Best Emerging Artist, Reader's Choice: Gabriel Mejia (I Draw Just Enough to Not Get Yelled at by My Wife)

Reader’s Choice

Gabriel Mejia

At 32, Mejia is just starting to build a substantive body of work—now that he’s gone half-time in his day job, teaching art at Jones College Prep in the South Loop. His raw portraits and disturbing street scenes document specific moments in his life. He paints estranged friends, agitated crowds, ex-lovers, or his wife, giving his works telling names; a portrait of his wife wearing an accusatory expression is titled I Draw Just Enough to Not Get Yelled at by My Wife, while a drawing of a downtrodden throng is called I’ve Been Really Hard on People Lately. Mejia explains that his works “are visual journal entries that dissect my relationships . . . confront my emotional baggage . . . and address my feelings of inadequacy.” They’re also visually spellbinding. Mejia is just starting to get noticed in galleries (his work was recently featured in a two-man show at Vespine Gallery) and exhibit in juried shows (including Around the Coyote this October). gabrielmejia.com. —Lisa Skolnik

Readers’ Choice

Scott Fishman

 At the Fountain Square Art Festival, Evanston, 6/28-6/29; Magnificent Mile Art Festival, Pioneer Court, south of 435 N. Michigan, 7/11-7/13; and Summer on Southport, 3700 N. Southport, 7/19-7/20; 773-225-0725, fishmanphotography.com.

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