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Vertical Gallery is entering the next phase of its ongoing evolution: extending its exhibition programming directly to collectors all across the globe.

Beginning with this year's Aqua Art Miami, running December 3-7, Vertical will focus its sales and marketing efforts on art fairs, pop-up showcases and other destination events throughout the U.S. and abroad. In the first installment of our new web-exclusive interview series Five Questions with…, Vertical owner Patrick Hull reveals what’s next for the gallery, its artists and the collector community at large.

Question 1: What’s behind your decision to pivot Vertical’s business model?

Patrick Hull: I’ve always felt it was really important to be in front of people in different markets in order to grow the Vertical brand. We've been doing art fairs since day one, and in the past couple of years, we’ve done pop-ups in New York with Alex Face and Flog. We also did a pop-up in Indianapolis, and we showed 2CHOEY at the Urban Art Fair in Paris. 

We’re moving forward with this model, and our September group show ‘The Scenic Route’ was our last in our West Town Chicago location. In early December, we’re presenting 12 artists at Aqua Art Miami 2025, and we’re actively looking at different communities for future exhibitions. We’re still confirming our 2026 programming slate, but we return to Chicago in March to present our 13-Year Anniversary Show with our friends at Jackson Junge Gallery, and we’re bringing Collin van der Sluijs back to Chicago in July in partnership with Joy Machine Gallery. 

Question 2: Why is this the right time to leave your West Town space?

It’s about serving an evolving global collector community. De-emphasizing the role of a fixed physical location is what’s best for our artists and collectors, and for myself. I love what I'm doing — I've been doing this for 12 and a half years now — and I'm really excited about this change in direction.

Question 3: What does this new approach mean for collectors?

It’s a new world of bringing art directly to more people, and allowing them to discover things on their own. 

I feel it's very important to see art in person. You have to love what you see to own it. We’ve always had a great online presence — we take as many photos as we can, and try to make the digital experience as interactive as possible. But online photos never capture the art’s true essence. Now we can be in many different places at once. 

Question 4: What does it mean for artists?

It's gonna be great for artists. They're no longer showing in just one space, or in just one market. Wherever they’re based and wherever they want to show their work, we can partner with them to put together the right plan. There are so many opportunities to figure out what we can do together to grow both of our businesses. 

Question 5: What are you going to miss most about West Town?

I’ll miss our monthly exhibitions — especially the openings, and seeing so many familiar faces. 

Beyond that, it's hard to say what I'm gonna miss, because Vertical is not going away. We’re not leaving the Chicago art community. We're still going to be having shows in Chicago, so I'm going to see our local collectors and artists there. We’re just doing more shows in other places. I can't wait for people to see the work we’re presenting at Aqua.

Laura Catherwood’s mysterious, often mournful paintings and pencil illustrations capture the landscape of her inner world, where fauna, flora and the fantastic coalesce.

Laura exhibited in Vertical Gallery group shows like ‘Atomic Number 13’ and ‘Water the Plants!’ ahead of 2022’s ‘Book of Yielding,’ her first solo showcase in our space. ‘Hearsay’ followed a year later, and Laura graced Vertical’s main showroom again in 2024 with ‘All Things Stirring.’ She’s also served as gallery manager since January 2021.

From Sept. 5-27, Laura co-headlines the group show ‘The Scenic Route’ alongside fellow Chicago-based painters/Vertical teammates Joseph Renda Jr. and Jerome Tiunayan. In the latest installment of Vertical’s Artist Spotlight series, Laura previews her contributions to ‘The Scenic Route,’ shares her appreciation for a West Town landmark and takes us inside the pages of her new career retrospective book ‘Gestures from the Field.’ 

Vertical Gallery: Tell us about your contributions to ‘The Scenic Route.’ 

Laura Catherwood: The pieces I'm putting in this show are a love note to Humboldt Park, which is the natural refuge within Chicago that I've lived across from for the last 12 years. It means a lot to me to have this beautiful lagoon and prairie preserve right next door, in the middle of the big city. I genuinely love standing on the bridge and watching the baby ducks walk on the lily pads.

The animals in these paintings all take a unique path of movement to find a different perspective. For example, in one pair of paintings, there’s a deer and a fox floating above the prairie. I wanted to capture the specific feeling of Humboldt Park, so I went there every day for a week straight for reference portraits — specifically, when the sun was at the angle I wanted, during the golden hour [the period shortly after sunrise or before sunset, when daylight is its reddest and softest]. One time, I was able to photograph some rabbits to use their fur and their backlighting as reference for other animals; another time, my husband Bryan held up a blank panel while I took reference photos of the individual plants. 

It’s all about making the work as genuine as I could. These are my neighbors, and they deserve to be honored. 

Please answer the same question we asked Jerome: What goes into a group show like ‘The Scenic Route,’ especially when you’re working alongside close colleagues?

We're far more connected as a group than your typical group show. The combination itself makes it a very cohesive show, even though we have three distinct styles. We all share this love of the natural world, and a lot of care goes into our painting technique. There’s also calmness, I think, in all our pieces. They have a tranquility to them.

We didn't coordinate with each other what we were going to paint. We painted the things we wanted to paint, but they were naturally going to work together well. The grouping itself was the intentional part. 

You’re about to publish a book. Tell us about it.

‘Gestures from the Field’ includes my paintings from ‘The Scenic Route’ all the way back to 2019, when I first showed this kind of work in a gallery. It made sense to release it now, because the book as a whole is also a gesture of appreciation and love for the environment surrounding me. 

Looking back like this isn't something I usually do. When you're making something, you just focus on that thing: I only think of things one body of work at a time, and once I'm done, I'm thinking about the next one. But It's interesting to see how things get honed, and the direction they go — what sticks when I experiment with something, and what doesn't. Every time I make something, I do something a little bit differently, so it’s pretty cool to watch that progression in one swoop.

I also got to re-explore where my mind was when I was making this work. You might think it'd be hard to put yourself back in the frame of mind of something you made five years ago, but it was actually very easy to remember the things I was thinking and feeling, and how they made their way into my art. 

What’s on the horizon?

My next body of work will be coming at Aqua Art Miami 2025 with Vertical Gallery, and in March, I have a solo exhibition at South Shore Arts in Indiana, plus my usual group shows. 

I'm also painting nine murals around the city of Chicago. They are snapshots of invasive species that are being studied by Dr. Gabriela C. Nunez-Mir from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She received a Walder Foundation grant for her research on invasive species, and the grant involves a public outreach component, so that's why I'm painting them for her. They're each very small — three-and-a-half by four feet. They're mini-murals, really.

Jerome Tiunayan synthesizes personal storytelling, comics-inspired illustration and gallows humor to recast the Hero’s Journey for our postmodern age. His spirited, narrative-driven paintings depict the semi-autobiographical misadventures of his signature character and the boy’s faithful canine sidekick (inspired by Jerome’s dog Mochi) — a radical, career-redefining break from the bleak, inky catharsis of the artist’s previous professional work. 

Jerome (IG: @gohomejerome) first appeared at Vertical Gallery as part of 2024’s Summer Group Show. He resurfaced at year’s end for our annual Holiday Group Show, and most recently appeared at the gallery’s 12-Year Anniversary Show in April 2025. Jerome also joined the Vertical staff part-time in October 2024, soon after relocating from his native Brooklyn.  

From Sept. 5-27, Jerome will co-headline the Vertical group show ‘The Scenic Route’ alongside fellow Chicago-based painters/Vertical teammates Joseph Renda Jr. and Laura Catherwood. In the latest installment of Vertical’s Artist Spotlight series, Jerome previews his contributions to ‘The Scenic Route,’ shares the mindset behind the work and explains why death is only the beginning.

Vertical Gallery: ‘The Scenic Route’ represents your fourth appearance in a Vertical Gallery group show. How is this new work different from what you’ve exhibited here in the past?

Jerome Tiunayan: I don’t know if I would use the word “different.” In my previous work, there was no real throughline: it was just my character and his dog in different places. This time, I wanted a more focused, cohesive story, and I didn’t want to rely on the environment to tell the story. I relied on the character. 

It’s a very deeply personal story. If people want to ask about it, I’m not going to pull any punches — I’ll tell them everything they want to know, and everything that went into it. But I want the work to be enigmatic, and I want to keep it mysterious.

‘The Scenic Route’ pairs you opposite two other Vertical fixtures. Take us behind the scenes — what goes into a group show like this one, especially when you’re working with close colleagues?

One half of me — the one I leaned into most — didn’t want to be the weak link. The more people there are in a group show, the easier it is to get away with shittiness. But with only three people, you’ve really got to be on point, or else the whole show suffers. I’m very aware there’s a hierarchy: Joe and Laura are much further along in their careers, and they’ve achieved much greater success than I have. I respect them a lot, and admire their work ethic. I just wanted to be good enough that my work didn’t take anything away from theirs. 

The other half of me was like “I’m going to smoke these fools” [laughter]. I really want the work to be good, and I want people to come into the gallery and think “Damn, he held his own” or “I like this stuff more than the other stuff.” It’s a balance between wanting to be invisible and make [Joe and Laura] look good, and wanting to separate myself a little bit. 

The last time we saw your character, in April’s 12-Year Anniversary Show, he died. Now here he is back again, the picture of health. What meaning does death have in your world?

It’s a chance to start over. I like that idea. I also like the idea of leaning into cartoon reality, where characters die but reappear in the next episode. Things just keep going. I like that suspension of disbelief. 

I can’t be too precious about where I am, the work I’m making and the story I’m telling, because there’s always room for another one. If a part of me has to die for things to continue or live on, I’ll lean into that. That’s the whole impetus for making this work [with my character]: I had to leave part of me behind to lean into this stuff. 

Your paintings tell a classic boy-and-his-dog story. Why does that narrative trope continue to work after all this time, and across so many different mediums?

Because longing for companionship doesn’t go away. We’re all hardwired for community, and we want to go on adventures with others, instead of just doing things by ourselves. 

Have you ever read Into the Wild [Jon Krakauer’s 1996 non-fiction book about Christopher McCandless’ ill-fated hike across North America into remote Alaska]? Just before he died, Chris McCandless wrote “Happiness is only real when shared.” I never forgot that. He fancied himself this vagabond, but in the end, he wanted someone there with him. People always want someone to lean on, now more than ever.

What’s next for you after ‘The Scenic Route’?  

I’m exhibiting with Vertical at Aqua Art Miami 2025 in December. I’ll have six pieces there. I’m keeping the concept close to the chest, but I’m very excited about it. 

Vertical Gallery, Chicago’s premier urban-contemporary art gallery, is very proud to present ‘The Scenic Route,’ a special group show celebrating the talents of Joseph Renda Jr., Laura Catherwood and Jerome Tiunayan.

‘The Scenic Route,’ on display Sept. 5-27, commemorates Vertical’s steadfast commitment to creativity and camaraderie: Renda, Catherwood and Tiunayan are not only mainstays of the gallery’s programming slate, but all three Chicago painters play significant roles in its day-to-day operations. Renda began assisting visiting artists and supporting show installs in May 2016; Catherwood signed on as gallery manager in January 2021; and Tiunayan joined the team part-time in October 2024, soon after relocating from his native Brooklyn.  

“It is an absolute pleasure having these incredibly talented, trustworthy artists in shows and working with them at the gallery,” says Vertical owner and curator Patrick Hull. “Some galleries would call ‘The Scenic Route’ three solo shows, but we call it what it is — a group show allowing these three to exhibit their strongest work to date.” 

About each artist: 

• Joe Renda juxtaposes realistic images with audacious surrealistic flourishes to illuminate the interconnectedness of all living things. In addition to headlining two solo gallery shows, 2020’s ‘Biophilia’ and 2022’s ‘Larger Than Life,’ he curated Vertical group shows including ‘Water the Plants!’ and both installments of ‘Atomic Number 13.’ 
  
  Renda’s contributions to ‘The Scenic Route’ explore themes of visual perception via arch-shaped panels painted like windows. “There’s a bird in each painting, and the bird represents the story each painting tells,” he says. “There’s a trompe-l'œil aspect to the windows. It feels like you could fall through them.” 
  
  

• Laura Catherwood’s mysterious, often mournful images unpack her inner world, where fauna, flora and the fantastic coalesce. A series of group show appearances predated her 2022 Vertical Gallery solo debut ‘Book of Yielding.’ ‘Hearsay’ followed in late 2023, and six months later, Catherwood returned with ‘All Things Stirring.’ Her contributions to ‘The Scenic Route’ summon energy and inspiration from the golden hour — the interval between sunrise and sunset. 

• Jerome Tiunayan synthesizes personal storytelling, comics-inspired illustration and gallows humor to recast the Hero’s Journey for our postmodern age. Tiunayan first appeared at Vertical as part of 2024’s Summer Group Show, and resurfaced at year’s end for the annual Holiday Group Show. He was most recently featured in the gallery’s 12-Year Anniversary Show. Tiunayan’s contributions to ‘The Scenic Route’ continue the misadventures of his irrepressible signature character and the boy’s trusted canine sidekick. 

Credit Renda for giving ‘The Scenic Route’ its title. “Nature draws the three of us together,” he explains. “We all tell stories we want viewers to stop and look at, and that’s what a scenic route is about — taking the long road to stop and look at things, and experience things.”   

All three artists featured in ‘The Scenic Route’ will be in attendance for Friday, Sept. 5’s opening-night reception, running from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Vertical’s flagship West Town location (2006 W. Chicago Ave. #1R; enter via the alley off Damen Avenue). This December, Vertical will showcase Renda, Catherwood and Tiunayan alongside seven other acclaimed artists at Aqua Art Miami 2025; stay tuned for more details. 

Mau Mau, whose latest Vertical Gallery solo showcase ‘#wishyouwerehere..’ runs through Saturday, Aug. 9, is synonymous with his wily, wisecracking fox character — and the character’s bushy-tailed inspiration, the red fox, is synonymous with the street artist’s native United Kingdom. 

The red fox (Vulpes vulpes), the lone fox species found in the UK, boasts a nationwide population of around 375,000, the largest natural distribution of any land mammal except humans. About one-third of these foxes live in urban environments, leveraging their resourcefulness and cunning to persevere despite omnipresent threats like road accidents, habitat loss and human persecution.

“The fox has always been a rebellious creature — wild and free,” Mau Mau says. “Since I’ve started painting the fox, I feel like he's taken over the town. They're everywhere now in London.”

Red foxes are opportunistic omnivores, consuming everything from rabbits to rats. Though primarily nocturnal hunters, they can be active during daylight hours, particularly in city settings. Some even demonstrate an interest in contemporary art. 

“The first time I painted the fox, a fox came and watched me paint it,” Mau Mau recalls. “I was painting away, and then Mo [fellow street artist Mighty Mo] said ‘Mau, you’re not going to believe this. Look behind you.’ It was crazy.”

Mau Mau’s new book ‘Talking Out of My Art’ reveals the fox was born from his need for an image he could paint quickly. Prior to the fox — which emerged around the time Mau Mau bombed walls alongside fellow graffiti icons like Banksy, Sickboy and Inkie — his subjects ranged from pop culture staples like Snoopy and Winnie the Pooh to the San bush people of southern Africa’s Kalahari Desert.

“I was always more motivated by the message rather than a specific tag, so I used to use a lot of characters from other people's stories — famous characters that would give me a narrative to work with,” Mau Mau says. “I've always loved cartoons, so it was great when I came to paint the fox. A cartoon fox is so neutral. You can make so many statements with it, without showing a bias. I love that.”

Click here to view the exhibition online