Talk | Mike Cloud & Nolan Jimbo
May 02, 20262:00 pm - 3:30 pm
About the Event
Join us in celebrating the opening of Chicago Works | Mike Cloud: Worldless Obstruction with a conversation between the artist and Nolan Jimbo, Assistant Curator.
An opening reception follows the talk in the museum’s fourth-floor lobby.
Access Information
English CART captioning are provided at this event. To request additional accessibility services, please contact us at [email protected] or 312-397-4076.
About the Speakers
Mike Cloud was born and raised in Chicago. He earned a BFA from the University of Illinois Chicago (2001) and an MFA from Yale University (2003). He is currently Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Art, Theory, and Practice at Northwestern University. Cloud speaks openly about teachers who have influenced his practice, including Mel Bochner, Peter Halley, Byron Kim, Kerry James Marshall, and Jessica Stockholder.
Cloud’s solo and two-person exhibitions include Story Structure, Pt. 2, The Neubauer Collegium, University of Chicago (with Nyeema Morgan, 2026); Hammer Projects: Mike Cloud, Hammer Museum, Los Angeles (2026); Circle Chat, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago (2025); Called Ahead, Fahrenheit Madrid (2024); The Myth of Education, Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, University of Chicago (2018); Bad Faith and Universal Technique, Thomas Erben Gallery, New York (2014); Systems, Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska, Lincoln (2006); and Special Project: Mike Cloud, MoMA PS1, New York (2005). He has also participated in group exhibitions at Artists Space, New York; Xavier Hufkens, Brussels; Good Weather, Chicago; White Columns, New York; and The Studio Museum in Harlem, New York. Cloud received a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2024, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts’ Richard Pousette-Dart Award in 2023, and the Jules Guerin Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome in 2023. His work is also held in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, and the Studio Museum in Harlem, New York.
Nolan Jimbo is Assistant Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago. He has organized the exhibitions Kenzi Shiokava (2026), Chicago Works | Mike Cloud: Worldless Obstruction (2026), Endless (2023), Interiors (2022), and Chicago Works: Gregory Bae (2022). He has also served on the curatorial teams for Dancing the Revolution: From Dancehall to Reggaetón (2026) and Forecast Form: Art in the Caribbean Diaspora, 1990s–Today (2022). He has organized performances and interdisciplinary projects with Kioto Aoki, Kikù Hibino, David Lamelas, Tanya Lukin Linklater, Devin T. Mays, Will Rawls, and Wu Tsang. Previously, he held curatorial positions at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art and the Dallas Museum of Art. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he holds an MA from the Williams Graduate Program in the History of Art and a BA from Tufts University.
Funding
Event
Lead support for the 2025–26 season of MCA Talks is made possible by The Richard and Mary L. Gray Lecture Series through a generous gift to the Chicago Contemporary Campaign.
Generous support is provided by The Antje B. and John J. Jelinek Endowed Lecture and Symposium on Contemporary Art; the Kristina Barr Lectures, which were established through a generous gift by The Barr Fund to the Chicago Contemporary Campaign; The Gloria Brackstone Solow and Eugene A. Solow, MD, Memorial Lecture Series; and the Allen M. Turner Tribute Fund, honoring his past leadership as Chair of the Board of Trustees.
Exhibition
Major support for Chicago Works | Mike Cloud: Worldless Obstruction is provided by Newcity.
Generous support is provided by the Sandra and Jack Guthman Chicago Works Exhibition Fund.
