti-ornament creed and highlights how ornament remains a vital, complex force in contemporary visual culture. It also marks Gertie's expansion into exhibitions, signaling a new curatorial voice in Chicago's art scene.