WORKS BY: Tony Lewis with Bethany Collins, Devin T. Mays & Ellen Rothenberg

How much work does it take to make art seem effortless? The exhibition WORKS BY, on view at the Neubauer Collegium May 1 - July 14, 2024, attempted to answer this question by bringing together four Chicago-based artists who share an interest in the many meanings of “labor.” The centerpiece of the exhibition was a floor drawing by Tony Lewis, performatively produced on site in May. A sculpture by Devin T. Mays featured pallets collected during his wanderings around Chicago’s South Side. A 2012 photograph by Bethany Collins captured a cloud of chalk dust released into a black void-the remnants of the word “unrelated” repeatedly written on a blackboard and then erased. Three photos by Ellen Rothenberg depict a work boot, a giant lump of crumpled paper that was once a Barbara Kruger mural, and the armrest of a chair that belonged to Bertolt Brecht. In this video, the artists discuss their works in relation to the themes of the show. Produced by Robert Heishman and Robert Salazar of Bob.