Tala Chicago

To celebrate the closing of 𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 we are thrilled to host an exclusive screening of “Its Just a Fu***ng Opening” a short film by josh brainin, Camille Bacon, Youssef Boucetta which was filmed entirely at Tala

Originally premiering at the Chicago International Film Festival and screening at the MCA in 2025, this is the first time the short film will make its return to the gallery in which it was shot.

The film features Anisa (Ireon Roach), an up-and-coming artist who is woefully unprepared for the pettiness and performative antics taking place at the gallery opening for her latest pieces. Everything but the artwork seems to take center stage. When her absent girlfriend and career-oriented bestie focus on their own priorities, Anisa is left to spiral alone at the end of the night.

The screening will be prefaced by an exhibition walkthrough with artist/filmmaker josh brainin and curator Youssef Boucetta from 5-6PM. The film will be screened at 6PM and its run time is 18min. Very limited capacity - RSVP required to attend, link in bio 🔗

There will be a limited number of zines will be available for purchase 📕 celebratory drinks provided

Executive produced .magazine
Starring Irwin Roach as Anisa (.jpg)
Camille Bacon as Inès ()
Directed, written, and edited by josh brainin () and Youssef Boucetta (.boucetta)

It’s the two weeks to see Josh’s brainin’s solo exhibition 𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 curated by Youssef Boucetta

Join us for open hours this week Thursday - Saturday 1-6PM. 𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 is on view until June 6. Always open by appointment - DM or email [email protected] to schedule 💌

josh brainin
𝘡𝘦𝘯, 2026
dall-e 1.0 image generator, notes app screenshot, oiled walnut plywood, dye sublimation print on aluminum dibond
18” x 15”

boucetta

Thank you so much Nicky Ni for the poignant feature for Impulse Magazine

As someone who deeply understands the importance of time based media, we are especially thrilled about Nicky’s concise, perceptive reflections on josh brainin’s solo exhibition, 𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 curated by Youssef Boucetta. Read the article linked in our bio 🔗

𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 will be on view until June 6. This week, the gallery will be open Thursday 5/21 from 1-5PM, but closed Friday 5/22 - Saturday 5/23

We will be hosting a coinciding screening program on May 29 and June 6th, details coming soon 💌

josh brainin prints, now avaiable online 💻

To accompany his solo exhibition 𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, brainin has produced an additional 7 digital collages from his larger body of work, in a limited-edition run of 10 prints each (70 total).

To contextualize and document the prints, brainin staged stylized vignettes slipping between house party, hangout, and intimate encounter. At times echoing the wandering, technicolor drift of youth in Millennium Mambo (2001), he was inspired by the dreamy, slightly grit-edged, melancholic register reminiscent of coming-of-age cinema. Working with blown-out color, inversion, and dense layering, josh draws from the debris of the internet to create his prints - using desktop wallpapers, pirated film stills, memes, and the afterlives of child stardom as emotional residue made visual. Extending his experiments into digital culture and imaging, these prints frame the screen as this generation’s primary site of self-becoming.

The prints are avaiable for purchase during the run time of the exhibition.

All prints are 11x17, inkjet on cotton rag

•Free gallery pick up
•Shipping avaiable (specify on check out)

𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 is curated by Youssef Boucetta and will be on view until June 6. Always open by appointment. The gallery will be open this week Thursday 5/21 from 1-5PM, but closed Friday 5/22 - Saturday 5/23

Artistic Director: Matt Metcalf
Photography: Iman Malik
Models: Sharmain Siddiqui
Gabrielle Mara, U*i Mara, Matthew Metcalf, Brandon Perez, Antonio Robles Levine, Gino Vanden Brook, Sharmain Siddiqui, Francine Almeda, Brianna Cunanan, Adam McDowell 

Documentation: Steven Piper

josh brainin

𝘌𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 2026
dall-e 1.0 image generator, notes app screenshot, oiled walnut plywood, dye sublimation print on aluminum dibond
18” x 15”

The gallery will be open this week Thursday - Saturday, 1-6PM. Next week we will be open Thursday 5/21, but closed Friday 5/22 - Saturday 5/23

Accompanying exhibition screening program to be announced shortly. Stay tuned, more details coming soon!

𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 is on view until June 6, during open hours, Thurs - Sat 1-6PM and always by appointment

📸 

We are excited to welcome Cafe Masira to Tala on Saturday, May 2, 4-7PM

Masira is a Chicago-based collective hosting café pop-ups and cultural events that center Middle Eastern, North African, and South Asian traditions as a way to gather and connect the diaspora while fundraising for organizations advancing critical social impact. For this iteration at Tala, “Chair Break” will be a love letter to South Asia - offering include carrom, chai, Rooh Afza lattes, mango lassi, and DJ sets by Shami Sosa () and Synchronized Swimming ()

A portion of profits goes to BRAC () - one of the world’s largest development organizations, rooted in South Asia, building futures across the region and beyond - Masira is matching all donations 1.5x.

🎟️ link in bio

Full exhibition documentation of 𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 and exhibition text written by Youssef Boucetta (.boucetta) is now online 🔗 link in bio

“At the center of the exhibition is 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥² (2026), a two-channel CRT installation composed of stacked televisions facing opposite directions (referencing a retrofuturist version of Janus, the Greek god of transitions, passageways and time). Filmed with an iPhone in brainin’s childhood bathroom, the artist recites a fractured mantra “I am a Black man, I am a White man, Am I doing it right?” echoing the visceral malaise of Bruce Nauman’s installation, 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘛𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 (1987). Evoking Adrian Piper’s investigations into racial ambiguity and the complexities of blackness, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥² (2026) shows racial and gender identity as a recursive performance caught between self-affirmation and external validation. The installation’s curtains function as a skin, attempting to contain a scattered, multidirectional cry while allowing only faint traces of its sonic residue to pass through. They establish a quarantined processing zone - an interior space where identity is rehearsed, fractured, and reassembled. Like any skin, however, the membrane remains permeable, allowing materials, sounds, and gaze to cross its threshold in both directions.”

josh brainin
𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥², 2026
PVC curtains, 2 TV monitors, wood, steel ring, steel cable system,
2-channel video, color
76” x 90”

𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 is open during gallery hours Thursday - Saturday, 1-6PM

Documentation by .mov

Full exhibition documentation of 𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 and exhibition text written by Youssef Boucetta (.boucetta) is now online 🔗 link in bio

“At the center of the exhibition is 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥² (2026), a two-channel CRT installation composed of stacked televisions facing opposite directions (referencing a retrofuturist version of Janus, the Greek god of transitions, passageways and time). Filmed with an iPhone in brainin’s childhood bathroom, the artist recites a fractured mantra “I am a Black man, I am a White man, Am I doing it right?” echoing the visceral malaise of Bruce Nauman’s installation, 𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘛𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 (1987). Evoking Adrian Piper’s investigations into racial ambiguity and the complexities of blackness, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥² (2026) shows racial and gender identity as a recursive performance caught between self-affirmation and external validation. The installation’s curtains function as a skin, attempting to contain a scattered, multidirectional cry while allowing only faint traces of its sonic residue to pass through. They establish a quarantined processing zone - an interior space where identity is rehearsed, fractured, and reassembled. Like any skin, however, the membrane remains permeable, allowing materials, sounds, and gaze to cross its threshold in both directions.”

josh brainin
𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥², 2026
PVC curtains, 2 TV monitors, wood, steel ring, steel cable system,
2-channel video, color
76” x 90”

𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 is open during gallery hours Thursday - Saturday, 1-6PM

Documentation by .mov

Thank you Tiarra Hembrough and for featuring 𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 at Tala in this year’s EXPO top picks

We’re especially grateful for the thoughtful words of Camille Bacon (Frieze) and 🔪🔪🔪 kerry cardoza (The Chicago Reader), who reflect on josh brainin’s work as “calling upon us to retrace the artist’s own faltering footsteps away from the pursuit of a unified identity” and as “an exploration of identity formation mediated through the ubiquity of digital technology,” respectively.

𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 opens this Friday, April 10, 6-9PM and marks the gallery’s second year around the sun - join us to celebrate with cake by Hyun Jung Jun. We are also in gratitude to the incredible team that made the exhibition’s central installation, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘥² possible.

Fabrication: Erica Gressman
Design: Larry Tchogninou
Curated: Youssef Boucetta