This is the first museum retrospective surveying over two decades of Andrea Bowers’s practice. For over thirty years, Bowers has worked in a variety of mediums, from video to colored pencil to installation art, and speaks directly to pressing national issues. Her work combines an artistic practice with activism and advocacy, giving voice to stories rarely seen or heard. She built an international reputation as a chronicler of contemporary history, documenting activism as it unfolds and collecting research on the frontlines of protest. Her subject matter contends with issues like immigration, workers’ rights, environmentalism, and women’s rights, presented in a range of media. Her empathetic and labor-intensive practice draws attention to the humanity impacted by injustice—shifting the conversation from politics to people. The exhibition is co-organized the MCA Chicago and the Hammer Museum of Art.
Andrea Bowers
- Institution
- Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
- Grant Cycle
- Spring 2020
- Amount
- $100,000
- Type of Grant
- Exhibition Support
- Website
- mcachicago.org ↗

Andrea Bowers, A Seat at the Table, (Original illustration: Chair Seller.Matthaeus Deisch, from the series Die Danziger Ausrufer, 1762-1765. From the Print Room of August Poniatowki.), 2019. Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles. Photo: Dawn Blackman.

Andrea Bowers, Church Banners (Adalberto United Methodist Church, Chicago, Member of New Sanctuary Movement), 2007/2008. Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Andrea Bowers Nonviolent Civil Disobedience Training-Tree Sitting Forest Defense, 2009 Single channel video (color, sound), looped 33 minutes, 52 seconds Apple TV, wooden platform

Andrea Bowers, No Olvidado - Not Forgotten, 2010. Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Andrea Bowers, Radical Feminist Pirate Ship Tree-Sitting Platform, 2013

Andrea Bowers, Radical Feminist Pirate Ship Tree-Sitting Platform, 2013

Andrea Bowers, Tim DeChristopher (I Am The Carbon Tax), 2010. Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles. Photo: Robert Wedemeyer

Andrea Bowers, It gives me life, 2017. Installation view, Hammer Projects: Andrea Bowers, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. March 11 - July 16, 2017. Photo: Brian Forrest. Courtesy of the artist and Vielmetter Los Angeles
“Isn’t life a series of images that change as they repeat themselves?”
Andy Warhol