photo: Lisa Boyle Gallery

Housed in a true industrial space on Chicago's West Side, Lisa Boyle's gallery is a find if you're looking for work by emerging artists. Boyle's gallery venture began about three years ago at her first location on Kinzie Street. "A friend owned a building and I was going to just curate a few shows there, but I kept doing it and eventually opened up my own gallery in that space. The rent was cheap, I was doing well and I eventually quit my day job at another gallery to run the space," she says.

In September 2006, Boyle moved her gallery to the current loft space, which she shares with Scott Speh's Western Exhibitions Gallery. "Sometimes people think I'm Scott's receptionist, but they soon realize that I have a separate space," she says. "It works out because we both have a similar enough aesthetic that tends to bring in the same kind of people." A gray cement floor adds to the industrial feel here, but in no way detracts from the challenging artwork inside.

Though Boyle isn't tied down to one medium in particular—as is the case for most galleries in Chicago today—she is committed to showing only emerging artists. "I don't deal with artists who already have big gallery representation," she says. She picks up noteworthy artists in Chicago, New York and elsewhere around the country. Artist Andrea Myers took over the gallery with her topographical sculptures, while Jon Rajkovic's unfinished-looking sculptures have stood on their own throughout the space. Other artists to look out for here include newcomers Tiffany Calvert, Josh Azzarella and Brian Getnick.

Centerstage Reviewer: Alicia Eler