2026 Biennial
Paul Natkin: King in Chicago
King in Chicago is a solo exhibition featuring Paul Natkin, one of rock music’s most prolific photographers of the last 50 years. His work has been featured extensively, including in Rolling Stone and TIME magazines, national news broadcasts, and rock biographies. Additionally, his photographs have appeared on many album covers, perhaps most famously his image of Ozzy Osbourne holding Randy Rhodes in his arms, which became the cover of Osbourne’s Tribute album. Natkin was hired by The Rolling Stones as their official photographer for several tours, and beyond his iconic images of Ozzy and the Stones, he produced thousands of photographs, capturing just about anyone who came through Chicago to play a show in a bar, ballroom, or arena.
In preparation for King in Chicago, Natkin searched his archives for alumni of King Records—the Cincinnati label operating from the 1940s through the ‘60s—and found several icons: James Brown, Bootsy Collins, Hank Ballard, Albert King, Johnny Otis, and John Lee Hooker, all members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The exhibition also includes a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame: Jethro Burns, a mandolinist who first gained fame as a member of the King Records country duo Homer & Jethro. King in Chicago captures these legends years or decades after their King Records years, revealing artists at various stages in their careers but all similarly photographed by Natkin during an ephemeral moment on stage.
Paul Natkin, Champion Jack Dupree, 1991. Archival inkjet print, 20 × 16 inches. Courtesy of the artist
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