‘Leather: A Problem of Context’ art exhibit coming to Moraine Valley’s Robert F. DeCaprio Art Gallery

“Leather: A Problem of Context” is the next exhibition materializing at the Robert F. DeCaprio Art Gallery in the Moraine Valley Community College Fine and Performing Arts Center (FPAC), 9000 W. College Parkway in Palos Hills. The show runs Oct. 28 to Dec. 13, featuring a reception with the artist on Thursday, Oct. 29, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Artist Samuel Schwindt examines the seemingly unremarkable nature of leather – animal skin that is a byproduct of the meat industry – as mired in problems of context. Whether a football or a harness, leather is representative of pleasure, desire and power that can be luxurious, sexual, despicable, controversial or hypermasculine.

The exhibit explores if leather is a tool of liberation or domination and what is revealed in the material’s history. Schwindt examines what could have been, should have been or once was but never fully materialized, while excavating and concealing the legacies of leather into “claustrophobic figures and surfaces.”

Schwindt honed his artistic skills in wood and metal before receiving a BFA in studio art from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and an MFA in interdisciplinary art from the University of Illinois at Chicago. He works as a commission-based leather-gear crafter, archivist, sculptor, curator, freelance writer and educator. Learn more about Schwindt at samuelschwindt.xyz.

The gallery is free and open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information or to purchase tickets to FPAC shows, visit morainevalley.edu/fpac/tickets or call (708) 974-5500.

For news media inquiries, contact Maura Vizza, Moraine Valley communications specialist and sports information coordinator, at (708) 974-5742 or Vizzam@morainevalley.edu.