Corbett vs. Dempsey

About the Name

Third from left, Dr. Mitchell Corbett; second from right, boxer Jack Dempsey. Mitchell's son, Maxwell, named his son James John Corbett, after the legendary heavyweight boxer, "Gentleman Jim." History folded in on itself when John Corbett (greatgrandson of Mitchell) and Jim Dempsey (no relation to Jack) decided to go into business together in 2004, opening their gallery up the street from the site of the old Corbett Clinic (at Lake and Ogden), where this photo hung for decades. Hence, Corbett vs. Dempsey - the heavyweight bout that never took place.

Corbett vs. Dempsey is a gallery specializing in Chicago painting, sculpture, and works on paper from 1940 to 1980, as well as contemporary artists who connect, in fact or in spirit, with these lineages.

Since 1988, John Corbett has taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC); he was artistic director of Berlin JazzFest 2002 and co-curated the Empty Bottle Jazz Series from 1996 to 2005. Corbett was co-curator of Pathways to Unknown Worlds: Sun Ra, El Saturn, and Chicago's Afro-Futurist Underground, 1954-1968 (Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, 2006; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, 2009; Durham Art Guild, Durham, North Carolina, 2009). For over 20 years, Jim Dempsey was the house manager and occasional programmer at the Gene Siskel Film Center, Chicago. Dempsey is an alumnus of SAIC. Together Corbett and Dempsey have been involved in many independent curatorial projects, including Big Picture: A New View of Painting In Chicago (Chicago History Museum, 2007) and Touch and Go: Ray Yoshida and his Spheres of Influence (Sullivan Galleries, Chicago, 2010), and, with Juerg Judin, presented Ralph Arnold: My Bag (Nolan Judin, Berlin, 2010).

Corbett vs. Dempsey is located on the third floor of the Dusty Groove building, 1120 North Ashland Avenue in Chicago. (Map) Gallery hours are Thursday, Friday and Saturday 11 am to 4 pm, and by appointment. Please call or email us and we'll be happy to make arrangements to meet and look at some art.

Only a small amount of our inventory is documented online. Please inquire about anything you'd like to see more of.