Steve Seeley

Painter and printmaker Steve Seeley mines the breadth of popular culture to create a brand of slapstick surrealism uniquely and entirely his own. 

Seeley is a mainstay of Chicago’s contemporary art community. The Wisconsin native came to the city in 2004 after earning a Master of Fine Arts in printmaking from the Ohio State University, appearing in group shows across the Midwest before headlining his earliest solo exhibitions in partnership with Chicago’s Packer Schopf Gallery.

Seeley first exhibited at Vertical in 2013 as part of the gallery’s very first holiday group show, ‘Deck the Halls,’ and returned in 2015 for ‘Heroes & Villains.’ He has remained a Vertical fixture in the years since, co-headlining 2023’s duo show ‘Love Notes’ opposite Blake Jones, presenting the Jack Kirby-inspired ‘They Cometh!’ at Aqua Art Miami 2024 and returning in 2025 for ‘Right Back at It Again.’ Steve next appears as one of 13 artists featured in our 13-Year Anniversary Group Show.