For International Repair Day on Saturday, October 15, artist and environmental activist Jenny Kendler, 42, hosted “Before and After: Mending a Life” along with artists Catherine Schwalbe and Katie Vota. “Before and After: Mending a Life,” a social practice project initiated by Schwalbe in 2021, was hosted by Kendler next to Mending Wall, Kendler’s interactive installation […]
Tag: Vol. 52 No. 1
Issue of October 13, 2022
NOW PLAYING!
Chicago’s history in movie ads
One Chicagoan’s pandemic lockdown project turned into a time capsule of the city’s moviegoing past.
By Yolanda Perdomo
Central Illinois police training for mental health cases questioned: Significant issues remain around police use of involuntary commitments. By Kelsey Turner and the Invisible Institute
Tough calls: When the police bring too many risks with them, where can you turn in a crisis? By Katie Prout
On the cover: Photo by Yijun Pan. For more of Pan’s work, go to yijunpan.com.
Find a print copy of the Reader.
←Previous issue | Next issue→
Posted inArt Feature
Jeanne Dunning looks at what’s left behind
The works in this exhibition radiate death. Roadkill is scattered around on the floor, from the upper level, to the stairs leading down to the exhibition space, to the main gallery. A massive mandala takes up most of that floor, made up of ash sourced from wood effigies the artist made of herself and then […]
Posted inFilm
Decision to Leave
Decision to Leave is a subtle masterpiece from Park Chan-wook, braiding a heart-stirring tenderness into a murderous thriller.
Posted inMusic
Chicago’s Christian Tabernacle Concert Choir honors its own traditions with its first album release in two decades
Legacy, the Christian Tabernacle Concert Choir’s first release in 20 years, is a joyous collection of gospel songs and hymns, including many from the Chicago group’s original repertory. Dedicated to Christian Tabernacle’s founder, Pastor Maceo Woods, who died in January 2020, Legacy evokes the church’s 60-plus-year history of gospel supremacy with its old-school playlist, its […]
Posted inStreet View
His name is Ray
“Entertainer, street philosopher, raconteur. I cruise the streets like a wandering knight seeking people to save from time and space, and perhaps life itself,” says Ray St. Ray, 70, accurately describing his iconic persona. “I’m in the business of creating the legend of ‘the Singing Cab Driver’ for people to cash in on with an […]
Posted inMusic
Joan La Barbara is a treasure of America’s avant-garde
Philadelphia-born composer and vocalist Joan La Barbara was formally trained as a classical singer, but by the late 1960s, she’d decided she wanted to push her artistry into unfamiliar territories. She found her inspiration in New York, especially from scat singers, free improvisers, and the jazz avant-garde. In her early experiments, she taught herself to […]
Posted inMusic
Rising art-punks Automatic make the most of what they’ve got
The women of Automatic were born to be in an art-punk band, but they’re still finding their footing. Much of the Los Angeles group’s press coverage has treated them like they’re learning their craft in real time while growing an audience through social media and handshakes. While that may be true, they’ve also had more […]
Posted inFilm
Black queer love, trans Iranian justice, asexual visibility, and more
Pride Film Fest showcases LGBTQ+ shorts and features a diverse mix of riveting stories told across the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
Posted inFilm
Indie rock, immortalized
Local Band is a feature film about a fictional band that, like their real-life Chicago counterparts, still give it their all despite feeling doomed to fall through the cracks.
Posted inMusic
Chicago dance collective Superjane celebrate 25 years of throwing parties and elevating women in dance
In 1997, Heather Robinson (aka DJ Heather), Colette Marino (aka Colette), Darlene Jackson (aka DJ Lady D), and Shannon Ialongo (aka Dayhota) debuted at Funky Buddha Lounge as the DJ collective Superjane. Superjane have since become a supergroup with their own center of gravity, but they’ve also functioned as advocates for other women fighting for […]
Posted inFilm
Friendships and horror flicks
There are plenty of film podcasts out there that focus exclusively on the plot or style. Neither Mallory nor I is an aspiring filmmaker or film historian; we’re just two friends talking.
Posted inFood & Drink
A new kind of recipe book
(A)Part: A Recipe Guide-book to Chicago (if you will) is meant to introduce the reader to different restaurants, recipes, neighborhoods, and cultural landmarks through the eyes of 27 different Chicagoans.
Posted inMusic
With Please Have a Seat, Nnamdï discovers the unexpected delights and anxieties of staying still
Nnamdï’s sixth and latest album, Please Have a Seat (Secretly Canadian/Sooper), begins and ends with versions of the same refrain: “Some days I wake up ready to run.” Sure enough, since moving to Chicago from the suburbs a decade ago, the inexhaustible artist has essentially operated at a dead sprint. He records prolifically. He co-owns […]
Posted inMusic
Chicago nightlife queen Ariel Zetina celebrates trans narratives on her debut album
DJ and producer Ariel Zetina has become a major player in Chicago nightlife in no small part because she works in more than one medium. Zetina moved to Illinois in 2008 to study theater and creative writing at Northwestern University, and she’s flourished as a playwright. Her reimagining of the tragic life of computer scientist […]