About the Gallery
Chicago Gallerist and Tastemaker Easy Otabor Is Changing the Rules of the Art World. When Easy Otabor was growing up in Chicago, he didn’t know what to make of an art world that can be forbidding even to those who know its entryways. But he soon found his way in as a gallerist and tastemaker through fashion, music, and other cultural portals now playing an increasingly important role in changing the rules. Decades later, Otabor is hard at work to change that for the sake of an art world that can be more inclusive and inviting to input of different kinds.
Anthony Gallery, which he opened at the end of 2019 in Chicago’s Fulton River District neighborhood and named in tribute to his late father, has played home to exhibitions like “Unite Through Culture” (dedicated to the Windy City basketball legend Michael Jordan) and “Festival: A Visual Exploration of Hip-Hop & Music” (featuring 30 artists working with photography to document the social significance of rap). And Otabor, who is 34, has been active all around his beloved hometown, collaborating with artist Theaster Gates’s community-minded Rebuild Foundation and doing what he can to be a connector.