Nightlife, 1943, Archibald J. Motley, Jr.
  • Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  • Nightlife (1943), Archibald J. Motley Jr.

You’ve seen it before and it always looked good, but never this good: Archibald Motley Jr.’s Nightlife, mounted as the centerpiece of the Art Institute’s “They Seek a City: Chicago and the Art of Migration, 1910-1950.” Perfectly lit and hanging dead center against a deep blue wall as you enter the exhibit, it glows and pulses and pops with a life of its own. At left is a picture, but you’ve got to be there.

The exhibit includes about 80 works; it’s up through June 2.