It’s rare for me to be surprised by a painting show, but I didn’t see “Taking Shape” coming. The exhibition is a generous survey of abstract art made from the 1950s to the 1980s, drawn from the collection of the Barjeel Art Foundation based in Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. “Taking Shape” includes the […]
Tag: Vol. 51 No. 26
Issue of September 29, 2022
Showing up for one another
Poet and organizer JazStarr builds bridges on the page and in the community
By Alejandro Hernandez
On the cover: Photo by ThoughtPoet. For more of ThoughtPoet’s work, go to thoughtpoetsopinion.com.
The Reader‘s guide to World Music Festival Chicago: Special 16-page insert inside! (PDF)
The guide is available as a separate PDF and is also included in the full print issue PDF. You can also browse the guide as a web page.
Find a print copy of the Reader.
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Posted inMusic
Comic art rapper Open Mike Eagle keeps on fighting
Chicago-born, Los Angeles-based rapper Open Mike Eagle is a seemingly inexhaustible font of laugh-out-loud one-liners, and he delivers as always on his latest album, Component System With the Auto Reverse (on his own Auto Reverse label). You need to be careful drinking anything while listening to it, lest uncomfortable snorking ensue when the rapper gets […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Drawing on the past
Most people are lucky to have one act that hits. William Horberg is well into his third. Horberg was born in Chicago and grew up around Belmont and Broadway in the Lakeview neighborhood in the 60s and 70s. He ran a repertory movie theater called the Sandburg at the corner of Division and Dearborn from […]
Posted inMusic
UK electronic-noise duo Petbrick create a tantalizing sonic universe on their new album, Liminal
Plenty of bands do a lot with compact lineups, but few can match the huge black-hole vortex of sound that Petbrick creates. The London-based duo of British multi-instrumentalist and producer Wayne Adams and legendary Brazilian metal drummer Iggor Cavalera came together a few years ago with a plan to make “horrible noise” without compromise. But […]
Posted inCity Life
Continuing education
It’s never too late to learn a new skill, or polish an old one. Chicago has many organizations that offer adult education classes and workshops designed to teach students new concepts, technical skills, or even new dance moves. Taking a class is a good way to set an ongoing friend date if you’re someone who […]
Posted inFilm
Riotsville, U.S.A.
Sierra Pettengill’s disquieting documentary uses only archival footage shot by the military and clips from period news coverage to explore this uncanny episode in the country’s history.
Posted inFilm
The African Desperate
Syms’s work—which ranges from performance art to gallery installations to this more straightforward narrative endeavor—is compelled by a preternaturally propulsive energy that sustains its momentum even as she explores various forms of expression.
Posted inFilm
‘Let’s make the funniest movie we can make’
I sat down with [Billy] Eichner and costar Luke Macfarlane to discuss the joy of the theatrical experience, bringing the film from idea to reality, and the exuberant messiness of loving both complicated people and communities.
Posted inMusic
Ben Zucker’s stirring compositions are built on a lifetime of musical curiosity
Born in Pennsylvania, Ben Zucker lived in Berkeley, New England, and London before moving to Chicago for a graduate composition program at Northwestern University. He was excited to come here to study because he’d been a longtime fan of the city’s rich, varied musical scenes, including the jazz stalwarts in the AACM and the adventurous […]
Posted inMusic
Ganser find the freedom beyond despair on Nothing You Do Matters
Dread can be suffocating, but Ganser make it work like a spark. On their new EP, Nothing You Do Matters (Felte), the Chicago postpunk four-piece take cues from dance punk for their end-of-the-world party music—they’re trying to build something worth living for in a hellscape that constantly finds boring new ways to make everyone feel […]
Posted inThe Sale of Douglass Park
A performance for the people
On a cloudy afternoon a couple of Saturdays ago, faint lyrics could be heard echoing down Marshall Boulevard, which exits Douglass Park on the park’s south side. The sound was not coming from any of the bands performing at Riot Fest inside the park, but a small crowd had gathered under the shade of nearby […]
Posted inFilm
Marilyn-Monroe; or, Blonde
Marilyn Monroe is the American public’s white whale, that which we seek to dominate and claim as our own.
Posted inNews & Politics
Writers on the wall
A new exhibit at the American Writers Museum featres prominent and lesser-known Black authors, poets, and journalists.