Must-See Art Exhibitions in Chicago: Gonzalo Pizarro’s Solo Show

Installation view from a previous exhibition in Vail, CO

Chicago has no shortage of exhibitions, but every so often an artist takes a material rarely considered for fine art and transforms it into something unexpected. In recent months, Gonzalo Pizarro’s work has circulated widely online, drawing millions into a newly discovered process on a material called oriented strand board, or OSB, a compressed wood panel more commonly used in construction than fine art.

Now, that momentum arrives in the Windy City, where Pizarro’s work will be presented in his first solo exhibition following a period of widespread online visibility. The exhibition, titled Anatomy of a Fragment, brings the work into a physical setting, where it can be experienced beyond the confines of viral social media posts.

Pizarro describes Anatomy of a Fragment as an attention to the smallest elements that make up a larger whole. Each composition begins with individual strands of OSB, wood fragments arranged in seemingly chaotic directions, yet through a meticulous piece by piece approach, a cohesive image begins to emerge. In this way, the material becomes a metaphor for life, where everything may appear scattered or moving in different directions, but when approached one piece at a time, a clearer picture begins to form.

Titled Silent Collapse, the artist turns inward, using a fragmented surface to explore identity as something shaped over time. The portrait is built from layers of disjointed elements, each suggesting a different influence or moment, forming a unified image. A fracture runs through the center of the composition, acting as a central divide. It reflects the moment before sleep, when thoughts repeat and won’t settle. The work captures the tension between confronting challenges and moving forward.