For “Yo Soy Museo” at the National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago artist Alberto Aguilar mines the relationship between the museum and the artist, cannily playing with notions of display and presentation. Having the distinction of being the first exhibition in the museum’s history to not have to take out a single loan agreement, “Yo […]
Tag: Chicago
Posted inArts & Culture
Thank you and be happy
“Thank You for Shopping With Us,” a pop-up exhibition featuring Chicago artist Thomas Kong and curated by S.Y. Lim, conjures a holiday spirit from unnoticed everyday materials: packaging waste. Kong takes over the corner atrium at the Design Museum of Chicago with rows and rows of plastic thank-you bags that hang across the floor-to-ceiling windows. […]
Posted inMusic
The reinvention of indie music, chapter one
As far as the national press cared, Chicago’s 1990s indie-rock scene revolved around Smashing Pumpkins, Liz Phair, and Urge Overkill. I won’t say anything one way or the other about the merit of those artists, but their success had the felicitous side effect of persuading major labels to slosh irresponsible amounts of money around the […]
Posted inNews
Primary primer
The 2022 Illinois primary elections will soon be underway. Here’s everything you need to know.
Posted inOn Culture
No assignments, no deadlines, no promises, no job
It’s 1980, and I am unemployed. After giving up a staff writer job at the esteemed St. Petersburg Times to return to Chicago, I have found myself, as the saying goes, shit out of luck. Chicago has gone from four daily newspapers to two, and is awash in unemployed journalists, all more experienced than me. […]
Posted inNews & Politics
PPP aid flooded fast food outlets facing labor complaints
One McDonald’s chain in Chicago received half a million dollars in forgivable federal loans. Then came complaints of COVID-19 safety failures and a deadly outbreak.
Posted inNews & Politics
Activists say mayor’s police reform promises ring hollow
Lori Lightfoot has hampered the process of installing a police oversight council, activists say, despite making it a major part of her public safety platform during her mayoral run.
Posted inMusic
A tragic plane crash denied horn-rock juggernaut Chase their legacy
Bill Chase’s virtuosic nine-piece band, powered by four trumpets, belongs on the same pedestal as Chicago and Blood, Sweat & Tears.
Posted inMusic
Slide guitarist John Littlejohn brought Mississippi country blues to Chicago
John Littlejohn’s raw slide-guitar style grew from the same soil that produced Elmore James, but he never became a star outside the Windy City.
Posted inMusic
George ‘Wild Child’ Butler breathed new life into raw, old-fashioned blues
This stubbornly idiosyncratic harmonica player had lousy luck with recordings, but he thrived for four decades onstage.
Posted inMusic
Blues singer Lucille Spann earned a share of her famous husband’s spotlight
Most of Lucille Spann’s recordings were with her spouse, blues pianist Otis Spann, but she released a great solo album in 1974.
Posted inCity Life
Ode to the Green Line
A vital—and vexing—vehicle that connects Chicago’s Black communities on the south and west sides
Posted inCity Life
Field notes from the war on sex
A century ago, the Committee of Fifteen hunted for “houses of ill-fame.”
Posted inColumns & Opinion
‘Why do straight guys like anal so much?’ and other questions from live audiences
After a brief tour of the upper midwest, Dan Savage delves into the queries he didn’t get to.
Posted inNews & Politics
‘Enough is enough’
Many in Chicago’s Hong Kong community share common concerns for the safety of loved ones back home.