“The times call for group shows,” says Victor Armendariz, assistant director of the Ann Nathan Gallery. “So many artists aren’t getting exposure. “Also, it’s always interesting to see how works play off one another.” The 15 artists featured in Gallery Group, Ann Nathan’s current exhibition, vary widely in their subject matter and choice of media […]
Tag: Vol. 40 No. 38
Issue of Jun. 9 – 15, 2011
Posted inNews & Politics
Dodging dehydration and shin splints: a novice’s guide to running a marathon
I was something of a fat kid growing up. I was never morbidly obese, but I did receive a heckle or two in junior high, and I remember overhearing my proper southern grandmother voice her concerns to my parents during a dinner at a Frisch’s Big Boy (Cincinnati’s answer to Denny’s) in nineteen-ninety-whatever. My weight […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Chicago’s comedy secret? Margaret Hicks says it’s fail again, fail better.
“Chicago is different because it’s not on a coast, it’s different from New York or Los Angeles because you have the right to fail. You get more than one chance. You have the right to fail and pick yourself up and start again.” —Second City cofounder Bernard Sahlins, quoted in Chicago Comedy: A Fairly Serious […]
Posted inMusic
Soundboard, June 9-15
Alela Diane, Vee Dee, Tombs, Rihanna, the Neon Marshmallow fest with Spiral Joy Band, Pelt, and Mike Shiflet, and other notable shows
Posted inFood & Drink
Key Ingredient: Pastry chef Sandra Holl of Floriole copes with apricot kernels
The Chef: Sandra Holl (Floriole Cafe & Bakery) The challenger: Abra Berens (Bare Knuckle Farm) The ingredient: Apricot Kernels “A lot of people say that they’re poisonous,” Sandra Holl says of apricot kernels. “They are, I guess, in large amounts.” Apricot kernels—the seeds inside of apricot pits—contain the compound amygdalin, which some people believe can […]
Posted inMusic
Indie rock, alt-country, and 25 tons of smoked meat at Ribfest Chicago
Ribfest Chicago runs Fri-Sun 6/10-6/12 and promises not only 50,000 pounds of barbecued pork but also 25 hours of music on two stages. Located at the intersection of Lincoln, Irving Park, and Damen, the fest starts Friday at 5 PM; indie-rock acts like My Gold Mask and Jukebox the Ghost play the south stage, while […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Practical Theatre Company vets Paul Barrosse and Victoria Zielinski stage their first sketch revue in 20 years
Strange that Paul Barrosse and Victoria Zielinski think they need a script just to put on a show. Their compulsive give-and-take yielded a pretty strong hour of improv when I interviewed them. You’ll notice that I have exactly one line in the conversation excerpted below. But a script has been prepared and rehearsed. It consists […]
Posted inMusic
Neon Marshmallow gets smaller, stronger; remains strange
A collaboration between Dan Smith (who runs the Neon Blossom cassette label) and Matt Kimmell (who maintains the concert-video site acid-marshmallow.com), the Neon Marshmallow Music Festival showcases notable names in experimental music, from drone to noise to ambient to electronic. For its second edition, the fest moves from the Viaduct Theater to the Empty Bottle […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Scraps: New Andersonville pub Lady Gregory’s has risen from the flames
In early March, three weeks before it was to open, Lady Gregory’s (5254 N. Clark, 773-271-5050), a pub from Martin Cournane (Wilde Bar & Restaurant, Beckett’s Public House), was devastated by a fire that destroyed the entire newly furbished upstairs. (The kitchen, which is in the basement, was spared.) Now it’s set to open Monday, […]
Posted inFilm
Synth pioneer Morton Subotnick chats with the Sea and Cake’s John McEntire and Sam Prekop
The electronic musicians discuss the Buchla, music tech, and infinity.
Posted inFilm
Jean-Luc Godard takes back the culture with Film Socialisme
Even the title is a mass of contradictions. Jean-Luc Godard’s latest “film,” which opens Friday at Gene Siskel Film Center, was shot in a variety of video formats, ranging from crisp HD to bleary consumer-grade digital; the action, which takes place mostly on a luxury ocean liner and around a family-run gas station, involves capitalism […]
Posted inMusic
The Reader’s Guide to the Chicago Blues Festival
Early this year, citing financial crisis, the city of Chicago threatened to consolidate or eliminate most of its free lakefront music festivals, or at least to start charging admission to some of them. The cover-charge idea died on the vine, but four events—Viva! Chicago, the Country Music Festival, Celtic Fest, and the Gospel Music Festival—have […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Three Aces, Antico, Sable, and five more restaurants with new outdoor seating
Antico | Wicker Park/Bucktown | $$$ Tucked into what used to be an antique store just off Armitage in Bucktown, the aptly named Antico is by all appearances a typical neighborhood restaurant. Yet the unassuming facade masks a crack staff and kitchen under the direction of server Trinna Schramm, a former expediter at Alinea, and chef-owner […]
Posted inFilm
Beautiful Boy: my son, my son, what have ye done?
They say there’s nothing more painful than losing a child, but what about losing your child when he kills 20 people and then himself in a collegiate shooting rampage? This harsh chamber drama by first-time filmmaker Shawn Ku focuses tightly on a professional couple (Maria Bello and Michael Sheen, both excellent) who are thrust into […]