Alaiia Gujral – the granddaughter of world-renowned Indian artist Satish Gujral, and the only one of his grandchildren who follows in his footsteps is making waves in the Chicago art scene as a dynamic young Indian artist. This September Alaiia will be collaborating with artist Matthew Hoffman in Chicago. Matthew Hoffman started his well-known You Are Beautiful movement back in 2002 and last year gathered over a hundred artists around the world to create their own You Are Beautiful boards. In 2017, in collaboration with Alaiia Gujral, an exciting exhibition will share inspiring immigrant stories to illustrate their positive impact on society in a creative and positive way.
The exhibition will be held on 13 – 17 September (during the Chicago Art Expo week) at 4200 Diversey in Chicago, a huge warehouse of workshop spaces and art galleries. The boards will be for sale, with all proceeds going to charities that support immigrants rights such as ACLU and the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
As well as her own practice, Alaiia is involved with several important arts initiatives in the city. She is Creative Director of Canvas Chicago, an artist collaboration and production house which provides a platform for creativity through unconventional programming, content, and education. One of Canvas Chicago’s Marquee events is called Sub Chroma, an art and technology event that deals with virtual reality, augmented reality, projection mapping, digital art, and immersive performance. Canvas Chicago is collaborating with Chicago’s community to produce a Sub Chroma Pop Up at WestX. The Sub Chroma Pop Up is a collateral event for Expo Chicago as well as an official Expo Chicago: Art After hours event and will take place on the 15 – 16 September.