Thomas Erben Gallery presents Mike Cloud’s Suitcase Portraits, his ninth exhibition with the gallery. It coincides with his solo shows at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, through early 2027.
The new works are foldable suitcase-form paintings with store-bought handles, ranging from 24 to 60 inches. They contain abstract, unidentified portraits of body parts and viscera. Cloud examines painting’s relation to death, suffering, victimhood, and commodification. The works are described as speculative portraitures of an anonymous global crime wave, with titles referencing places such as Nigeria, Bangladesh, and France. Forensic traces including jewelry, flags, and tattoos appear.
Cloud is a Chicago-based artist and Assistant Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He received his MFA from Yale in 2003.
Mike Cloud: Suitcase Portraits / Thomas Erben Gallery, New York. September 17, 2026.
