QUITE A PAIR

WITH THEIR COLOR-SATURATED, WINDY CITY-CENTRIC INSTAGRAM PAGE, CHICAGO CULTURE COUPLE DOCUMENT THE KINETIC, VIBRANT ARTISTIC LIFE OF THE CITY.

Scanning the Instagram feed of digital docents Chicago Culture Couple, it’s easy to get the impression that they’re highfalutin art world insiders. On the contrary: The popular account, which chauffeurs followers from blink-andmiss-them walls covered in graffiti to in-the-know gallery shows, is co-managed by Julia (a 28-year-old advertis- ing professional) and Jake (a 29-year-old capital campaign consultant), a West Loop–based couple who have cultivated their brand while purposely maintaining relative online anonymity—a philosophy decidedly at odds with typical fame-seeking social media connoisseurs. “It isn’t about us,” says Julia. “We’re trying to show that you can be part of the [art] community... even when you might not be fully engaged.”

Case in point: What started as a hobbyist pursuit by the East Coast natives in 2013 (“We wanted to be a part of the conversation, but we didn’t want to flood our own personal page,” explains Julia) has since morphed into an audience of thousands of Instagram followers—drawn to the couple’s self-described catalog of “bright, arresting colors that stand out in their context”—complemented by ad-hoc curatorial projects such as organizing Vertical Gallery’s recent The Power of Paint show. And while the pair’s breadth of coverage suggests they’ve left no Windy City nook unexplored, the couple insists otherwise. “There’s always something new

[in Chicago],” notes Jake. “We’ve definitely scratched the surface, but we’re far from seeing it all.” @chicago culture couple