Arts Hound
Katsunori Hamanishi ‘Silence’ at White Lotus gallery for FFAW Continue reading
Arts: Page 248
Coming to America
Cinema is losing its love for the elemental force of the human face. Amid the empurpled pomp and droidy digitization of endlessly retooled blockbusters, that which is purely and quietly us — our complexity, our contradictions, our neocortical slumps and secret struggles — is being phased out, replaced on screen by the endless crowding of martial abstractions that speed headlong for the fiscal orgasm of consumer approval. Continue reading
Tsunami Books, a somewhat under-recognized gem of a live music venue
Sam Bond’s Garage hosts the fantastic roots-country band Country Hammer
Tsunami Books, a somewhat under-recognized gem of a live music venue, hosts finger-style guitar wizard Larry Pattis for an intimate acoustic concert 7:30 pm Saturday, Jan. 2 — an event that is part of The American Guitar Masters Touring Concert Series; $10. In his music, the Chicago native draws influence from classical, jazz, Celtic, blues and folk. Continue reading
Stellar Soloists
From an uilleann piper to an American Songbook crooner
The New Year opens with a series of ace instrumentalists strutting their chops around town. At 4 pm Sunday, Jan. 3, First United Methodist Church (13th and Olive) brings a renowned instrumentalist, uilleann piper Eliot Grasso, to its annual handbell concert. That unusual ensemble is alone worth seeing, but this year’s show also features trumpeter Chris Peters and the church’s own organist, Julia Brown, an accomplished recording artist. Grasso is one of the acknowledged masters of the haunting Irish bagpipes and has performed all over the world. Continue reading
Painting the Political
Artist Jerry Ross recently spent a lot of time with Donald Trump’s face. As a Bernie Sanders supporter, this was no easy feat. “I got a lot of praise for that Trump painting because it captured his arrogance,” Ross says. “Also, his jaw, it’s very much like the jaw of Mussolini,” he adds with a laugh, referencing the fascist Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. Continue reading
A New New Hope
Rock: Year in Review
Ten albums that show there’s a lot of life left in rock ‘n’ roll
The year 2015 is when pure pop scored serious artistic cred: Ryan covered Taylor, Adele smashed all kinds of sales records and even Justin Bieber garnered some pretty decent critical notices. Continue reading
SpringFilm gets an early start with a 6:30 pm screening of everyone’s favorite campy musical
On New Year’s Eve, instead of singing the wrong lyrics of “Auld Lang Syne” to yourself, on the couch, in your sweatpants, with a flute of champagne propped on your newly rotund, post-holiday belly, venture into the night and spend the last few hours of 2016 with live, local music and entertainment. Here’s a roundup of events for Thursday, Dec. 31. Continue reading
Eyes to the Future
2015's graphic novels move us forward
A consistent rallying cry among graphic novel enthusiasts is that, with so few new comics aimed at young readers, the art form might not last. Happily, a talented team of numerous, all-female funnybook creators is doing its level best to address the problem with the charmingly upbeat Lumberjanes to the Max Edition Vol. 1 (BOOM! Box, $39.99). Continue reading
Book Review: You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost)
As a person, Felicia Day has a kind of lovable oddness that translates perfectly onto the page, as exemplified in her memoir, You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost). Known best for her appearances in Joss Whedon productions as well as her web series The Guild, Day has written a memoir that is humorous, self-deprecating and strikingly inspirational. The book describes her wayward childhood as a homeschooled oddball who educated herself mostly through reading whatever she could find. Continue reading