Art
Making Art in the Midwest
CHICAGO — The Midwest is no place for haters, slackers, and anyone who can't admit that they secretly love hot dogs and regularly daydream about living on a farm, or at least somewhere in the woods.
Alicia Eler
Alicia Eler is a cultural critic and arts reporter at the Minneapolis Star Tribune and author of "The Selfie Generation: How Our Self-Images Are Changing Our Notions of Privacy, Sex, Consent, and Culture" (2017).
Art
Top 5 Chicago Art Shows of 2013
CHICAGO — Thick snowflakes drift from the gray sky above, the energy-sapping inflatable Christmas decorations are in a constant state of blowing across front lawns citywide, and even my parents' German Shepherd needs a sweater. It must be that time of year again, when the last of this season's art e
Interview
Internet Archiving Trans Oral Histories
CHICAGO — The Trans Oral History Project is a grassroots community media initiative that collects the stories of trans, gender variant and gender non-conforming individuals.
News
Picasso Raffle, Baby
"I just want a Picasso in my casa, no, my castle," raps Jay Z in his appropriately titled song "Picasso Baby." Jay Z's song most certainly stirs up a desire to own some Picasso art bling, which is becoming increasingly important nowadays for the rich and famous. But is such a thing possible for some
News
Creative Commons Goes More Global With Version 4.0
Creative Commons recently announced Version 4.0 of their licenses, which enables more anonymity, international translation options, and opportunities to regain rights if they've been inadvertently violated.
News
Norman Rockwell's Family Doesn't Want You to Think He Was Gay
Former New York Times columnist Deborah Solomon's new biography of Norman Rockwell, American Mirror, hints that America's "most beloved artist" may have been a closeted gay man.
Art
Sculptural Remnants and Re-creations of Jimmy Page
CHICAGO — Led Zeppelin, man — they were so before my time. Arguably the inventors of heavy metal, the band reached their height of fame in the early 1970s with the song “Stairway to Heaven” on their untitled fourth album. Through the works of artist Karolina Gnatowski, now on view in the artist's so
Art
Selfies as the Other Side of the Mirror
CHICAGO — What's it like to be on the other side of the mirror? Selfies are contemporary self-portraits shot through the reverse-mirror effect available through smartphones and webcams.
Opinion
The 'Grandmother' of Performance on the Internet
CHICAGO — “You are the future, and you get love by video,” chants artist Jillian Mayer in "I Am Your Grandma," a simple, catchy, one-minute video in which the artist ponders the idea that she will be a grandmother and her grandkids will find this video on YouTube.
Books
From Lucky Magazine to Lyrical Sonnets
CHICAGO — Simone de Beauvoir once said, "Buying is a profound pleasure." To shop, to consume, to purchase a new look even if it's temporary — an air of satisfaction accompanies that moment of credit card swiping, or handing over that stack of Ben Franklins.
Art
The Feminist Politics of #Selfies
CHICAGO — The selfie is an aesthetic with radical potential for bringing visibility to people and bodies that are othered. This week we present to you a few instances of empowerment that we caught via the #feministselfie hashtag on Twitter, which began in response to a post on Jezebel that suggests
Art
Paul D'Amato Documents America, or Chicago's West Side
CHICAGO — Paul D'Amato’s large-scale photographs in his exhibition We Shall at the DePaul Art Museum offer a glimpse into the lives of ordinary people and urban landscapes on Chicago's West Side.