New York-based artist Chris Verene’s Galesburg project is about his family’s rural Illinois hometown, which he began in 1987 at age sixteen.

Verene’s 2006 exhibition of new works reveals an artist committed to lovingly documenting the powerful hope and spirit in his family’s community. Verene shows us the simple, average human stories taking place in the declining American Midwest. The focus is on Galesburg, a town dealing with the specters of poverty and apathy. Verene’s unstaged documentary color photography is largely appreciated for its honesty, intense color, and composition. Verene’s work is lauded for his humanity and love for his subjects, where the intimacy between the artist and subject is integral to the work.