Lia Alexopoulos
Specialization:
Museum Studies, Contemporary Exhibition Practices, History of Art & Architecture of Chicago
Education:
MA Art History, University of Chicago
BA Art History, Lake Forest College
Brief Bio:
Lia Alexopoulos is an independent curator and senior lecturer in the departments of Art & Art History and Museum Studies at Lake Forest College, where she has taught since 2001. She holds a BA in Art History from Lake Forest College and MA in Art History from the University of Chicago. She has also studied at the University of Florence in Italy and Institute for Balkan Studies in Thessaloniki, Greece. Her pedagogical interests and expertise are museum studies, contemporary exhibition practices, and the history of art and architecture of Chicago.
She has curated and organized numerous exhibitions that have been shown at venues including Deitch Projects (New York), Documents XI (Kassel, Germany), Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago), Sonnenschein Gallery (Lake Forest), Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus), and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (San Francisco). Prior, she was Lecturer in Art History at Columbia College Chicago and Assistant Curator for McDonalds Corporation’s art collection, where she oversaw the acquisition and installation of fine art for several regional corporate offices as well as cataloguing, public tours and other programs for the headquarters collection.
Courses Taught
ARTH 110: Introduction to the Visual Arts
ARTH 204: Artmaking in Chicago
ARTH 205: All That Glitters: Byzantine Art
ARTH 218: Modern Art
ARTH 239: Museum Histories and Practices
ARTH 338: Contemporary Exhibition Practices
ARTH 360: Contemporary Art
ARTH 494: Senior Thesis
First-Year Studies (2014-present):
FIYS 132: The Birth of Chicago’s Museums
FIYS 138: Art in Chicago
FIYS 174: Chicago’s Museums
Pedagogical Collaborations with Chicago Artists (Faculty Curatorial Director)
FROM, November/December 2022
Recent and commissioned work by Lydia Cheshewalla, Azadeh Gholizadeh, Chris Pappan, Diana Torres, Derrick Woods-Morrow
Repast, November/December 2018
New and commissioned work by Lou Mallozzi, Edra Soto, and Rhonda Wheatley
Lapsus Undone, November/December 2013
Recent projects by Olivia Block, Mauricio Forero, Kelly Kaczinski, and Christine Tarkowski
The Invisible Hand TM, November/December 2008
Works by Juan Angel Chavez, Maria Gaspar, Laurie Palmer, and Deborah Stratman
Durand Amorphous/Solid, November/December 2005
Commissioned and recent work by M.W. Burns, Stephen Lapthisophon, Kathleen McCarthy, Ben Nicholson (in collaboration with Illinois Institute of Technology Masters Studio), and Karen Reimer
Sonnenschein Off the Walls, November/December 2002
New work by Barbara Koenen, Patrick McGee, and Philip von Zweck
Curatorial Work
Selected Exhibitions:
A,tria, Sonnenschein Gallery, Durand Art Institute, Lake Forest IL. March/April 2024
Recent and commissioned work by Paola Cabal, Sam Kirk and Nate Young
Free Basin, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago IL, May/June 2000 (travelled through 2004)
Site-specific skate bowl sculpture and performance space by artists collective SIMPARCH exploring SoCal youth culture
Howl Millennium Exhibition, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago IL, November/December 1999
Twelve mixed-media installations by Howl festival participants celebrating advent of the millennium
Votive Offerings, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago IL, January/February 1999
Recent work by Chris Cosnowski, Ascha Drake, Helidon Gjergji, Stephen Longmire, Mindy Rose Schwartz, and Tal Tovar
Space in the Vernacular, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago IL, March/April 1996
New sculpture by Noah Loesberg, Drea Howenstein, and Judy Strahota
Culture and Identity, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago IL, February/March 1995
New work by Carlos Gil-Roig, Andrei Rabodzeenko, and Jacqueline Terrassa
Professional Affiliations & Service
College Art Association, member (2000-present)
PanHellenic Scholarship Foundation, Academic Committee (2018-present)
Foundation for Hellenic Studies-Illinois, Board (2018-2022), Board Chair (2021-2022)
Guest Moderator, 45th Annual Graduate Student Seminar, Art Institute of Chicago (April 2010)