UPCOMING

The Disappointed Tourist

“Is there some place that you would like to visit or revisit that no longer exists?” This is the question posed by The Disappointed Tourist, an on-going project by artist Ellen Harvey presented in nearly 300 paintings at the CAC.

Date

September 29, 2025 - April 26, 2026

Location

Chicago Architecture Center Skyscraper Gallery

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  • Man standing and facing away from the viewer looking at a wall of illustrations of different locations.Man standing and facing away from the viewer looking at a wall of illustrations of different locations.

The Exhibition

Visitors encounter a curated selection from nearly 300 paintings Harvey has completed to date, all depicting places and sites nominated by the public. With submissions from over 30 countries and several new Chicago-specific works commissioned for this exhibition, each painting is reminiscent of an old postcard, evoking themes of nostalgia and love for our built environment. 

For a deeper story, access the personal accounts behind each painting, or step into booths where you can hear some of the stories that inspired Harvey’s work and from Harvey herself. Contribute to the tapestry of beloved spaces that have disappeared by recording your own story, writing or sketching on a postcard of a place you would love to visit that no longer exists. 

Connecting themes of nostalgia, memory and historic preservation, the exhibition leaves us with a renewed sense of the value of the spaces we inhabit, and the importance of taking an active role to protect them. 


  • Painting in gray, blue, black, and white of fairgrounds with the words "Chicago 1967" across the top

    The Disappointed Tourist: Riverview, Ellen Harvey, 2021. Oil and acrylic on Gessoboard, 18 x 24″ (46 x 61 cm). Photo by Etienne Frossard.

  • Painting in gray, blue, black, and white of a castle like structure in the woods with the words "Enchanted Forest" across the top

    The Disappointed Tourist: Enchanted Forest, Ellen Harvey, 2021. Oil and acrylic on Gessoboard, 18 x 24″ (46 x 61 cm). Photo by Etienne Frossard.

  • Painting in gray, blue, black and white of a large building in the middle of the city with the words "Penn Station New York 1963" across the top

    The Disappointed Tourist: Penn Station, Ellen Harvey, 2021. Oil and acrylic on Gessoboard, 18 x 24″ (46 x 61 cm). Photo by Etienne Frossard.

  • Painting in gray, blue, black and white of a diner building with a sign that reads "Joe Jr's Restaurant" and the words "New York City 2009" across the bottom of the page

    The Disappointed Tourist: Joe Jr., Ellen Harvey, 2021. Oil and acrylic on Gessoboard, 18 x 24″ (46 x 61 cm). Photo by Etienne Frossard.

  • Vertical Painting in gray, black and white of athe interior of an enclosed walkway with high ceilings with words across the bottom that read "The Arcade, Pullman Chicago, 1926"

    The Disappointed Tourist: Pullman Arcade, Ellen Harvey, 2024. Oil and acrylic on Gessoboard, 24 x 18″ 61 x 46 cm). Photo by Etienne Frossard.

Headshot of a woman with dark hair and bangs in a black button up. Headshot of a woman with dark hair and bangs in a black button up.

Ellen Harvey

Ellen Harvey is a British-born, Brooklyn-based conceptual artist whose work ranges from guerrilla street interventions such as her iconic New York Beautification Project for which she painted miniature landscapes over New York’s graffiti sites to immersive institutional installations and large-scale public artworks. Her work is often painting-based but utilizes a wide variety of media and participatory strategies to explore several recurring themes such as the social and ecological implications of the picturesque, the revolutionary potential of nostalgia, the conflict between advertising and ornament in public space and the relationship between art and tourism. Her work frequently centers the viewer and involves direct participation by the public.

Read more about Ellen

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