THE ARTS CLUB OF CHICAGO CATHERINE EDELMAN GALLERY 201 East Ontario Street 1637 W. Chicago Avenue 312 787 3997 312 266 2350 [email protected] / artsclubchicago.org [email protected] / edelmangallery.com Tues–Fri 11-1 | 2-6, Sat 11-3 (subject to change due to COVID-19) Open by appointment, Tues–Sat 10-5:30 Viewing available online @artsclubchicago or artsclubchicago.org June 11–August 28 ��� Marina Black: UNSEEN April 9–August 7 ���� Hurvin Anderson: Anywhere but Nowhere June 7–April 2 ������� Garden Project: Chicago Mobile Makers CHICAGO ARTISTS COALITION ASPECT/RATIO PROJECTS 2130 W. Fulton Street, Unit B 312 491 8888 864 N. Ashland Avenue [email protected] / chicagoartistscoalition.org 312 285 2998 Wed–Fri 11-5 [email protected] / aspectratioprojects.com Aug. 13–Sept. 23 ����� HATCH Residency - Survey 3: Wed–Fri 12-6 (by appointment only), Sat 12-6 (no appointment necessary) July 29–Sept. 4�������� Jovan C Speller: Eulogy I Sense Something Has Changed Sept. 11–Oct. 9�������� Jean Alexander Frater Works by Benz Amatayakul, Anwulika Anigbo, Oct. 16–Nov. 27 ������ Sharon Louden with Edgar Arceneaux, Bryana Bibbs, Gabriel Chalfin-Piney, Jennifer Chen-su Huang, Helen Lee, Osée Obaonrin, Hassan Elahi, Jean Shin, Melissa Potter, Nat Pyper, Farah Salem, Roderick Sawyer, Miguel Luciano, Alpesh Kantilal Patel, Jade Williams and Nayeon Yang. Curated by & Hrag Vartanian: Our Solo Exhibition Cristobal Alday, Yi Cao, and Joan Roach THE BLOCK MUSEUM OF ART CORBETT VS. DEMPSEY At Northwestern University 2156 W. Fulton Street 40 Arts Circle Drive, Evanston, IL 773 278 1664 847 491 4000 [email protected] / corbettvsdempsey.com [email protected] / blockmuseum.northwestern.edu Tues–Sat 10-5 Visit our website and follow us on social @nublockmuseum for online cinema, June 25–August 7 ��� Molly Zuckerman-Hartung programs, tours, and resources for teaching and learning with art. June 25–August 7 ��� Cauleen Smith & Shannon Stratton Search our newly launched collection database of over 6,000 artworks. Sept. 3– Oct. 9 �������� Moki Cherry blockmuseum.emuseum.com/collections Oct. 15–Nov. 13 ����� Celeste Rapone April–August��������� Behold, Be Held DAVID SALKIN CREATIVE (outdoors and online – beholdbeheld.org) 1709 W. Chicago Avenue, #2A CARL HAMMER GALLERY 504 228-7034 @DavidSalkin / davidsalkin.com 740 N. Wells Street September ������������� Aron Gent 312 266 8512 [email protected] / carlhammergallery.com DEPAUL ART MUSEUM Tues–Sat 12-5 July 9–August 20 ���� ALL ALIVE! THE BIG TOP COMES TO RIVER NORTH At DePaul University 935 W. Fullerton Avenue Artists: Jack Cripe, Fred Johnson, Johnny Meah, 773 325 7506 Jack Sigler, Snap Wyatt [email protected] / artmuseum.depaul.edu Fri–Sun 11-5 or visit online at artmuseum.depaul.edu CARRIE SECRIST GALLERY Through August 15��� LatinXAmerican Through August 15��� Claudia Peña Salinas: Quetzalli 900 W. Washington Blvd. 312 610 3821 [email protected] / secristgallery.com Tues–Sat 11-5 For entry, Directory: #201 May 29–July 31 ������ PLAIN AIR: Leslie Baum, Tanya Brodsky, Deborah Brown, Spencer Carmona, Andrew Holmquist, Mike Howat, Olivia Schreiner, Sophie Treppendahl and Emma White
DOCUMENT HILTON | ASMUS CONTEMPORARY 1709 W. Chicago Avenue 716 N. Wells Street 312 535 4555 312 475 1788 [email protected] / documentspace.com [email protected] / hiltonasmus.com Tues–Sat 11-6 Open by appointment, Tues–Sat 10-7 Through Aug. 8������ Tromarama: Beta May 31–August 5 ��� HUMANITY: A Survey of Our Times - Group exhibit: Sept 7–Oct. 30 �������� Claude Viallat Nov. 5–Dec. 18 ������� Sara Greenberger Rafferty Hugh Arnold, Susan Aurinko, Nick Compton, Jason Dorsey, David Gamble, Kostis Georgiou, Cristina EPIPHANY CENTER FOR THE ARTS Mittermeier, Paul Nicklen, Jack Perno, George Rodger, Marco Nereo Rotelli, Lawrence Schiller, Tom Stoddart, 201 South Ashland Avenue Blake Ward, Boky Hackel-Ward, Michael Ward, Julian 312 421 4600 Wasser, Zack Whitford, Ted Williams, David Yarrow [email protected] / epiphanychi.com/exhibitions/ Through Aug. 30 ���� David Yarrow - ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The Wild West By appointment only. Email [email protected] to schedule. Through Aug. 21 ���� Juan Arango Palacios: Payasadas KAVI GUPTA GALLERY July 30–Sept. 12 ������ Thresholds - Identity: Perspectives on Y(OUR)selves Kavi Gupta | Washington Blvd., 835 W. Washington Boulevard (Group Exhibition, Chase Gallery) Kavi Gupta | Elizabeth St., 219 N. Elizabeth Street By appointment only. Email [email protected] to schedule. GALLERY VICTOR ARMENDARIZ 312 432 0708 [email protected] / kavigupta.com 300 W. Superior Street Visit online at website-kavigupta.artlogic.net/ 312 722 6447 Through Oct. 30 ����� Realms of Refuge [email protected] / galleryvictor.com Tues–Fri 10-5:30, Sat 11-5, Sun–Mon closed (Kavi Gupta | Elizabeth St., Floor 1) July 9–Sept. 4 ��������� Wet Paint: Ahzad Bogosian, Andrew S. Conklin, Through Oct. 1������� Wadsworth Jarrell and Gerald Williams: Jesús Curiá, Rose Freymuth-Frazier, Richard Gibbons, Works on Paper Christina Haglid, Chris Hill, Sandy Kaplan, Wesley (Kavi Gupta | Elizabeth St., Floor 2) Kimler, Christopher A. Klein, Peter Lupkin, Helen Oh, Robert Segal, Bruno Surdo, Victor Wang, Zack Zdrale KEN SAUNDERS GALLERY, LTD Artist in residence through August: Georgia Hinaris, Horror cinema inspired paintings. 2041 W. Carroll Avenue, Suite C-320 312 573 1400 GRAHAM FOUNDATION [email protected] / kensaundersgallery.com Tues–Sat 11-4 and by appointment 4 W. Burton Place Opening July 10������ Catharine Newell: Immersed 312 787 4071 Opening Sept. 11����� Gary Justis: Electric Dreams [email protected] / grahamfoundation.org Opening Sept. 2021��� Neon and Light Museum Visit our website and follow us on social media @grahamfoundation Artist-in-residence: Anna Martine Whitehead, FORCE! an opera in three acts (Tickets go on sale in August - 325 West Huron, Chicago) Opening Oct. 2 ������� Anjali Srinivasan GRAY LOGAN CENTER EXHIBITIONS Richard Gray Gallery, Hancock: 875 N. Michigan Avenue, 38th Floor Mon–Fri 10-5 University of Chicago at the Reva and David Logan Center Gray Warehouse, 2044 W. Carroll Avenue 915 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637 Tues–Fri 10-5, Sat 11-5 773 834 8377 312 642 8877 [email protected] / loganexhibitions.uchicago.edu [email protected] / richardgraygallery.com Please check the gallery’s website for details on hours and procedures for visiting. Gallery Selections (Richard Gray Gallery, Hancock) July 17–Dec. 12������� Carrie Mae Weems: A Land of Broken Dreams
LUBEZNIK CENTER FOR THE ARTS PATRON GALLERY 101 W. 2nd Street, Michigan City, IN 1612 W. Chicago Avenue 219 874 4900 312 846 1500 [email protected] / lubeznikcenter.org [email protected] / patrongallery.com Mon, Wed–Fri 10-5, Sat–Sun 11-4, Tues closed Tues–Sat 11-6 and by appointment Please check LCA’s website for more details. July 17–August 21 ��� Claire Sherman: Proximity June 14–Oct. 15 ������ Phyllis Bramson / Robert Indiana / Mayumi Lake July 17–August 21 ��� Anna Plesset: Value Studies Sept. 11, 1-4pm ������� Free Family Day POETRY FOUNDATION McCORMICK GALLERY 61 W. Superior Street 835 W. Washington Boulevard 312 787 7070 312 226 6800 [email protected] / poetryfoundation.org [email protected] / thomasmccormick.com Check poetryfoundation.org/visit for updates on our current exhibition and hours. Tues–Thurs 10-4 July 15–Sept. 4�������� Whitney Bradshaw: OUTCRY RHONA HOFFMAN GALLERY MONIQUE MELOCHE GALLERY 1711 W. Chicago Avenue 312 455 1990 451 N. Paulina Street [email protected] / rhoffmangallery.com 312 243 2129 Tues–Fri 11-5 [email protected] / moniquemeloche.com Please schedule an appointment through Tock: Tues–Sat 11-6 exploretock.com/rhonahoffmangallery June 26–August 14 ��� Karen Reimer: Sea Change Sept. 17–Oct. 22 ������ Jacob Hashimoto June 26–August 14 ��� Antonius Bui: The Detour Is To Be Where We Are SMART MUSEUM OF ART MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY At the University of Chicago 5550 S. Greenwood Avenue At Columbia College Chicago 773 702 0200 600 S. Michigan Avenue [email protected] / smartmuseum.uchicago.edu 312 663 5554 Please contact museum for current information and hours. [email protected] / mocp.org July 15–Dec. 19������� Toward Common Cause: Art, Social Change, Tues–Wed 10-5, Thurs 10-8, Fri–Sun 10-5 Reserve tickets at mocp.org and the MacArthur Fellows Program at 40 June 3–August 29����� Much Unseen is Also Here: An-My Lê WESTERN EXHIBITIONS and Shahzia Sikander An Initiative of Toward Common Cause 1709 W. Chicago Avenue, 2nd Floor June 3–August 29����� Martine Gutierrez 312 480 8390 [email protected] / westernexhibitions.com THE NEUBAUER COLLEGIUM Tues–Sat 11-6 FOR CULTURE AND SOCIETY July 31–August 28 ���� Paul Nudd’s Purple Mayonnaisery + The Uncollected At the University of Chicago Pictures of Paul Nudd (In Galleries One & Two) 5701 South Woodlawn Avenue Sept. 17–Oct. 30 ������ Dutes Miller (In Gallery One) 773 795 2329 Sept. 17–Oct. 30 ������ Lauren Wy: AUTODESIRE: Volume 1 (In Gallery Two) [email protected] / neubauercollegiumgallery.com Open by appointment WRIGHTWOOD 659 May 27–Oct. 1 ������� Carmenza Banguera: The Visible, the Laughable, 659 W. Wrightwood Avenue and the Invisible 773 437 6601 [email protected] / wrightwood659.org Opening Sept. 24����� Romanticism to Ruin: Two Lost Works of Sullivan and Wright (For exhibition information please subscribe at wrightwood659.org)
Design Photo: Open Architecture Collaborative In what ways has your background prepared you and how will it inform your A Call To Action role at the upcoming Chicago Architec- ture Biennial? Open Architecture Chicago Inspires, Supports and Brings Relationship building and community Change in Systemically Marginalized Communities building. I entered Archeworks as a multidisciplinary artist and designer to learn By Vasia Rigou participatory design. Our team worked in Little Village (South Lawndale) in 2009. I Newcity AUGUST 2021 Open Architecture Chicago is the local Stevenson, co-chair for Open Architecture also was an educator in North Lawndale for chapter of The Open Architecture Collabora- Chicago, which promotes equitable, several years. From the relationships in tive, a nonprofit that aims to build communi- human-centered, sustainable co-design Lawndale (there is a movement for Black ty capacity and serve as an intermediary within Chicago communities, discusses and brown unity not to divide the North and between professional practitioners and Under the Grid, a project led by artist South Lawndale), eventually my twin brother systemically marginalized communities. Haman Cross with the goal of transforming Cory Stevenson and I and Open Architec- More specifically, the organization develops lots under the elevated railroads connecting ture Chicago were able to partner with educational programming for designers and four train stations in Lawndale into a David Brown, \"Available City,\" Lincoln Park architects to grow as leaders and change- continuously evolving art exhibit and Zoo, the Chicago Park District, Firehouse makers, while also producing placemaking walkable greenway connecting parts of the Arts, Haman Cross, Eric Hotchkiss and programs with community developers and city, Chicago’s past present and future, and Caroline O’Boyle of Trust for Public Land on associations to inspire ownership and civic why this year’s theme of the \"Available City\" the Douglass 18 Mini-golf course [project], engagement. In the light of the upcoming is especially important metaphorically and which has been about a three-year process. Chicago Architecture Biennial, Craig practically. This has allowed us to build relationships 56
Art and understand the context to make Under capable leaders and stewards who only need the Grid successful. In some ways it has the same societal support that other city been over ten years of relationship building residents receive. that is now coming to fruition. What are you hoping the viewers will Can you talk about the importance of a take away from this exhibition? festival like CAB amid a pandemic and a I really hope that viewers understand how time of social and political unrest? collaborative and innovative community We have to remember that the social and leaders and designers from the South and political unrest is a response to around thirty West Sides of the city are and have been. years of disinvestment to the South and West We keep loving the city and ghting for its true potential. Chicago is an emergent hub Sides of Chicago. This year’s theme of the ONE Jaco\"bAovZaaimlabbralenoC-Riatyn\"geils, \"eTosopCelcosiaelilnyTimimepoforrttahne tComfort of Mythmfaokirngd,\"iffCehriecangtotCypulteusraloCfeanrtecrh2i0te21c/tPuhroatol :aJnedsse Meredith RECOMMENDATION metaphorically and practically. Metaphorically, systemic practices. I don’t know if the rest anytime as a city you are divesting in people, of our design communities are watching or then spatially, you cannot be reaching your fullest potential. Structural and systemic Time Marches Forwardracism does not only starve out the human recognizing the voices and practitioners TthheemNeexesh,iwbeitaiocMnh iiisndsodtragllleaendsizi:nedFitsarrooowmunndroMtohmrae.ei nSbwroiral dis who do not t the traditional pedigree, but perhSatprsetheetmtoostMcoencgeaptluoapl rooolmis; ,the they are doing the work, and given the ewpxroohrviWMkbidsitiiihnoodgnnadcvdtioliedeniwsat,ecCxattitcshisftdoeypro?retFohsveueadntveueeerrxpyehlyuibsroieteiosffuenltaawhrcteehbesdite a(tMwaskekh““exiaDhWDhWnsictgiifososolihhitetwst,whaaooswie.ntntnrrlmhiyysnttmmeopokssrti)wweaaor.ooakkAaftnnuieueunomnasCnCnsndaiGifoqoCCqnraoallunuuouwomrecemlmlruuíoxaaimitsbmhbseJhiubuábtibttshiscohsttuuiooe,o,etssmrhnIiI’nic’neniernaddeddv’gslvceieoieaaeaopsvrssngscineietgiahntgmracmniin.vzen.meeineneginnnttt potential of BIPOC residents, but the city's opportunity to scale it, has the ability to crheliamciomsisinnaradassyaaywathrrsIeIccekkrahheeefijiirrrudttseemuGGtccbdpiititllooiuunacaugrrtsnene-o,oddraaaftfnsoMsMpdocaiaiJmuimnásrsteciiootoZopZcmceoeicialeiairigoegllu.eapepsTtrrer,ehr,osowehwjejteemhhcrhecoatot,n',’'”s WwhihteartesFidleientss aBsuwtellN. AesvDer.rMLaartinn dLusth?erAskscrUeaste TaogreRateimcopancst.ider The Past ownaavrreeersssioeentt ottoof thcceoop--crcouuprroaastteeedttehhxeehib22i0t0io22n00, –w–2i2t1h1 King pointed out, the huge cost of segregat- dslatonrickgaEtaEiuonnnxxargedhgdhdceiibboeepamiixxhttnhhpodCCatiibbodoroisiiisstltluuoiciaoonmomnnnudtbobrcsacuuoeryycsusccah,r,lrilevoecaaauutltsnrhshmrdyeyaamanmptttoesppsprlpiiaoopaonelse.osdciTfcuiefuueh-mmmr-esica, Bedy tKheorurgyhCt,aarcdtiooznaand unjust policy is What are you most excited about withulatlhateetesasrotisontndthrtaehwefinufgtuuatrutetreenotfiootfnhtethoecthecenewtneatryesorfof moving forward? disattbhhileeityUUisnnviiittlleeaddinizSSettdaa. tteess aanndd tthheerreeggioionnss societal and spiritual impoverishment. JacoccbooonnZnnaeemccbtteeraddnobb-RyyattnhhgeeelM’Ms wiissossriiksssissiippappii aI'lmmoesxtcaitesdsoaobnouatsthweeyroeuandgthpeemop. lSeowmhoucahreis ApthhmeoeWfWfbtuuroiircgttaaduuartstanrreepeeorbrh-f-ssuiooLchhsarrieeiniitneeiddensnnst..AasttTeTlemmladhhdteeieeonriiinncnussasstsiihtttetaeaeaads-tl-llslaatslaohptpwtoeioiekeioarcnsycninisaitstfoteicacrah,eer,orxesewpt lionit Do you remember when, in 1989, the the wwreogoirorttnhhfoaar rreoocaaonddotmtrriipcp..gOaOinpp.eeCnnossloArAfuuulgigmuuassgtte2s211 pPoelriscoensapllrya, yIehdavaentai-lwapaayrsthtaekidenacDtiavvisidtsBinroCwanp’se gbetgtignignginftoror douucreadttetonttihoins.work with Under \"TAovwainla,bSleouCtihtyA\" farisca,mweitthaphuyrpsliecadl ycea,llutnotial cthtieon the Grid. Almost every project has some sort ptoroctoensteinrusegtoot croenattreolaonfdthaenchaonrnothneabnedlofvired oItfistrutheisyoreuathdinogr coofmtimmeu,nhitiys-tloerdy caonmd pmoenmenotr.y, citoamt mthuenhiteyasdpqautaiarltley.rsWohfatthies N“aavtaioilnaablleP,a”ritsy?not AwthOerpeetnimAercmhiatercchtuersefCorhwicaardgoanwdeplikroegtroesusseis oOnulyr mreepmreosreynotefdthine AfoIrDmSapnadndmeamteicriahlaitys. aAlsnod, athlweateysrmlin“eeavre, rtyhdaatythdeewsigonrkesr.”inW”We lhoavteFtloies pbreaecnticoavlelyr,loCoAkBedainndaDrtiacvleids Borvoewr nthaerepavsetry pBouitnNt beavecrkLtoantdhse?c,”oma mreumnaitrikeasbtlheaet xwheibwitionrk yberavr-eanindp-au-shhainlf,gwthheicchohnavveersraetpioenatoefdtlhyemade ownithvieawndastathyeyoCuhiacraegroeaClluyltuhreaol Cnesntdeor,ing \"AclvaaimilasbtlehaCtityh\"eoountlsyidpeanodf ethmeicCiunlttuhrealUCneitnetder pthueshweosrka.gIat inssat. multigenerational effort to AUGUST 2021 Newcity aSntadteinstoknmoawrngintoalhizaevdeccoamusmeudnmitieosrethfaattahlitaievse build a thriving community. To see the faces tbheaennCsOurVfaIDcewdains tghloebSapl anwisahrefnluesespibdyemthiec of “Tohf eindtimiviedsuawlsewlivheenintahreeirscoreaamtivneesidiaeca,s” says 1p9a1n8d,ewmhicicahnrdepaotritmedelyofksilloecdia6l 4a5n,d00p0o.litical mMainnhifeNsgt,uayennd,bwehttoerctuhreatleivdesthoef sohthoewr.s“,A lot eosf ptheeciwalolyrkbseyaorendthoinukrinogwanbimouatghinisattoioryntahnadt uMnereasntw. hTihlee,oarsetoicfa2ll0y,1t8h,emcornevethrsaanti7o0n0s,a0n0d0 epxepoeprlieminentthsepcroudnutcreydhainvethdeiseedcfroommmunities dinidtenn’tioenveanlityh,aisppwehnytwhaet dloontgheagwoo. rBku. t it is cHaIVn-creolaintceiddeill,niensfosrems., Ionr obuer tthweeinmtyp-efotuusr-ihnour- already something that is sort of pushed out ntaenwdse-mcywcliethwtohreldd,ewvehleorpemweonrtkbayndthelife are oGfeotutor pkunbolwic tchoen2sc0i2o1usCnheiscsagboy Athrechmitecdtiuaroer Dbleuprraerdtmaenndt iot’sf Pulnacnlneianrgi.f Tohuer stiemceoims emvuenr itrieusly BthienpnaiaclectohnattriwbuetoarllshianvNeetwo clivitey’sunodnegro. ing oaruersb,rwimem’reingallwbiutht froicrhceiddetaos,foinrggeetnhueitaydalinndes Tsehraiet'ss awthdaetsdigrenw.nemwectitoy.tchoemworks, too.” 55717
Newcity AUGUST 2021 Mood—Wall Shelve 1 Mid-Century Modern Circular 1 2 Rattan Wall Hanging Shelf 3 4 Spain,1960s, $1,200 5 6 1stdibs.com 7 8 2 Osvaldo Borsani for Vitrex at Casati Gallery Glass Shelf with Hangers, price on request casatigallery.com 3 Maurizio Peregalli at Orange Skin Penta Rack, $362+ orangeskin.com 4 Blu Dot Wonder Wall 2.0 Shelf in walnut/white, $299 bludot.com 5 Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec at 1stdibs Shelf Module, $5,000 1stdibs.com 6 Jonathan Nesci at Casati Gallery Golden Variation Shelf, $2,500 casatigallery.com 7 Verter Turroni at Haute Living Aspis Shelf, price on request haute-living.com 8 Enrico Cesana for Memedesign at Morlen Sinoway Atelier Spread, price on request morlensinoway.com 9 Ka-Lai Chen at Orange Skin SheLLf, $1,768-$4,909 orangeskin.com 10 Bruno Fattorini at Orange Skin Square, price on request orangeskin.com 11 Jörg Schellmann at Luminaire Profil Aluminum Wall Shelf, $846 – $1,251 luminaire.com 12 Nendo at Luminaire Picto Rectangular Shelf, $615 luminaire.com 13 Zeitraum at Morlen Sinoway Atelier Hide and Park, price on request morlensinoway.com 14 zakrose at Dock 6 Collection Foyer Buddy, $325 dock6collection.com 15 Global View at CAI Designs Viala Sculptural Wall Shelf, price on request caidesigns.net 16 Bent Hanson at Design Within Reach Up the Wall Shelving in white or black, $395 dwr.com 17 Pasquini Tranfa Architects by Fioroni at 1stdibs Bàuti Small Shelf, $1,580 1stdibs.com 18 Global View at CAI Designs Roche Mini-Shelf in grey, price on request caidesigns.net 19 Imperfettolab at Haute Living Favo Shelf, price on request haute-living.com 58
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 AUGUST 2021 Newcity 59
Virtual with The Book Cellar ConWsideeCrianngHDeivlpo.rce? Dan Glickman Gary Goldstein COLLABORATIVE | PRENUPTIAL FAMILY | DIVORCE | MEDIATION “Laughing At Myself: “The Last Birthday Party” My Education in Congress, in conversation with On the Farm and at the Movies” Allison Mann August 3, 7pm CST at B’Nai Tikvah August 18, 1pm CST Book Cellar Old St. Pat’s Book Club Book Group August 4, 7pm CST August 23, 7pm CST Afterwords Salon: A Classics VIRTUAL Book Group Book Club CONSULTATIONS August 9, 5:30pm and 7pm CST August 23, 7:30pm CST AVA I L A B L E . CALL Marc Ribot TODAY. “Unstrung: Rants and Stories of a Noise Guitarist” Strategic support, creative guidance, in conversation with effective leadership: these are the qualities Kurt Hollander we offer our clients as they work August 15, 1pm CST through their challenges. Go to our website for virtual event details, CHICAGO & EVANSTON book clubs and more! 847-733-0933 | [email protected] Your Independent Book Store in Lincoln Square! BrigitteBell.com | BrigitteSchmidtBellPC 4736-38 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago 773.293.2665 • bookcellarinc.com MAKE THE MOVE TO ACUPUNCTURE & HERBAL MEDICINE One of the most rewarding and flexible careers you can have is in healing and holistic medicine Newcity AUGUST 2021 Learn how you can find a program you love in this field College and Clinic Location: 8950 Gross Pointe Rd., Suite 400, Skokie, IL 60077 CALL TODAY Midwest College of Oriental Medicine Acupuncture.edu 800-593-2320 60
&DrDininkiinngg Badger State beer garden. Photo: Angela Austin Road Tripping of brewing space with thirty-barrel, fifteen-bar- rel and seven-barrel brewing systems. We Craft Beers of Green Bay spent a hot afternoon in their cool taproom. By David Hammond Much like the entertainment and hospitality options that have sprouted up around Wrigley Aside from the Brandy Old-Fashioned— places that might even convince you to drive Field, Badger State Brewing was one of the AUGUST 2021 Newcity the well-known go-to aperitif in a Wisconsin up to Green Bay for an evening or two of first breweries to pop up around Lambeau supper club—the beverage many think to serious beer-ing. Of course, if you’re a Packers Field, the home of the Green Bay Packers. drink when in the Badger State is, of fan, you don’t need an excuse to drive up to Now, steps from the Lambeau doors, are course, beer. Green Bay, and for most such football-centric restaurants and hotels, as well as indoor and trips, beer will definitely be part of the deal. outdoor entertainment options, all designed to Wisconsin is home to some of the biggest attract visitors, even in off season. names in the beer business, including Miller At each of the Green Bay breweries we visited, and Leinenkugel Brewing. Some breweries in we sampled about six brews and talked to the Tom Johnson, now the general manager, Green Bay, however, never send their stuff out beer makers about their favorites. Then we opened the Badger State Tap Room in 2014, of Wisconsin. Much like the grower Cham- selected one we liked best (not an easy choice and he tells us, “We were actually the first true pagne in France, Green Bay craft beer is to make, but we drink the great beer so that microbrewery to open in Green Bay and the consumed where it’s made, and it often never you don’t have to). first taproom. The other two existing brewpubs makes it anywhere else, not only because it’s had placed as much emphasis on their food so popular locally but because there simply is Badger State Brewing as their beer and we saw an opportunity to not enough to go around. Started by a trio of homebrewers who became showcase and focus on just liquid wares. The more than proficient at turning out spectacular Stadium District had immense opportunity On a recent road trip to Green Bay, we brews, Badger State Brewing now operates a because of its proximity to Lambeau Field, went in search of local beer. We found a few taproom, beer garden and 15,000 square feet downtown Green Bay, and the major Highway 41 corridor. We knew this would evolve into an 61
area people wanted to visit and explore, and bitterness and tons of hop avor and aroma. it’s been cool to see so many other businesses We put hops in just as fermentation starts, so the yeast and the hop oils interact, and follow us here and create a ‘Downtown you get a more fruit-forward character; the Lambeau’ feel that rocks year-round.” fruitiness balances perceived bitterness. As with many craft brews, Badger State Our Noble Roots IPA is one of six beers we Brewing uses fruit juices, coffee beans and serve year-round. This beer has a lower DRINKING & DINING other avorings, which used to turn us off but, ABV for an IPA, around 5.6%. Citra hops TOP 5 are really the star. Not super-malty like an after our trip to Green Bay, we’ve come to 1 Chicago Michelada Festival. appreciate, especially when natural avorings East Coast IPA, not bone-dry like a West Harrison Park. Micheladas—the Coast IPA, it’s somewhere in the middle, an beer, chili pepper, lime and tomato are used with discretion and restraint. juice combo—is the star, and strong easy-drinking IPA, not overly bitter.” supporting roles will be played by the food and music.August 6-8 “We use all real ingredients, be it fruit or coffee Our Recommendation: Belgian Blonde. 2 Old Irving Park Beer and BBQ beans, and we don’t use fake avorings in Challenge. St. Viator School our beers,” says Johnson. “Our coffee beers With all the craft-made IPAs on the market, a Campus. What pairs best with well-made ale is a welcome change of pace. barbecue? Need a clue or two? Not utilize real coffee beans and scale the wine and not whiskey. What pairs best The Belgian Blonde from Noble Roots is light with 'cue is brew, and this cool festival spectrum from dark stouts all the way to offers pairings of both barbecue pork blonde ales. And our lagers are truly lagered and yet avorful, with a slight fruity sweetness and beer. Eat, drink, learn. August 7 and a supple body that makes it an appropri- from start to nish. We also have some 3 Garlic Fest. Highwood. If you special equipment that allows us to integrate ate pairing with meat or sh or, especially and are a fan of the stinking rose, unsurprisingly, cheese. Which, of course, you’ll enjoy the many ways the some old-world techniques into making vampire’s worst enemy can punch up these beers. The BRW-SKI is our staple lager you’d expect from the Dairy State. a meal. It will be a deliciously smelly experience, and the best of its kind and best-selling beer. The branding ties back Stillmank Brewing Company east of Gilroy. August 18 to Wisconsin and has been a hit with locals. 4 Fourteenth Annual Oak Park We brew seasonal lagers as part of our \"SKI\" Brad Stillmank, owner and brewer at Stillmank Microbrew Review. Marion series, including an Oktoberfest and a Winter Brewing Company started out as a home Street, Oak Park. Over eighty- ve brewer, just like Johnson at Badger State and inventive blends from people who Lager. Easy drinking, low ABV and super- make beer worth drinking, with small Falish at Noble Roots. In 2009, Stillmank was batches from small craft distillers that enjoyable.” put excitement back in beer. Small one of the rst twenty people to become a plates and music complete the experience. Hint: don’t drive; take Our Recommendation: Whiskey Business. Certi ed Cicerone. the Green Line to Harlem and walk. August 21 A powerful beer, Whiskey Business is a We ask Stillmank which beers in his portfolio 5 Uncorked Wine Festival. barrel-aged Imperial Stout with an almost were also his personal favorites, and he says, Museum of Science and Industry. Over 200 wines and a lot of awesome chocolatey sweetness and an undeniable food can be tasted while you check whiskey avor that comes from aging in barrels “It changes by the day. Right now, I am really out the Tesla coil, ight simulator and into our Guava Juiced IPA and Perky Porter. other scienti cally industrial exhibits. that previously held Willet and Buffalo Trace Cocktail attire is suggested but not Guava Juiced is heavily hopped, but has little required. August 28 bourbons. We brought some home and enjoyed it as an after-dinner drink; it is a strong bitterness and the pink guava puree we use 62 brings a great tropical sweetness. It is beer, with a lot of whiskey avors upfront. Sipping it on the deck on a summer afternoon super-crushable all year, but when the outside temp is up, it’s very refreshing. Our might get a little intense, but the avor is excellent (if you like whiskey); it almost treads Perky Porter is rich and smooth as English the line between a brew and a spirit, which is Porters go, so it works well for grilling out. perfect if you can’t decide whether to have a We use local roasted coffee in this brand as well to give it its perk. If you are a coffee fan pre-dinner beer or a glass of the hard stuff. this will hit all the right spots; it’s like cold Noble Roots Brewery brew coffee meets rich porter, very satisfying!” Alex Falish and Marvin, his dad, started home We seriously chilled in Stillmank’s taproom, a brewing in the family kitchen in the aughts. “Our business is one-hundred-percent family casual and comfortable place. “Our taproom,” Stillmank says, “is small by comparison to owned,” says Alex, “mostly myself and my dad, but mom and wife are also involved. We other taprooms these days. Many new wanted to focus on a family tree, and my dad entrants to this industry seem to be building taprooms (bars) with a brewing system, is one-hundred-percent Belgian.” That Belgian in uence is obvious in some of Alex’s whereas we are a brewery with a tasting facility (or taproom).” favorite brews. Newcity AUGUST 2021 “We make a traditional Belgian blonde ale,” Our Recommendation: Guava Juiced. Alex says, “using a Belgian Trappist yeast, Although Stillmank described this brew as which is what monks would use. The “heavily hopped,” the bitterness and the piney Belgian blonde ale has a lot of fruit character, avors of the hops are brought into balance with traditional Belgian esters, almost like with the guava juice, which is only a little sweet bubblegum and fruit-heavy. This IPA is 7.1% and lends a pink cast to the liquid. On the ABV, which is in the range for this beer style. nose, it comes off sweet, but when you taste it, We use beet sugar to help raise the alcohol you won’t nd a lot of sweetness. It’s un ltered, content without adding too much body, so it so there’s a haziness, but without a trace of drinks light and spicy, with higher alcohol.” sediment. It’s an exceptionally clean sip. It does not come off as an IPA, so if you’re a Another of Alex’s favorites is the Hazy IPA, hophead, an IPA maniac, you might be as he says, “In the last six years, IPAs have disappointed. Me, I think craft beermakers are really grown, and now account for like out of control with the hops, so I like Guava twenty- ve percent of all craft beer sold. Juiced. It is a very drinkable beer, not nearly as Hazy IPAs have taken the market, with low heavy as other IPAs you might have enjoyed.
Film What Dreams Are Made On Tarantino From Heel To Toe And Back Again By Ray Pride Halfway through 2021, film memoirs punch harder than movies from the great and mighty corporations that stream, as well as legacy studios that still finance and produce and release pictures. How did the good stuff get done? (You must remember this.) There are a half-dozen good titles I could cite, but mostly I’m thinking of Glenn Kenny’s “Made Men: The Story of Goodfel- las,” a fireworks display of oral history that rock ‘n’ rollicks from the get-go and Mark Harris’ sleek, intimate “Mike Nichols: A Life.” Oh! So that’s probably the way it was when movies were made that way. These delicious, detailed narratives make the reader wonder if moviemaking lore remains bedrock for attainments by other artists in a century-old art form or do we devour elegies for a time passed? Historically acerbic exec Barry Diller, who has not headed a studio for thirty-plus years, weighed in on the state of the post-pandem- ic, mid-streaming world of narrative feature filmmaking a few weeks ago at the reconstituted millionaire-billionaire me- dia-mogul retreat in Sun Valley, Idaho. Diller, seventy-nine, vigorously shakes his fist at The Cloud. \"These streaming services have been making movies produced in league with disgraced system or historically disadvantaged within it. AUGUST 2021 Newcity something that they call 'movies.’ They ain’t producer Scott Rudin and A24.) Diller believes it’s all dashed to embers on a movies,” the executive who crafted the Fox lack of a definition of “movie.” The word, he network toward the end of the twentieth Along with the libraries of exemplary histories asserts, “doesn't mean anything right now.” century told NPR off to the side of the swirl of and remembrances that do in fact explore investment bankers eager to purge. “They are and define “movies” through their emotional Quentin Tarantino has a movie-movie book some weird algorithmic process that has heft and lyrical potential, there are ghost out: an anachronistic four-hundred-plus-page created things that last a hundred minutes or books upon ghost books about film, resting simulacrum of a 1970s paperback noveliza- so.” (Diller’s recent investments alongside his inside the memories of each and every figure tion. It’s a bushel-and-a-peck of brain fever. IAC/InterActiveCorp portfolio, which includes in the industry, however privileged by the Tarantino has been on a tear on his return dozens of direct-to-consumer services, include Broadway shows and lower-budget 63
from pandemic exile in Israel during the outbreak, erecting oral history after oral history in pinwheeling interviews with podcast after podcast while promoting the book, talking for hours on end, dulling the prospect Designofhiscontractedautobiography.Tarantino screen was that the cars-and-sex combo compulsion of his lm would describe desire through a thing that no one in real life in fact desires. In his ction “What Belongs to You” and “Cleanness,” Garth Greenwell is a rare master of particulars, both lyrical and blunt. has insisted that few directors make good The prose is as shocking for its adroitness as pictures long into their career, and that he for its teeming candor. In Tarantino’s prose, won’t be part of that. Tarantino’s ready to live his life’s work comes to fruition with the same life and talk more than ever before. (He also directness of his camerawork and in thudding bought a second theater in Los Angeles, the dreamlike repetition. MUSIC TOP 5 Vista, to show recent movies, including those The passages where Tarantino throws up his that strike 35mm prints to show at his theater hands and just types make me feel more and in cinematheques.) optimistic about heedless personal storytell- 1FILM TOP 5Candyman. In theaters, Tarantino’s middle career—or will it be late ing in feature lm formats now and to come August 25. Chicago… career, with that last, tenth movie on the than anything in months: it’s the “gaze” gone horizon?—rests in the counterfactual, movies berserk. “As the vintage Cadillac and the two Chicago… Chicago. like “Inglourious Basterds” and “Django vintage guys drive down the busy street, the Candyman. In theaters, August 25. Unchained” and “Once Upon A Time … In hippie subculture that has invaded the town Hollywood” creating imaginary worlds within in a locust-like swarm proceeds to parade 1ChAicnangeot…te.CShisickaegl,oL…anCdmhicaarkgo. twisted and tangled history. He pulls that on down the sidewalk in their blankets and frocks 2 Century, August 6; Amazon himself in his book, shifting the particulars of and dirty bare feet.” his sunny fugue of a sunset Hollywood that PrimeAAnungeuttset.2S0i.skTehle, LSaisnkdeml raerokpens never was. (Diller does not have a romantic “She feels the wetness of the grass against the bone in his body; his sunsets arrive and soles of her huge bare feet.” 2its doCoersnttuoryin, -Apuegrsuosnt 6s;cAremenaszownith sustain as sudden darkness.) PLeriomseCAauragxu’ssts2ix0t.hTfhuell-lSeinsgktehl rfeeoaptuernes, aitsfudllo-boorsretominu-spicearlsforonmscareneidnseawith In the freewheeling self-novelization, Tarantino “He watched her bare feet walk her off into the aLnedossoCnagrasxf’rsosmixtShpfaurlkl-sle,ntgheth feature, tosses aside his lm’s ending, the “likability” of dark distance.” asefputllu-baogreenamriuasnicMalaferol mbroatnheidrse,a and certain characters, and even the ellipsis of his “Squeaky’s lthy petite bare feet pad their way swoitnhgospfreorma sSinpgaerrksA,ntnhe(Msaerpiotunagenarian title. From stem to stern, the $9.99 drugstore across the dirty cracked linoleum oor…” CMoateilllabrdro)tghievrins,gwbiitrhthotpoesratasnidng-uepr Ann spinner-rack-sized pocket expansion of “Once “She unzips her white go-go boots, slips her (cMoamrieodniaCnoHtilelanrrdy)'sgi(vAindgambirDthrivtoer) Upon A Time In Hollywood,” in its scope bare feet out of them, throws her long legs shared with the movie, is probably the most over the back of the chair in front of her, and settles back to enjoy the show.” smtaangdic-aulpchcioldmoefdtihaen tHitleen.ry's (Adam personal (and perverse) thing Tarantino has shared with a public. (And that’s partly “As she continues to rattle on, he glances 33Driver) magical child of the title. because of its stretches of gassy too-much- down at her feet. Oh shit, they’re huge too. Don’t Breathe 2. In theaters, ness.) The prose is workmanlike, screen- Debra Jo puts her huge dirty feet up on the DAoung’utsBt r1e3a. tThhee2B.liInndthMeaanters, play-style but with some extra give—“Rick, Cadillac dashboard, pushes her lthy soles returnAsuagsus“tan1t3i-.vTillhaeinB,”liansd cMoa-wn rrietetur,rns who was in his oaty chair in the swimming into the smooth cold glass of the windshield.” caos-“parnotdi-uvcillearinF,”edaes cAolv-awreriztedr,escribes pool at the time of the attack, was almost shot by the hippie girl with the pistol. He later told cthoe-pervoedr-uacnegr uFlaerdSe tAeplvhaerenzLdaensgc.ribes authorities, ‘That goddamn hippie almost blew There we have it: the cinema of Quentin Tarantino, from heel to toe and back again. the ever-angular Stephen Lang. my fuckin’ head off!’ And in a scene straight Yet this unbecoming candor is attractive in Photo: Open ArcRhiteecmturienCiosllacbeornatcivee. Theaters out of Wendkos’ picture 'The Fourteen Fists of the abstract, as we consider all the brilliant McCluskey,' Rick set the assailant on re with 4 Raenmd HinBisOceMnacxe,.ATuhgeuastter2s0. the practice amethrower left over from lmmakers who nd what seeps and simmers 4Writera-npdroHdBucOerM-dairxe,cAtourgLuissta2J0o.y McCluskey, which he had in his toolshed. (‘I wInitwhihnatht ewmasyeslvheassaynoduarrebawcokrgkirnogutnodday, in burnt that goddamn hippie to a crisp,’ he later plersespcarrueddeyfoasuhaionnd, ahroowunwditlhl eitirinofwonrmidéyeosur A Call To Action(W“Writeesr-twproordldu”c)emr-adkireescthoerrLfeisaatuJroey told his neighbor.)” roxele, farot mthemuyrpiacdomcoiunngtrCiehsi,cgaegnodAerrsc,hitec- d(“eWbeusttwwiothrlda”)smelfa-kpeesnnheedr fsecait-ufire tbuarcekgBrioeunnndiasl,?working in one or more genres COdnnFoeeehporbirganuesuotnhnsiworogwsAintehh,croHacainwsuhsicgneSiathglefsy-JRipcnsaeegttcbnuekRenrmmeceebcadianceCs,caFchceil-alirycgnauMesgooao-nr,gIninsapliirzeTTjeuahssrdaat,tnppSCtoiinlieunoo-tpoimbnnplgumoraotfscrnu,atabsnmroriaertantriieaoennswbdalhacecBkrkersciientthabgeseeselolelensggsaslyn. cBineutotof aRtealagtioivnesnhmipobmuieldnint.gPaanrtdlyc: ofomrgmeutnBitayrry Diller TBHhyuaVgnahdsiJiwaaecRkiNgmeoawunt,oTnhaannddiNwaetaNlieewton abnudildminogn. eI yeendtenreadysAarycehresw. Aornkds:aesscahew aMnadrtNinaetza.li1e9M90asrtiWneazr.n1e9r 9B0rossW. laivrense!r his compulsions: his characters make lists of dmeulntiditisocnisp.linPalurys:afrotirsgteatnsdhadmeseig. ner to learn Newcity AAUUGGUUSSTT 22002211 movies! They’re bitter! The 406 pages of the participatory design. Our team worked in 55OBrpoesn. Alivrecsh!itecture Chicago is the local little brick of “Hollywood,” “The First Novel by LPiottilnetVthilleagceam(Seoruat.hWLoawrknfdroamle) iinns2ti0n0c9t..DI on’t QStueevnetninsoTna,racnot-icnhoa”irofo“rTOhepe9nthAFrcilhmiteBcyture arulsnofrwoams daneseirdeu,cbautot rdionnN’tohrothpeLatwo nddeaslcerifboer chapteCr oOf DThAe.OTpheenaAtercrshitaencdtuArepCpolellabora- CQhuiecnatgino,Twarhaicnhtinpor”omdooetessneoqt uaibtaabnled,on details site, vneoraml yaettaerrs.wFhraotmonthloeorkeelartsiotnhsinhkip. sThinere are tive, aCnPoOlunDsprAsot.firtTetahmeatainateigmr,ssAatuongdbuuAsildtp1pc3ole.mmuni- thhuamt ahne-bceranntedriesdh,esuinstalilnhaibslewcoork-d. eHseigdne nes mLaawnnydwarleon(tgheprleaciseas tmoopvuetmtheentcfaomr Belraac,kor TTstbyyhhmesceettwaae22spemPh00aeic-nc22lusia11tpseyllrylvvoasl iimfn(trre$rttdeasuu2srasaa5giemollinrnmSSviaaneuuliliglznnlapie,oddsrdAnaaaac)ucnnnthogicctieminueeoatsnmesrtertmumr-1sna3eiatds.ienhiasd-r.syell mwiothviinesC—hi“ccaingeomcao”m—mbuynwitiheast, hdeiscsueseseisn his oande’sbreoywen, buuntitmy noost toimdeivsi,djeusttheonNeotrhthatawndill pUenrdfervtihdemGinrid,aanpdrroigjehctt tlheedrbeyinafrrtoisnt t of him. cSaoputtuhreLamwenrdcaulreia),l esvtaetnetsuaollfypmeryctewpitniobnroththaetr AHnadmiatnstCarotssswwithithfetehte. goal of transforming aCroeryboStthevsetonrsyonanadndpeI rasnodnaOl pheisntoArryc,hoitneec- ptulareceChfoicrathgeo ewyeeretoarbisleetorpfalrlt,ntehrawt siteheks the (wM$ao2rr5emmseprielloicopifnice)anhlsley,aotrhnte-swocarrgeramenneizsratoaionpndednesvoelnops lots under the elevated railroads connecting dDiartvyidtrButrhowonr,,in\"ATvaarialanbtlienoC’sityi,n\"sLtainnccoeln, Pnadrsk eassdrctcrurehecaiteaemntciositnsnagatnol: pdignrorsoagtwrrreaeaammsmmaleiinknagegd:efoorinsfr adaane2rdse0igmc1nh4aearknsegaeon-fd Ofonuer ttrhaiinngsthateio“nFsirsint LNaowvenld”agletisntios tahat the Zthoeo, ltthhey Cfeheitc.ago Park District, Firehouse amFra2ek0ne1crsh4, fFwilrmheiln,ecaahlcsohlimpldr,ooadfucdchienialgdfpaoladfcudeletmsaafking csuobntjeincutoivuesplyaertvicoulvlianrgs aorft feextihsihbiat raendendishly Arts, Haman Cross, Eric Hotchkiss and dwiaf lkcaubltletogcreoennvweyayincpornonseec.tDinegspcarirptstioonf sthine cmitay,nCy hniocvaeglos—’s lpeaasvtinpgrepsoernntoagnrdapfuhtyuraes,idaen—d il- \"COanrocleinUe pOo’BnoayleTiomf TeruinstHfoorllPyuwbolicodLa: nd on eadd(apCnsdriissosgOuccgoalDoorctgasivvAeameem(t)CisrroiessnnOwnssstaDit.hhthoAIMeenc)’’issnatoihnsimaanepeamigglriegfuooMihsnoootahiwddtoiyinnnfssdeegtiihernnsevfggahseueeimhlpoprri,,npicalyeegonrvdmsfeaicannmingvadiicly wluhmyinthaitseyneoatrh’sintgheumnleesosf the \"reAavdaielarbslehaCreitys\"the AtheNDovoeulg\"lass 18 Mini-golf course [project], fiseteisshp.eTchiaalltyisimthpeoritnasnigt hmteDtaapvhidoCricraolnlyeannbderg wBhyicQhuheanstibneeTnaraabnotuint oa three-year process. eCmvhueicsnaicgaaolmApurrcoshidcitieagclytp.uroedBigieyn.nial, Craig phraadctinicaldlya. pting J. G. Ballard’s “Crash” to the THhaisrpheasr Palelorweendniuasl,to40b6uipldargeelastionships 656464
Name Lit the Thing Kyle Beachy/Photo: Michael Worful A Conversation with Kyle Beachy about “The Most Fun Thing: Dispatches from a Skateboard Life” By Joshua Bohnsack What is skateboarding? When are you doing the thing? Is it the moment you arrive at the spot or the park? Are you skateboard- ing when you’re on your way to the park? Or when you put your shoes on and grab your board? “When does skateboarding start? Is it when I stretch? Is it when I put on the video before I stretch? Is it when I wake up and think, ‘ah, I get to go skating.’ Like when does it start?” When I met up with Kyle Beachy to skate and talk about his new book, “The Most Fun Thing,” the moment I felt I was skateboarding, was walking with him on the sidewalk, my deck under my arm. Heading out to the skate spot, a freshly paved side street next to City Lit, Beachy’s favorite Chicago bookstore, we talk about literature and academia, and Beachy stops me mid-sentence to say, “Look at these peonies. Wow.” They’re in full bloom on a late spring afternoon. Helicopters rove overhead, anticipating the protest scheduled that evening in Logan Square. Beachy sets up a discarded crate someone essays, “The Most Fun Thing” was written After the success of his first novel, “The Slide,” AUGUST 2021 Newcity had abandoned in the alley. We take turns directly to me, someone once obsessed by Kyle Beachy set out to write his skateboard ollying over the crate to warm up, with both skateboarding and literature. Beachy novel. He wanted to create something Beachy stepping up the tricks as we tells me that’s not the case, “For all intents that pushed the bounds of narrative form, progress. He 180s the box; he kickflips it. and purposes, the person I wrote this for something that would capture what it means Meanwhile on the ground, I land a heelflip was me. I wrote it because it seemed to me to skateboard; to be part of this activity of the and push around the lot, and consider the there was a conversation about skateboarding body, mind and culture of skateboarding. question he’s posed during our conversation: that I wanted to have that didn’t seem to be What is skateboarding? going on anywhere. And so I wrote these Beachy notes skateboarding is limited in its things to have the conversation.” language. Skateboarders agree on names of The last time I felt such kinship while reading a book of essays was Haruki Murakami’s “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running” or Elisa Gabbert’s “The Word Pretty.” I can’t help but imagine Kyle Beachy’s memoir-in- 65
important time for skateboarding, aside from its invention thanks in part to collectives like froSkate and Skate Like a Girl. “This is the decade when the most meaningful changes happened. It seems to me like skateboarding has become more diverse in terms of identities and inclusions and subjectivities.” He notes the acceptance even stems to diversity of abilities. This concept is something skate- boarding culture has revolved around, but, hopefully as the language evolves, the concepts will become more solidified. For example, Beachy knows his friend Zach is a technically better skater than he is, but says, “There’s no fear that Zach being really good is going to make my skating less fun.” Newcity AUGUST 2021 LIT TOP 5 tricks, of particulars, like frontside versus There are meta moments within the text where backside, like a smith versus a feeble grind. Beachy recalls criticism of an essay placed 1 Naomi Hirahara. Madison We can put these terms on the movements earlier in the book, and at certain points we are Street Books. The author of the skater’s body and boards. We have given glimpses of the skateboarding novel that discusses her Chicago-set novel this language, but how do we talk about it as this book is not, but has spawned from. It is “Clark and Division” in virtual an art form? Beachy poses a comparison, grappling with existentialism. conversation with Erik Matsunaga. “If I’m well-versed in the language of poetry, August 6, 7pm I can tell you, ‘formally it feels this’ or ‘the Beachy has an ongoing joke with a friend who persona of this poem strikes me as this.’ We is reading “The Most Fun Thing.” His friend 2 Elly Fishman. American have these tools, but in skating those tools asks a question about the book, and Beachy Writers Museum + Seminary haven’t been established. It’s not because replies, “This is it. You’re part of the book, Co-op. The author hosts a virtual we don’t have the poetics, it’s because man. You’re in it.” When it’s all intrinsic to his discussion of her Chicago-set book skateboarding just hasn’t turned that corner passion, how can we expect him to separate the “Refugee High: Coming of Age on language to be able to say, ‘Well, why?’ the love of skateboarding from himself? in America.” August 10, 6:30pm And so we end with like, ‘Oh, that’s dope.’” The question was how to approach the 3 Marc Ribot. The Book “The Most Fun Thing” stemmed from that concept of skateboarding. “I guess the only Cellar. The legendary trouble with language to recreate the feeling way that I was ever going to be comfortable musician discusses “Unstrung: of skateboarding. “I was at a point where writing about myself was writing about myself Rants and Stories of a Noise trying to write the skateboard novel, I as the person who had been writing about Guitarist” in virtual conversation with continued to run into the same sort of skateboarding.” In turn, that means writing Kurt Hollander. August 15, 1pm problems, which was, it just felt very didactic. about his life in relation to skateboarding, I was doing a certain kind of work to try to and the people in his life. Beachy’s marriage 4 Kaveh Akbar. Women get at this thing that I believed about skate- is at the forefront of the book through their and Children First. The boarding. So the original thought was, if I problems, their arguments, and their love. The Iranian-American poet and Purdue write some essays, I could maybe drain relationship serves as the basic element, tying professor reads outdoors in-person that particular part of my brain and get that into the question of human motivation that from his new book, “Pilgrim Bell.” idea-driven and didactic part out. To be able Beachy’s writing alludes to. Skateboarding is August 21, 6pm to have a venue to say the thing: Here’s the lens that allows him to ask “Why?” what’s interesting about skateboarding.” 5 Lisa Sukenic. Women and “And I think the question of ‘Why is that?’ is Children First. The Chicago “The essays were a chance to work non- worth asking,” he says. “Why is there this thing educator discusses her children’s narratively and also confront the challenges that I do all the time, that I love doing, that novel, “Miles From Motown,” in I was having at the time and continue to hurts me, and it’s getting harder every day virtual conversation with Carol have with narrative as an art form,” Beachy of my life, because my body’s breaking down Coven Grannick. August 22, 6pm explains. “As probably anyone who’s alive in and I’m not as good at it as I was when I the twenty-first century should be, I’m very was twenty-two. Why do I keep doing it?” 66 suspicious of narrative. And to be able to write about skateboarding for me was always “What is this thing?” and “Why do I keep a chance to try to find a narrative form that doing it?” will always be the biggest questions was true to skateboarding.” of this conversation that Beachy has ignited. There’s no definitive answer, but since reading The subjects of Beachy’s writing reach “The Most Fun Thing,” I want to grab my beyond the semantics of skateboarding, to board, ride to the closest skate spot, and the exploitation of the industry and the try to figure it out. systemic homophobia around it. While he is not afraid to name these problems, Beachy “The Most Fun Thing: Dispatches notes 2010 to 2020 has been the most from a Skateboard Life” by Kyle Beachy, Grand Central Publishing, 256 pages
Music John Darnielle As a Matter Of Fact, It’s All Dark The Mountain Goats Return With “Dark In Here” By Craig Bechtel Of all John Darnielle’s album titles, “Dark In Here” might be the best description of his mindset yet, and that’s saying something. On his twentieth-something record as The Mountain Goats since 1994, Darnielle embraces the darkness lyrically and themati- cally, yet the music is anything but dark. Throughout these dozen tracks Darnielle early 1990s. The single “Mobile” follows, and dense instrumentation brings to mind AUGUST 2021 Newcity mines the coal-black vein of his perennial and at this point it’s a welcome moment Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit,” and obsessions: science-fiction, horror, the occult, of mellowness, a leisurely, almost Adult the dark psychedelia could be triggered by religion (angels and demons) and heavy metal Contemporary ballad that places Darnielle the brownest of psychoactive mushrooms. music, but in jaunty, jazzy fashion. So it seems on a balcony on the Alabama Gulf, imagining “It’s dark as a coal mine filling up with gas, like Darnielle—who started as The Mountain himself as Jonah, awaiting instructions or I stand ready for the blast,” he continues, Goats just buzz-sawing across his acoustic a gesture from God, expecting a great gust and concludes just before the track reaches guitar into a basement boombox and shouting to blow him into the mouth of the Gulf and its eerie and bracing climax, “I live in the into a thrift store microphone like a punk rock into a fish’s mouth. darkness, it’s dark in here.” frontman untethered from his bandmates— has matured musically, while mining the same “It’s high noon somewhere, it’s dark in here,” The simmering, contemplative, jazzy experi- rich vein of darkness that characterized his Darnielle sings on the title cut in his trademark ment “Lizard Suit” follows. Darnielle’s clipped early gothic themes. adenoidal tenor. While the music on this one delivery belies the tastemaker (or has-been, is of a piece with the rest, the lurching rhythm it’s never made clear) persona he assumes, The album begins with the breathless one- two punch of “Parisian Enclave,” which paints a picture of rats nesting in the catacombs under the City Of Lights in under ninety seconds, and the rocking cut, “The Destruc- tion of the Kola Superdeep Borehole Tower,” inspired by an abandoned Soviet-era mission to bore the deepest hole in the earth’s crust, and the derelict station left behind since the 67
someone who wears “my lizard suit to the when he chooses to rhapsodize eloquently party, it’s so hard to get noticed in this town.” (I’m not sure he’s ever not been eloquent) The dueling jazz piano parts eventually collide about “The Slow Parts On Death Metal Albums,” he comes at it from a respectful into chaos about four minutes in and with perspective. He includes details like “alien a quickness, it’s over. Horns provide the ships from ancient realms,” “ageless captains counterpoint to the more traditional piano at their helms” and “rage at the sea, let it begin MUSIC TOP 5 parts on the similarly ominous “When A Powerful Animal Comes.” The narrator in this with me,” and if this track plods, it does so 1 Willie Nelson. Ravinia, song says his group will “practice our prayers deliberately, extracting the “slow parts” and Highland Park. At eighty-eight, investing them with the meditative jazz-fest Nelson has ventured so far beyond until some small hope crystallizes, follow the iconography that his concerts death metal acts have always begged for probably qualify as rites of shoreline until some better hope arises,” but veneration. The reopened Ravinia (Spinal Tap Mark Two, anyone?). At almost Park should be the perfect backdrop then, only a moment later, they “behold the for him, weather permitting (and five-and-a-half minutes it’s one of the longer even if weather doesn’t). August 14 beast awakes” and they “stand trapped in tracks on “Dark In Here,” and it comes close, 2 Patti Smith. Canal Shores his great shadow when the dawn breaks.” Golf Course, Evanston. but doesn’t overstay its welcome. Punk’s poet laureate has earned a We are left to imagine what happens next, reputation both as an activist and a memoirist that looms as large as the cut concludes with a gorgeous instru- For my money, the most beautiful moment as her musical career; but as a performer she’s still fierce, riveting, mental postlude in which the horn parts on the record comes toward the end of the uncompromising—and unmissable. August 5 intertwine with sparkling piano playing and running order. “Before I Got There” is a 3 Gladys Knight. Ravinia, dissolve into shimmering cymbals. string-laden lament undergirded by a tribal Highland Park. After more than six decades of building a peerless Whereas most would be terrorized by a drum pattern, beginning with a lengthy R&B catalog—first with her backup singers, the Pips, then as a solo sighting of the headless horsemen, for The instrumental introduction until Darnielle spouts artist—Knight remains the un-diva: no drama, nothing to prove, just Mountain Goats it’s an opportunity—“and more of his trademark evocative imagery. seriously top-flight soul singing. August 18 as you approached, I could sense the threat,” “The acrid smell of burning branches / The Darnielle sings, “but a stranger’s just a friend relics all in ruin / Broken blades atop the altar / 4 John Mayall. City Winery. Cheap substitutions” is just how “Before I Got Over the course of his very who hasn’t shared his secrets yet.” While long career, the venerable British There” begins, and then he sees the bodies blues man has played with nearly there may be lurking ulterior motive in the everyone and accrued every of his fellow worshippers. Is he imagining a imaginable honor; here in the U.S., shape of a camouflaged marksman on “To he’s never become a household Crusade leader coming upon his soldiers name. Maybe this tour will do it. The Headless Horseman,” at worst it’s August 22 self-defense and the affection for this character massacred in their house of worship? It certainly seems that way. Or do the references 5 Lake Street Dive. Ravinia, is unmistakable. On the bouncy “The New Highland Park. The beguiling to “fallout” later in the song couch the song quintet released its seventh studio Hydra Collection” Darnielle imagines himself album, “Obviously,” earlier this year, as a bit-player in a sci-fi B-movie, a lab worker in the mise-en-scène of a post-nuclear and it’s still hard to pin down its who intones on the choruses that “someday, apocalypse? Has there ever been a more eclectic, jazz-pop-R&B-plus sound; all of you people will know, the safe way isn’t gorgeous and heartfelt song written about it’s harder still to resist it. August 26 such a circumstance, regardless? If you’re the only way to go.” As their experiment 68 following along at home, the answer is no. proceeds, “all around the monitor station, big smiles, high-fives,” and “according to my projections, everybody’s gonna run for their “Arguing With The Ghost Of Peter Laughner lives.” The music may be mellower, but there’s About His Coney Island Baby Review” asks the spirit of the infamous Creem critic (and no mistake that this is the same Darnielle contributor to Rocket From The Tombs and who brought us “Lovecraft In Brooklyn,” later Pere Ubu), who died in 1977, to give Lou “Damn These Vampires,” and “How To Em- Reed’s 1976 album another chance. Perhaps brace A Swamp Creature.” Darnielle is arguing that “Coney Island Baby” While some of the songs are rooted in their could be better appreciated if Laughner wasn’t geography, such as on the kick-off cut and under the influence of alcohol and drugs and “Kola Superdeep Borehole Tower,” this is not had excluded the anecdote of a physical an album that resolves around a central marital altercation related to the aforesaid geographical theme, such as earlier Mountain substances from his published critique. Thankfully, like most things The Mountain Goats records like “Full Force Galesburg,” Goats do, the results are oblique and poetic “Tallahassee” and “All Hail West Texas.” Nor as opposed to pedantic and preachy. does it revolve around religion specifically, like the loosely themed “Heretic Pride” and the very tightly themed “The Life Of The World To While “Let Me Bathe In Demonic Light” might Come.” Instead, it’s all about the dark. While not be the best song on the record, it certainly sums up some of the recurrent themes nicely. instrumentally at times one can hear the orchestral pop approach of a suburban-light “There I’ll Be,” John Darnielle sings on the soaked U.K. band like The Clientele, the light choruses, “and who among you is coming we’re seeing here is more the streetlights and with me, to show me my one true faith?” He pauses, then continues “when I arrive at glimpses of light from doorways penetrating dark shadows. At times I’m seeing the green my preordained place.” It’s yet another song Newcity AUGUST 2021 shadows at the top of “The Exorcist’s” staircase. about death and dying, and religion, but like most of “Dark In Here,” it’s a joyous Darnielle’s affection for death metal is such meditation on that (perceived) darkness. that “The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Until then, Darnielle implies, he’ll continue Denton” is one of his best-known composi- to “bathe” in his “demonic light,” and all of tions (and funniest) and when he literally his listeners are invited to bask in the same. wrote the book on Black Sabbath’s “Master Of Reality” (via 33 1/3), he chose a fictionalized The Mountain Goats perform at SPACE (1245 Chicago in Evanston) on August 24 approach and assumed the persona of a and 25. Both shows are sold out. youth in a mental institution. So naturally,
Deeply Rooted Dancers in “GOSHEN” Stage /Photo: Ken Carl Stages of Healing Nicole Clarke-Springer Guides Deeply Rooted Through a Pandemic to the Pritzker Pavilion By Sharon Hoyer Nicole Clarke-Springer stepped into What changed? turned on their head. It felt like a black hole AUGUST 2021 Newcity the creative helm of Deeply Rooted Dance and I was slowly maneuvering my way, Theater in 2019, gently tapped by Kevin Iega I fell in love with it. I like being a teacher inch-by-inch. But it allowed me to have space Jeff, the company’s co-founder and former and a nurturer—I’m a nurturer by nature, the to learn what happened in the past. We’ve artistic director. When the pandemic struck oldest of four. That instinct deepened as the been here twenty-five years and it’s not built shortly thereafter, Clarke-Springer found firm years went by. When we began to talk about on sinking sand. Kevin Iega Jeff had a strong footing atop the company’s deep roots, a it seriously years later, this was something that vision and left me something to springboard solid foundation from which she could imagine would change my and my family’s life. So from. I also saw this was an opportunity to a future freed from the rules—or perceived we sat down as a family to talk about it. My create anything I desired. There were no rules. rules—of the past. Now Clarke-Springer husband is a football coach at Northwestern, guides Deeply Rooted into a twenty-fifth so he understands dreams. My kids are my I thought back to that first show I did for my anniversary season marked by evening- biggest cheerleaders, and I’m an example aunt. I had no idea about funding, I didn’t length performances at two of Chicago’s of how you can go for your dreams. know any of those rules, I just did it. I had a largest venues. job at Sears selling lingerie in the underwear And you’re only the second-ever artistic department and I figured that’s how I’d save You say you never saw yourself as director of this company. the money for the small theater space we had an artistic director. How come? in Joliet. My brother drew the posters up. I Yes, I was surprised, tapped as a woman. didn’t know what rules I was breaking. When It’s funny; I never saw myself in this position. COVID hit, I thought, “There are no rules When I danced with the company years ago, You took the helm not long before anymore. You’ve been here before.” I’ve my aunt, who had diabetes, passed away. the pandemic. As someone who never chosen to have that childlike faith. You don’t She was a dancer and I wanted to have a pictured themselves in a position like know to be afraid. memorial, to do something for her. I decided this, how have you thought about to have a show and donate the proceeds to being a new leader in a time of head- I want to be a facilitator for the artists, to help the American Diabetes Association. When the spinning change? them find the way and not always have the company came back over the summer and answers. As the eldest child I have an instinct Iega heard about it, he looked at me and Like so many directors having no idea when to try and have the answers. But I just have to asked, “Would you ever want to be an artistic COVID hit, it was twofold: good and bad. provide a space that’s easy and safe to help director?” I said, “Heck, no!” I couldn’t see my way through—our norms them figure it out for themselves. 69
Deeply Rooted Dancers in “GOSHEN”/ Photo: Ken Carl Newcity AUGUST 2021 STAGE TOP 5 That sounds like the insight of a leader Yes it is. Kevin Iega Jeff in making this who’s been doing it for years. Does this relationship with Donald Lawrence created 1 School Girls; Or, The African play in any way into the anniversary year something profound. The story of Exodus is Mean Girls Play. Goodman theme of “Beyond Dance”? about moving through—the pain of those Theatre. The acclaimed comedy people moving through and coming to the by Jocelyn Bioh, directed by Lili- We wanted to be able to provide opportunities other side. We’re strong believers in the Anne Brown, was slated to open for dancers to continue within the epidemic. power of the universe and how we can bring March 2020 and now reopens the Dancers are resilient: We know how to move the synergy and energy together, and grow Goodman’s Albert Theatre doors. through the pain, to move beyond it. And together and get to a place of healing. July 30 – August 29 we’ve proven it; dancers have taken it to I know that’s what’s happening now. different spaces, we moved beyond what’s 2 Dance For Life. Pritzker binding us. It’s beyond dance. It’s human And Deeply Rooted has another big Pavilion. The annual fundraiser spirit, it’s resilience. downtown venue performance coming to cover health care for dancers has up in October. never been more needed than in Themes in the company’s upcoming its thirtieth year, with performances show at the Pritzker Pavilion, “A Deeply Yes! This is the first of hopefully three years by Joffrey Ballet, Hubbard Street, Rooted Evening for Chicago’s Healing: at the Auditorium Theatre. It’s a relationship Giordano, South Chicago Dance GOSHEN”… we’re trying to cultivate to hopefully make the Theatre, Trinity Irish Dance Company, Auditorium our home for the fall season. Movement Revolution Dance Crew We need it. Not just Chicago’s community, but This is my pet project. You should see my wall; and DanceWorks Chicago. August 26 the human community has been through a lot. my brother calls it my CSI wall with strings There are two pandemics going on at once: connecting everywhere. I’m kind of obsessed 3 A Deeply Rooted Evening for COVID and a racial pandemic. It happened at with this season. The theme is pretty apropos Chicago’s Healing: GOSHEN. a moment when we were forced to go within. for who we are: “Roots and Wings.” It’s Kevin Pritzker Pavilion. Deeply Rooted We weren’t distracted by outside things Iega Jeff and Gary Abbot who set the vision Dance Theater turns to the Book of happening. Coming out of it, we can’t leave and created a solid foundation for me, and it’s Exodus to explore themes of power those things behind. You have to work it out allowed me to think higher than myself and and deliverance from oppression in and have a balm on a wound. I hope this I’m just ready to fly. We have this foundation this new evening-length piece with performance does that. With music by Donald that’s supportive and loving and kind. choreography by Kevin Iega Jeff and Lawrence and Le’Andria Johnson and Zeke live performances by gospel artists Locke, it’s an evening of healing. Good gospel Deeply Rooted Dance Theater presents “A Le’Andria Johnson, Zeke Locke and music, and not how to get past, but how to Deeply Rooted Evening for Chicago’s Healing: the Tri-City Singers. August 25 move through what we’ve got going on now. GOSHEN” at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, Wednesday, August 25 at 7:30pm. 4 Mr. Burns, a post-electric The performance is framed by the Free. Info on the twenty-fifth anniversary play. Theater Wit. Theater Wit Book of Exodus? season at deeplyrooteddancetheater.org. returns to the stage with a revival of its wildly popular post-apocalyptic comedy that has a little bit to do with the Simpsons and a lot to do with how we tell stories and make meaning. Opens August 27 5 Rhythm World. Various venues. Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s annual tap and rhythmic dance fest turns thirty under the direction of newly-dubbed artistic director Jumaane Taylor, with performances at Jazz Showcase, Navy Pier, the DuSable Museum and the MCA. Through August 14 70
AUGUST 2021 Newcity 71 eviews Installation view, “Reproductive: Health, Fertility, and Agency,” Museum of Contemporary Photography 2021. Installation view, Molly Zuckerman-Hartung “Flim Flam,” Corbett vs. Dempsey
Review Art and plagiarism of his work. Yoakum’s posed, quilt-like, into large-scale Out of Sight, Out of Line handmade copyright and refusal to sell works that alternate with the progres- A Review of Joseph E. Yoakum his original drawings underscores the sive beat of repeated strips—some- at the Art Institute of Chicago importance of ownership and circula- times vertical, sometimes horizontal. Joseph E. Yoakum’s drawings begin tion in his practice; both of these issues with lines on a sheet of paper. Sprout- come across most clearly when looking The motif is recapitulated in a series ing from the tips of graphite pencils, of smaller paper-based works. “Get ballpoint pens and felt-tip markers, at his detailed inscription system. his lines unfurl across the page like the Rhythm (for Alma Thomas)” and willowy tendrils. Dissecting, encircling and incising, the lines create impres- The act of inscription is central to “Z+P = ENERGY = P+Z (Working sions to be traced and cavities to be filled. The lines mark a beginning. Yoakum’s process. At an elementary together, working apart)” are sanco- Mirroring the artist’s process, “Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw,” begins with level, drawing itself is a form of writing— chos (a kind of stew popular in South a line: a timeline of Yoakum’s life. and Central America) of oil, enamel, Composed of a jagged outlined sinew its visual script manifested in the act form—one of Yoakum’s seven formal of translating the observed or remem- watercolor and wool string. They pulse devices identified by Chicago artist with the same crisp cadence as the Philip Hanson—the timeline extends bered into the imagined. Yoakum’s from Yoakum’s birth in 1891 to his paintings, but it’s the zig-zag accordion death in 1972. This linear chronology myriad mark-making, comprising provides a succinct history of Yoakum’s fold of the paper, rather than collage-like travels and relationships and details dashes, hatches and repetitive lines, his brief but prolific career as an artist strips, that propel the lateral movement. in his last decade of life. exude a signature style. His works The viewer is carried along with the jam: An artist’s biography risks overshadow- require no formal signature; his ing an artist’s practice, but the curators inventive draughtsmanship and copying backing up, closing in, looking from take great care to let Yoakum’s work the left then the right. Despite their size, stand its ground. Issues such as methods sign themselves. And yet, Yoakum’s unreliable narration, spirituali- these are bossy pieces. ty and racial identity are presented his compositions carry titles and in minimal wall text and introduced through works on view. A tracing additional inscriptions of authority such of a white model in a hair product as dates, signatures and other markers As in her previous show with Corbett advertisement for a portrait of Ella vs. Dempsey, the works’ expressive Fitzgerald imparts a complicated to distinguish between originals and relationship to blackness—a term statement is more formal than concep- used in lowercase throughout the copies. His landscapes and portraits exhibition to acknowledge Yoakum’s tual. “Flim-Flam” refers to a con. And complex self-identification. A drawing enact an authority in being named, of his birthplace states an inaccurate while the show could be a very oblique date of birth and depicts a house dated and signed. No matter how inconsistent with the styles of the time. fantastical or fallacious his renderings reference to the culture of conspiracy that has exploded over the past year, it appear, the annotations perform and seems more likely to be an inessential bear witness to an original act of bit of wordplay. Zuckerman-Hartung is seeing. When we look at Yoakum’s usually associated with a generation of drawings, we see what he saw. artists—mostly women, mainly paint- “Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw” ers—for whom the gestalt notions of presents a matter-of-fact account of “good design” have been under scrutiny Yoakum’s creative output. To under- for more than a decade. The works in stand Yoakum’s life and his work we “Flim-Flam” carry on that tradition but at need only look at the lines he laid a more succinct tempo. (Alan Pocaro) down. (Alexandra Drexelius) “Flim-Flam” is on view through “Joseph E. Yoakum: What I Saw,” August 7 at Corbett vs. Dempsey, at the Art Institute of Chicago, 111 2156 West Fulton. South Michigan through October 18. Ancient Technique, Make/Shift Contemporary Attitude A Review of Tai Xiangzhou A Review of Molly Zuckerman- at the Art Institute of Chicago Hartung at Corbett vs. Dempsey Biographical matters are covered in Simmering with accent and inflection, Traditional Chinese brush painting is usually confined to a small alcove at greater detail in the catalogue, but the Molly Zuckerman-Hartung’s latest the Art Institute of Chicago—a space exhibition with Corbett vs. Dempsey, no larger than a walk-in closet. But exhibition foregrounds technique and unlike its approach to traditional forms “Flim-Flam,” is all about finding the of European art, the museum does not form. Loosely organized by broad ignore a traditional Chinese painting just groove. The show is vivified by an because it was made recently. In 2018, thematic categories—landscape, the museum filled five galleries with the emphatic take on repetition and monumental landscapes of Xu Longsen. portraits, memory and technique— Now equal space has been given to the invigorated by her idiosyncratic landscapes of Tai Xiangzhou. European the work is further sorted by pictorial painting has not looked back so far since approach to improvisation. In contrast the neoclassicism of the French Academy. content: topographies ruptured by But as Tai quotes Confucius: “Students of to past exhibitions, the eleven works the past study for themselves, students roads and railways; environments of the present study for others.” marked by boats and bodies of water; on display feel focused and concise, adjectives that don’t usually apply What Tai has studied for himself are natural scenes cut through by man- the canonical landscapes of the Song made structures and unwieldy cyclones. to the artist’s technique. Dynasty. He has researched and mastered their techniques and materi- Newcity AUGUST 2021 The curators reveal the mechanics The rhythms are still staccato, though, als and occasionally even copied them. behind Yoakum’s work through brimming with off-kilter adjacency. His “Mountain of Heaven” (2014) is a juxtapositions of his original mono- And disparate materials and colorful chrome line drawings and his copies marks frequently collide. But there’s made using carbon paper, each a superstructure at work keeping the subsequently filled in with rich washes players from veering too far off on their of watercolor and pastel. His copying own. In “Color Steps,” “This Neck of system—a cost-effective invention the Woods” and “Darkness is to Space before the popularization of the as Silence is to Sounds,” canvas is Xerox machine—was a way to protect brushed, stained, splattered and against unauthorized reproductions slashed. The fragments are recom- 72
close copy of “Winter Landscape with compositional variety and cosmological that our beloved stories improve, in Reviews Temples and Travelers” by Fan Kuan concept are all admirable. It’s not both historical accuracy and even (c. 960-1030). But as you might notice possible, however, to survive in such entertainment value, when the heroes from the title given to his piece, it says a world, much less find harmony. and heroines realign. Or maybe he is nothing about travelers. Tai left them Sooner or later that massive chaotic just reminding us that somewhere off out—and indeed, does not depict disintegration is the destiny of every the page and screen, there is a whole a single human figure anywhere in person, tribe, nation and even the other reality that does not necessarily this large exhibition. Why introduce planet itself. Such bold nihilism is sync with our sentimental (and wholly those quarrelsome primates when one way to “bridge the gulf between white) vision of who we are and how we the time-space universe emerged over thirteen billion years before us “Mountain of and our stay will likely be brief? Yet it Heaven,” 2014, does appear that some kind of harmo- Tai Xiangzhou. ny between Man and Universe was intended by the great painters of the Collection of Chinese tradition. The age-darkened Tai Xiangzhou, silk of Fan Kuan’s painting makes it difficult to view online, but its pictorial courtesy energy still flows from its towering Art Institute mountain peak all the way down to of Chicago the tiny human figures who cross a serpentine footbridge far below. One might also notice that Tai has handled the details of rock and foliage some- what differently. Where the rock feels worn and the branches softly bend in the Song original, Tai’s brush strokes bite into space more aggressively. Powerful gentleness has been replaced by awe, coldness and perhaps a little fear, and that continues throughout the exhibition, which includes two quite different multi-piece projects. In Gallery 101A hangs an album of ancient traditions and contemporary got to be this way. Then again, it’s just AUGUST 2021 Newcity thirty-six paintings of flowing, rippling artistic practice,” as exhibition verbiage a really fine story: cleverly imagined, or choppy water, based on a similar proudly affirms. But it’s also a bridge well written, entertaining and thoughtful. project done 800 years earlier by Ma to a lifeless world and obliteration. If Yuan. Straddling the busy main corridor the arts won’t lead us toward a better In the Chicago Quarterly Review’s of the museum, quite removed from life, what will? (Chris Miller) “Anthology of Black Literature,” the rest of the show, this is not the best guest-edited by the esteemed Charles place to view meditational art works. “Cosmoscapes: Ink Paintings by Johnson, we get a nice balance of They’ve also been poorly lit and rather Tai Xiangzhou,” at the Art Institute poetry, short stories, essays, novel than being set into cases, have been of Chicago, 111 South Michigan, excerpts, interviews and artwork that matted flush against glass that reflects through September 20. share an abiding respect, concern and everything else in the gallery. It’s not deep intelligence about a wide variety fair to judge them with all that distrac- Lit of Black cultural and societal issues. tion, but you can compare Ma Yuan’s The contributors come at Black and Tia Xiangzhou’s depictions of A Greater Humanity American life in many different ways. autumn waters on the museum website A Review of Chicago Quarterly There is no explicit theme (other than and determine for yourself which piece Review’s Anthology of Black Black and American), but there is an has a relentless rhythm of tension and American Literature intensity that runs through the literary elegance, and which piece feels grim, explorations. This intensity derives from shabby and disposable. In David Nicholson’s “that’s why darkies the subject matter, but more so from were born,” we find ourselves inside a the intimacy the authors share with the The Ando Gallery contains the show- reconstruction of “The Adventures of subject matter. Delia C. Pitts’ narrator piece of the entire exhibition: nine Huckleberry Finn” from the perspective begins her short story “Talladega 1925” floor-to-ceiling scrolls which together of Jim; in a Bedford Falls that is a Black by letting her reader know that, in her are called “Parallel Universes.” They community; seeing Scarlett O’Hara mind, her baby sister’s birth around are just as impressive as the ten-foot through the eyes of a house slave; and that time superseded in historical pillars of the Xu Longsen exhibition. watching piano player Sam as Elsa’s importance the Klan rally that tromped Untethered from traditional Chinese “Casablanca” paramour. The story’s through her neighborhood. It’s one art, the aesthetic is more about unique form lends itself to playfulness of many examples in this anthology confronting the infinite rather than and yet at the core is a deadly serious where the storyteller is inside a moment. creating an enjoyable experience— examination of an American cultural This up-close quality bumps against and it’s been done on a gigantic scale. history that has left out, distorted truths much more specific and tangible It’s a world without people, plants, and marginalized an entire population. than ordinary prose, even in the simple, animals, rivers, mountains or even Nicholson seems to be letting us know nuanced understanding of Black gravity. It’s a world of flying matter that often seems to coalesce into shapes that resemble the decrepit skulls of monsters. The ambition, technique, 73
Review (“darker than any,” “penny-brown gates his own awkward interpret selection into complexion,” “custard-smooth skin,” coming-of-age experience. an anthology as an and “with fine, smooth Black skin that Cliff is an almost socially accomplishment, or at stretched across his gleaming skull dysfunctional, scrawny least validation of the and over the cords of his neck to and afraid adolescent, contributor’s work. In disappear under his white collar shirt.”) disappearing from essence, those writers problems real and in the anthology are There is no singular Black life. Any imagined in the pages of the chosen ones. attempts to pinpoint a definitive comic books and his own The quality of work commonality gravitate toward cliché, efforts to create similar in this anthology ranges as so many Chicago literary masters— art. He learns to fight, at from exquisite to least a little, but his real Cyrus Colter, Willard Motley, Leon merely competent, breakthrough comes when Forrest, Gwendolyn Brooks, Lorraine though much more he reads “Catcher in the Hansberry and so on, through to the of the former than latter. anthology’s editor—have demonstrated Rye,” a story that speaks to him in ways even more But even the pedestri- time and again. There is, however, a profound than the Marvel universe. an writing in this anthology, because shared history filled with joys and On the surface, this is a colorblind story, of theme or tone or style, manages to triumphs as well as atrocities and but what the anthology highlights is that work as part of this crazy quilt. The burdens. And, of course, bigotry. there is no such thing—the author is a list of contributors, including the likes Steven Barnes, in his essay, “Rudy,” recounts how being placed in the slow Black man and as such his experiences of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Rita Dove are necessary as that. and National Book Award winner reading group “because of my skin Johnson, is impressive, and even the color” had an impact on his life. Johnson, Of course, this anthology includes relatively unheralded writers clearly in his short story “Night Shift,” points out “As a young Black man, you were of equally compelling pieces, like Jerald belong here. This is not, nor is it course always at risk from the moment Walker’s “An American Right” that intended to be, a definitive publication you were born.” In his poem “Slow explicitly investigate issues of race. of the best Black voices. Rather, it Dance,” Clarence Major’s “grandma” Walker’s essay successfully straddles is an eloquently curated representation remembers, “centuries of human bodies/ the line between a scholarly study and of the enormous talent and range on rotundas handled by the calloused/ a personal reflection, bringing to bear working, right now, in the Black hands of rude sellers of human flesh.” his own history on weighty, controver- cultural community. sial topics like cultural appropriation. For almost a quarter century, the In the pages of this anthology, there is Chicago Quarterly Review, founded by something like solidarity amongst the Throughout these pages, we visit or contributors, who share an appreciation revisit historical moments, real and Syed Afzal Haider, has consistently put of cultural heroes and a spirited determi- imagined, such as Booker T. Washing- out a topnotch journal that offers an nation to articulate Black life. In doing so, ton’s aborted fishing trip with W.E.B. assortment of new and established the contributors look at victories that Dubois, and an ironic lynching. We voices. The editorial staff and board, might be sustained and atrocities that dive into current events, like murders including truly outstanding people like might be overcome. Jan Willis, in her at the hands of police, the pandemic, Elizabeth McKenzie, Gary Houston, Peter Ferry and John Blades (just to article “…Stayed On Freedom” reminds and the politics of Donald Trump. We that white men enslaving Black people touch base with pop culture in the cite a few I know very well), are devoted, for their own profit spoke that lofty form of Fred Sanford and Don Corne- smart and passionate. CQR has put out around a hundred issues (give or take: Declaration of Independence line about lius and Will Smith (not to mention all men being created equal. Much of “Dark Gable”), as well as more substan- quarterly is an approximate, with some tial figures like Charlie Parker and Etta years producing more or less than four), American history, likewise, has been plus a magnificent book (“My Postwar James and John Edgar Wideman. written by and filtered through white, Life,” 2012) of new writing on Japan powerful people, outsiders judging the In many cases, the tension or topic resonates with contemporary issues— and Okinawa, edited by McKenzie. Black condition as one does through a curtain on the other side of the street, it’s there below the surface. In other cases, the author makes these In “Anthology of Black American the double-paned glass muting any kind of soundtrack. The writers in this connections precisely and studiously, Literature,” Chicago Quarterly Review anthology are on the right side of the as when Willis tells us that the three has again produced a book that is as street. Pitts writes, “With its wide streets big immediate crises—the health important as it is overdue; as thrilling as and deep lawns, our town was beautiful pandemic, economic slump and racist it is edifying. Ultimately, the success of police brutality—are part of the same this anthology, all put together, lies in in the fall. Heavy oak and walnut trees problem. “We are witnessing, some the fact that it is by Black writers but darkened the wide sidewalks on the edge of the college campus. The smell perhaps for the first time, the intertwin- not exclusively for a Black audience. ing and interconnectedness of these These timely and considerate pieces of the burning leaves drifted from various phenomena all together.” are about love, friendship, family, about smoldering piles along the curbs in hopes and fears, as much as about the front of each house. I never visited “Anthology” is a fancy-sounding word any particular issue. This anthology is Newcity AUGUST 2021 the white part of town; I don’t know that means, literally, a “collection” or a work in which a greater humanity, if it was as beautiful as ours. I don’t “assortment.” In literary circles, though, not yet realized, is the focus, and the figure how it could have been.” it is presented as something more than sense that we can all do better for Some of the most poignant and just a “Best Of” compilation. The most one another is a sentiment that trumps even the central theme of race. beautiful writing in the anthology, such successful anthologies often strive, as Clifford Thompson’s brilliant essay, through an assortment of writing, to make a greater whole. The collected “Anthology of Black American Literature” “Ming Yang Fu, or Seeking Words at Age Thirteen,” tell stories only indirectly pieces share a connective tissue; each Edited by Charles Johnson related to race. Thompson’s personal must add something unique to the Chicago Quarterly Review, Vol. 33, narrative, broken into four parts, investi- larger investigation. We commonly 244 pages 74
Coming to Parks AUGUST 30 - SEPTEMBER 4, 2021 WATCH ONLINE September 5-25 chicagoparkdistrict.com/onscreen MOVIES IN THE PARKS IS SUPPORTED BY City of Chicago | Lori E. Lightfoot, Mayor This program is presented as part of the Chicago Park District’s Night Out in Chicago Park District | Board of Commissioners | Michael P. Kelly, General Superintendent & CEO the Parks. Arts programming in neighborhoods across the city advances the goals of the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Cultural Plan. Learn more at: www.nightoutintheparks.com For more information about your Chicago Park District, visit www.chicagoparkdistrict.com or call 312.742.7529 or 312.747.2001 (TTY).
NOW ON VIEW: OPENING SOON: TUESDAYS ON THE CHICAGO COMICS: 1960s GRAIN OF A HAND: DRAWINGS TERRACE TO NOW WITH GRAPHITE THROUGH AUG 31, 2021 THROUGH OCT 3, 2021 AUG 3, 2021–APR 3, 2022 Before the conclusion Explore the comics and Graphite is familiar to many of this year’s Tuesdays on stories of more than forty by way of the common pencil. the Terrace season, join Chicago cartoonists, whose Artists explore this humble us for the final month of live work spans six decades material as a way to trace bodies, jazz performances in the of visual storytelling. Reserve memories, and spaces—pushing MCA’s backyard. Reserve admission in advance. graphite off the page in tickets in advance. order to redefine drawing itself. MCA #MCAMadeYouLook MUSEUM OF mcachicago.org/look CONTEMPORARY ART CHICAGO
Search
