Chicago — River North — At a time when contemporary art often leans toward abstraction or digital experimentation, one Chicago gallery is spotlighting the deeply human narrative of loss, resilience, and rediscovery through paint and canvas. Victor Armendariz Gallery in River North has opened Finding Center, a powerful new exhibition by Madison-based painter Zach Zdrale, whose work blends traditional figuration with an emotional story that reaches far beyond aesthetics.

Hosted recently for a conversational feature on the blog and podcast All About Nothing, Will Knight visited the gallery to learn the story behind Zdrale’s newest body of work—one that has drawn collectors and admirers from across the country.

A painter shaped by vision—and the loss of it

Zdrale, a respected figure painter known for his contemporary realism, experienced a life-altering turning point several years ago. While stretching a canvas in his studio, he suddenly could not remember what he was doing or how he’d arrived. The moment led to an emergency hospital visit and urgent brain surgery. Doctors discovered a tumor lodged against nerves that controlled his short-term memory and sight.

The tumor was successfully removed, but Zdrale permanently lost vision in one eye and partial sight in the other. For most artists, such trauma might end a career. For Zdrale, it became the beginning of an entirely new chapter—one that is visible on every square inch of the gallery walls.

Armendariz describes Finding Center as Zdrale’s most ambitious exhibition to date, both in size and psychological depth. The series explores the emotional process of loss—grief, adaptation, and acceptance—filtered through the lens of someone forced to rebuild his life and artistic language around a permanent physical change.

Yet the work avoids sentimentality. Instead, it approaches vulnerability with strength, using contemporary figuration to bridge the past and future while grounding itself firmly in the present.

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