GARDEN AFTER THE STORM

HILTON CONTEMPORARY & ARTS POETICA PRESENTS  

GARDEN AFTER THE STORM  

ARICA HILTON  

An evening of Art | Poetry | Music  

Album Release Opening Reception: 10 April 2026  

Location: THE FOUNDRY ROOM 

700 N. LaSalle Street • Chicago, IL 60654 

RSVP: lindsey@hiltoncontemporary.com or rachel@hiltoncontemporary.com

Some songs are written to be heard. These were written to be felt.

CHICAGO – HILTON CONTEMPORARY is pleased to partner with ARTS POETICA GLOBAL, a multidisciplinary creative arts platform supporting the visual and literary arts; dance; film; music; architecture; located at 700 N. LaSalle Street, Chicago in an industrial-chic showroom in Chicago’s River North neighborhood (corner of LaSalle and Huron – one block from Hilton Contemporary.) 

PROGRESSIVE EXHIBITIONS | EXPO CHICAGO AFTER PARTY  

On April 10th, the evening will begin at Hilton Contemporary, 716 N. Wells where the works of Belgian artist Jonas LeRiche and Spanish artist Pablo Armesto will be on display from 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm. 

Afterwards, Hilton Contemporary guests are invited to the FOUNDRY ROOM at 700 N. LaSalle Street, for an Art | Poetry | Music exhibition and EXPO Chicago After Party.  

The evening will be highlighted by an exhibition of paintings by artist/poet Arica Hilton, Garden After the Storm, with a signing of her poetry book, BOUNDLESS. 

In addition, the Album release of a musical collaboration between Hilton’s poetry and composer Erich Fritz’s compositions titled Garden After the Storm, will be celebrated with a DJ and dancing.  

The show will include new paintings by Hilton inspired by her poetry along with several of her classic images. 

A percentage of sales from the paintings, poetry book and music album will benefit the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center, a not for-profit that brings child protection, law enforcement and healing services together under one roof to respond to, treat and ultimately prevent child abuse.  

  

The paintings, poetry and music explore the emotional landscape that emerges after upheaval (reflection, transformation, longing, and renewal) while others move through themes of romantic passion, spirituality, and the visceral force of human emotion. Each composition (art, poetry and music) unfolds like a chapter in a larger narrative, inviting the audience into a space of feeling, reflection, and discovery. 

ART  

Contemporary Luminist painter, Hilton states, “Luminism was a poetic art movement of the late nineteenth century that was concerned with the depiction of light and atmosphere. It was derived from the Hudson River School which was influenced by European Romanticism. 

The first time I saw a painting by JMW Turner, the British Romantic landscape painter, I felt a kinship to his work through my poetry. He painted what I aspired to describe in words. He was commonly known as “the painter of light.” His work was the Romantic preface to the Luminists and the Impressionists. His paintings took the free expression of the feeling of the artist as a starting point. Studying the landscapes of Turner, I

recognized his influence on artists such as Albert Bierstadt and Frederick Edwin Church, who often depicted majestic landscapes and cool waterscapes reflecting nuanced skies. Their works reached a spirituality that transcended the notion of a landscape painting. This is what I aspire to in my paintings.” 

The pièce de résistance will be a monumental oil and acrylic mixed media canvas (5 ft. x 12 ft.) titled “Garden After the Storm.” 

MUSIC  

Hilton’s and Fritz’s music signature lies in a blending of styles (melodic and progressive house interwoven with deep house), where the ancient meets the modern. This is often accompanied by emotionally resonant spoken and “felt” lyrics, male–female call-and-response (antiphonal dialogue rather than traditional duets), and the interspersion of multiple languages. 

The title track from the album, Garden After the Storm, is a cinematic piano ballad about transformation after trauma. The song reflects on the choice between carrying the darkness we’ve experienced and allowing it to dissolve into something new. Moving from quiet fear toward healing and growth. In Nomen Exspectans (Waiting to be Named) English and Latin converge, with Gregorian chant textures opening the song. “Deeper Than Love” is a sensual, mystical Buddha Bar–style lounge track with breathy vocals and spoken-word passages. Hilton will be performing the spoken word on many of the tracks. 

A deluxe edition of Garden After the Storm will be available for pre-order as a limited-edition, gatefold album opening to a booklet with poetry/lyrics on parchment paper with a signed and numbered limited edition print by Arica Hilton. The album itself will be signed & numbered by both artists, Arica Hilton and Erich Fritz. Limited to only 250 copies. 

The standard album will also be available as a regular vinyl record or download.  

The duo met through their mutual love of art, Fritz is an art collector, and Hilton is an artist and gallerist. The image on the cover of the album, Vincent Van Gogh’s “Wheat fields with Cypresses” was especially meaningful because it was the work that brought them together. Fritz had purchased the Van Gogh “Wheatfields….” by artist Jeff Koons from his infamous Gazing Ball series long before they met. And ironically, Hilton was the inaugural artist-in-residence for Van Gogh Immersive in Chicago. They both had the Van Gogh connection.  

Contemporary polymaths, both artists also happen to be entrepreneurs, CEO’s of their own companies, and both are poets. Fritz studied electrical engineering and became a missile scientist studying applied mathematics and finance AND went on to write music. Hilton studied architecture and is not only a poet, but an artist, designer, explorer and has worked with Nobel Prize winning authors and scientists. 

One day Hilton sent Fritz her poem “Unlike You” (which has been retitled to Garden After the Storm) and he nonchalantly asked if he could put the poem to music. That was the beginning of their collaboration on a poetry/music album that resulted in an exercise in sleepless nights and their extreme dedication to perfection in all things they do. Garden After the Storm music album is their first collaboration.

Garden After the Storm pays homage to the resilience of the human spirit. One minute a storm, the next a lush garden of love, peace and joy.

 

GARDEN AFTER THE STORM will be on view at Hilton Contemporary through June 21, 2026. 

Hilton Contemporary • Garden After the Storm • Arts Poetica  

 

 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS  

  

ARICA HILTON  

Born on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, Arica Hilton (pen name Sophia Jolie) is a multidisciplinary artist, poet and global advocate whose life mission is to use her creativity to bring awareness to humanitarian and environmental issues that affect our world.  

In March 2026, Hilton collaborated with composer and poet, Erich Fritz (stage name @darko_vaughn) to create an album titled GARDEN AFTER THE STORM. Fritz composed the music to Hilton’s poetry. The complete album will be released late spring 2026. The album will also include several of Fritz’s original songs.  

In the summer of 2024, Hilton’s book of poetry “Let Me Tell You About Winds” was published by Dar Attakween, with an introduction by the perennial Nobel Prize nominated poet, Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said Esber). Adonis writes, “Wherever and whenever the reader enters Arica Hilton’s world, he sees what he did not expect and must murmur with joy: It is poetry – a luminous explosion in the darkness of life, and it seems to be a language to make death die.” 

Hilton was invited to be the inaugural, lead artist-in-residence for Immersive Van Gogh Chicago in 2020 where she created a body of work inspired by Vincent Van Gogh with an eco-conscious, contemporary twist. 

In 2019, she was honored as Greenheart International’s Global Leader Honoree for her work as artist, curator and youth empowerment champion. Greenheart International is a global nonprofit that educates children to become global leaders. Previous Honorees include Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient Jerry White for his work on banning land mines and Hungarian scientist, philosopher and Nobel Prize nominee Dr. Ervin Laszlo. 

Hilton traveled to the Indonesian archipelago of Raja Ampat in the Pacific Ocean in 2018 as the artist on board to participate in the Elysium – Artists for the Coral Triangle Expedition. Sponsored by Ocean Geographic magazine, the expedition engaged artists, photographers, scientists, musicians and writers to document threats to the extraordinary biodiversity of the Coral Triangle. Protection of the area from unsustainable fishing practices, over-exploitation and climate change is a global priority. She participated in the Elysium Epic exhibition in China with Time Magazine’s Hero for the Planet, Dr. Sylvia Earle, along with the Ocean Geographic team of scientists, marine biologists, filmmakers and writers. 

In 2021, Hilton’s art and poetry exhibit at BRUSHWOOD CENTER at RYERSON WOODS, “TIDES, A Prelude” emphasized NATURE as the driving force of the exhibition based on the gravitational pull of the sun and moon on the earth’s bodies of waters. Exploring the spectrum of color, shape and frequency of sound, Hilton’s paintings and poetry delved into the meaning of the TIDES in a direct and indirect menu of materials, both real and metaphorical. 

The former President of the Poetry Center of Chicago, Hilton created ARTS POETICA GLOBAL, whose mission is to include all creative endeavors, from the visual to the literary arts, dance, film, photography, music, architecture. She introduced Arts Poetica as a platform for global initiatives and philosophies that are presented in an imaginative and powerful way by contemporary thought leaders. 

Hilton has had numerous exhibitions in Europe, Asia and the United States. Her series, “I Flow Like Water,” a body of works that highlight issues around water conservation and the problem of plastics weighing down

our oceans, was exhibited at Art Dubai, Beirut Art Fair; QU ART in Brussels, Belgium; the Union League Club of Chicago; the Caux Forum for Just Governance and Human Security in Caux, Switzerland and in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, China. 

Hilton is based in Chicago, where she is the Founder and CEO of Hilton Contemporary, a gallery platform she leverages to support internationally known artists and humanitarians who seek change for a better world. 

www.aricahilton.com • Instagram: @aricahilton 

 

ERICH FRITZ 

Erich Fritz, known musically as @darko_vaughn, is a composer, poet, and multidisciplinary creator whose work blends atmospheric electronic music with lyrical storytelling. His sound transforms poetry into cinematic sonic landscapes— melding spoken word, ambient textures, and progressive electronic rhythms to create music that feels both intimate and expansive. 

Drawing inspiration from Renaissance thinkers such as Leonardo da Vinci, Fritz approaches creativity through an interdisciplinary lens, merging analytical precision with emotional depth. His work often explores themes of love, transformation, memory, and renewal, turning written verse into immersive musical experiences. 

His latest collaboration marks the first release from the album Garden After the Storm, a project built around the idea of poetry reborn through music. The album is part of a broader creative partnership that will also include original music for the television series For the Love of Art. 

Outside of music, Fritz is the Founder and CEO of Fritz & Company, a technology-focused advisory firm. Prior to founding the firm, he spent more than a decade in investment banking advising technology companies and began his career as an electrical engineer working on advanced missile defense software at Northrop Grumman. He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, completed graduate coursework in applied mathematics at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, and earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Penn State. 

Whether composing music, writing poetry, or building companies, Fritz embodies a modern Renaissance ethos—bringing together engineering, finance, and artistic expression into a singular creative voice. 

Instagram: : @darko_vaughn

About Hilton Contemporary  

Located in Chicago’s River North and Bridgeport Art Districts, Hilton Contemporary specializes in modern and contemporary paintings, works on paper, mixed media and sculpture with a special focus on photography. Featuring internationally known artists from United States, Northern Europe, the Mediterranean Region and the Middle East. 

“Hilton Contemporary is a strong proponent of the art of Photography and Film. We do not see a divide between the two disciplines as they are the most immediate and indelible way to document the history of cultures, of people, of nations and our planet. Whether it is the history of our film industry that has changed the way we see our world, or artists making history by using FILM, moving or still, Hilton Contemporary seeks to initiate a dialogue, to bring awareness to the contemporary issues of our times.” 

About Arts Poetica Global  

The mission of Arts Poetica is to be no less universal than art itself. When we define art, we include all creative endeavors, from the visual to the literary arts; to dance; film; music; architecture. We wish to create an arts council for global initiatives and philosophies by contemporary thought leaders that are presented in an imaginative and powerful way. 

In ancient times, cities would hold political poetry contests to see who the best orator with the ability was to touch the minds and hearts of the people. For cultures wanting to develop, advance and go to the next level of progression, the creative arts are the quickest way to evolve. 

The mission of Arts Poetica is to support the creators, the ones who masterfully generate ideas using the six senses on a blank canvas, a screen, an instrument, a page or an edifice of monumental materials – the ones who record our histories and provide a roadmap from our past to our present to our future. 

Arts Poetica is a platform of creativity that transcends languages, cultures, religions, races and political ideologies. It is a place of sanctuary.