Exquisite Corpse

Oddball Art Labs and Side Street Studio Arts are collaborating on a gallery exhibit to help gather donations for the new SSSA building.

See what happens when 25+ artists band together to “blindly” collaborate on over two dozen pieces of art!

Take one home to help Side Street get into their new building! All funds will be donated to Side Street!

From Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exquisite_corpse

Exquisite corpse (from the original French term cadavre exquis, lit. ’exquisite cadaver’) is a method by which a collection of words or images is collectively assembled. Each collaborator adds to a composition in sequence, either by following a rule or by being allowed to see only the end of what the previous person contributed.

exquisite corpse alisa trai mike web
Exquisite Corpse Painting featuring artwork by Alisa Duda (head), Trai Orthal (torso), and Mike Rende (foot)

The Exquisite Corpse Paintings

Stop by Side Street Studio Arts to place a bid!

Opening Reception

Friday, April 3, 2026
Hours: 6pm-9pm

Side Street Studio Arts
15 Ziegler Court
Elgin, IL 60120

Downtown Elgin

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Final Day to Bid

Saturday, May 2, 2026
Hours: 11am-3pm

Side Street Studio Arts
15 Ziegler Court
Elgin, IL 60120

Downtown Elgin

More About the Exquisite Corpse Exhibition

Artists have been paired up in groups of three to work on a single piece of art. The final composition for all pieces will be a figure (human or other). The artists are taking turns with the first artist creating the head and shoulders, then covering up all but the lowest ¼ inch of the piece of art. The second artist will work from only the exposed ¼ inch to create the torso, and cover up all but the next ¼ inch. The final artist will create the legs based only on the exposed ¼ inch of the torso. The artists will not know who their collaborators are until the final pieces are unveiled at the opening reception.

NO PEEKING!!!

The artists have all promised to not peek under the covered areas of the art they are working on to maintain the integrity of the “Game” and the spontaneity of the artwork. (So they will be surprised when they see the finished art for the first time at the gallery opening too!)

The artwork will be sold in a silent auction with the proceeds going to the SSSA 62 Grove Ave fund.

Here are some examples of Exquisite Corpse drawings produced by Oddball Art Labs over the years to give you some inspiration for how far we can push this fundraising game. Please keep in mind that these examples were just quick sketches. We’re planning for fully painted or detailed drawings for this show.

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Exquisite Corpse painting featuring the work of Trai Orthal (head), Sam the Jam (torso), and Adam Grewenig (feet?)

What about the Art Machine?

The team at Oddball and Side Street got together and created these amazing, limited edition art blocks sets for the Exquisite Corpse show. (Thank you to every artist who contributed!!)

Give a donation of $15 to get three art machine tokens. Then pick either the Heads or Bodies parts, and grab one piece of each. You’ll be thrilled with the crazy combination of artists you’ll get.

If you give a $20 donation you’ll also get a fourth token to use on something from the “Bonus” channel which could be an extra part for a head, a body… or random bonus piece.) Trade your blocks with other humans at the show to get a mix of parts you love!

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exquisite corpse blocks heads web
ken simonsen exquisite corpse blocks
exquisite corpse blocks 04
exquisite corpse blocks 05
exquisite corpse blocks stand