SOUTH HOLLAND, IL–The South Suburban College (SSC) Art & Design Department is pleased to present an exhibition of work by Erin Smego entitled, “Secondhand Aesthetics”. This art exhibit is currently on display in the Dorothea Thiel Gallery through the closing artist reception on Wednesday, April 27 at 1:00 p.m.

“I always LOVE making art,” the Chicago artist remarked about her installation at SSC. “It’s honestly a blessing and a curse sometimes, but today was a nice reminder of how sometimes it’s fun to just enjoy the art for what it is.” Smego’s abstract sculptures examine and deconstruct gender expectations through off-the-shelf fashions, textiles, and construction materials.

Smego received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (2011) and was an artist-in-residence at HATCH Projects, Chicago Artists’ Coalition (2018). She has exhibited in numerous group exhibitions in the United States including 65Grand, THE SUB-MISSION, baby blue gallery, The Fulton Street Collective, The Art Center Highland Park and Bloomsburg University.

Smego has also exhibited solo installations at The Hermosa Walls, Ignition Projects, Stumble Chicago, and Boundary, as well as internationally at the Czong Institute for Contemporary Art Museum in Gyenggi-do, South Korea. She was awarded the Edna L. Cushing Annual Memorial Prize in a juried show Elements of Abstraction (2015) at the St. Louis Artists’ Guild as well as the Working Artist Organization Grant (2018).

The public is welcome to visit the art exhibition at no charge. The Dorothea Thiel Gallery is located on the fourth floor of SSC’s Main Campus. It is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m., excluding weekends and holidays. All SSC galleries are supported in part by the SSC Foundation.

For more information, please email jtassin@ssc.edu or call (708) 596-2000, ext. 2316. Temperature checks, masks and social distancing are required on campus. SSC is located at 15800 South State Street, South Holland, Illinois.