OCHI is pleased to participate in the 2025 edition of EXPO CHICAGO, to take place at Navy Pier’s Festival Hall from April 24 through 27, 2025. The gallery will feature a solo presentation of new paintings and works on paper by Mexican-American artist Lilian Martinez in the Booth 111, located in the EXPOSURE section. Curated by Rosario Güiraldes, Curator of Visual Arts at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, this year’s EXPOSURE section highlights presentations of emerging work from young galleries.

Lilian Martinez paints scenes that depict bright views of women at leisure. Her latest body of work, Sunlit Realism, identifies a playful space between representation and abstraction to explore a world of agency, creativity, comfort, and abundance. Martinez’ ladies indulge with friends, relax in the company of their dogs, and move their bodies in inviting pools and on community basketball courts. Subtle, inside jokes emerge in Martinez’ signature style–a pink bra air dries on a laundry line, French fries are served alongside martinis, a cow relaxes in the grass in the distance, and bananas float above a table filled with fruit and drinks. Martinez’ vignettes extend along the sides of each canvas – the opportunity to add charming details is never overlooked.  “It’s delightful and unexpected,” comments Martinez, “these works are thoughtful and peaceful, and there’s humor in all of them.” Radiating warmth, Sunlit Realism embodies a collective desire for brown women to luxuriate peacefully, proffering positive representations of bodies like Martinez’ own to celebrate inclusivity and classlessness.

Lilian Martinez (b. 1986, Chicago, IL) earned a BFA in Photography from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Alongside her studio-based practice, Martinez operates BFGF, a lifestyle brand that produces accessible and functional art objects. Martinez’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including the Green Family Art Foundation in Dallas, TX; Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke, VA; The Naughton Gallery in Belfast, Ireland; Gallery Commune in Tokyo, Japan; Taymour Grahne in London, United Kingdom; and OCHI in Sun Valley, ID and Los Angeles, CA. Her work has been featured in various publications including Frieze, Artforum, The New York Times, Architectural Digest, ARTnews, apartamento, Juxtapoz, LALA Magazine, Nationale, ArtPractical, and AUTRE. Martinez lives and works in Michigan and is represented by OCHI.