What’s New

It’s always rare to see a band graduate from DIY rabble-rousers to PTA presidents, especially when they start out as legendarily raucous as Vancouver punks White Lung. Who knew that a decade after front woman Mish Barber-Way sang “Steel-toed boots / Smash rubber chains” on “Thick Lips,” she’d be a mother of two waxing poetic about baby weight and antidepressants? But this was always her master plan—she’s a writer as well as a musician, and she’s published pieces that grapple with the duality of carousing with “professional drunken idiots” (as she put it in an essay for Some Such Stories) while yearning for motherhood. Plenty of change has befallen the trio since the 2016 release Paradise, and they say that their new fifth album, Premonition, will be their last. During their 12-year run White Lung have attracted critical praise, opened for giants such as Refused, and earned a cosign from Courtney Love, all while remaining underground darlings. 

White Lung have studded their final outing with jewels of the past. Barber-Way’s yawp is as catty as ever, Kenneth William’s riffs are still whiplash inducing, and Anne-Marie Vassiliou’s drumming tears hell for leather. Longtime producer Jesse Gander (Japandroids, Brutus) also returned to the fold, building a backbone for the trio’s chaotic compositions, kicking drums, and unhinged riffs. Adding to the album’s significance, Premonition is by Barber-Way’s admission the first time she wrote and recorded vocal tracks sober. Pregnant and hungry for inspiration, she used her sharp-tongued storytelling as an avenue for understanding the changes within and beyond her body. As a result, Barber-Way devised some of her most compelling narratives, offering letters to an unborn son (“Bird”), cautionary tales for infant daughters (“Girl”), and romps with a cigarette-smoking God who’s got whiskey on His breath (“Date Night”).

If we’re to learn anything from the fumbled farewell of the Clash or the stilted goodbye (and unwarranted reunion) of Black Flag, it’s that punks often don’t do well with breakups. But while many bands recording a swan song might fizzle in their own hubris—reach too far or say too much in hopes of crafting the perfect farewell—White Lung are self-assured enough to bid godspeed with ten songs in 30 minutes. Premonition proves that growing up doesn’t mean forfeiting the ferocity of youth; it means making room for the future.

White Lung’s Premonition is available through Bandcamp.

Read More

It’s been a long road for Chicago Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball. Since originally injuring his knee and undergoing surgery several months ago, Ball has had a frustrating rehab process.

Prior to the season, Ball had to go under the knife once more, having a second surgery in order to clean things up a bit. At that point, a couple of months ago, Ball was still having pain on the daily. That pain was coming during everyday life, too, even just walking up the stairs.

Bulls fans thought that update was bad… just wait until they hear the latest from head coach Billy Donovan.

Prior to the Bulls’ game against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night, Donovan gave us an update on Ball’s status, and it seemed like we were hearing more of the same, quite frankly.

“It’s been really slow. I’m just being honest.”

If the Chicago Bulls are without Lonzo Ball for a few months, they can kiss this season goodbye.

Donovan went on to say that it’s hard for him to give any specific update on Ball’s situation, which is somewhat familiar to what we’ve heard in the past.

“He is better after the surgery, I will say that, but is he completely pain-free? No, and that’s what they’re working towards. Or, at least, if he does have some pain, he’s able to play through some of it, work through some of it.

The fact that Ball is “better” after his most recent surgery is a positive. But, he’s still not pain-free, which is a little alarming. In January, we will be a year removed from his original injury.

Also in January, the Bulls could still be a meddling .500 team, hovering a game or two under and looking as inconsistent as ever. That’s been the story this season. The Bulls have gotten up for some big games, beating the Boston Celtics twice and also taking down the Milwaukee Bucks.

But, they have also lost a good amount of games they should have otherwise won. Without Ball’s presence, this is a completely different team.

Zach LaVine has been atrocious this season. Nikola Vucevic has yet again been inconsistent, giving us a great game one night and then a down night the next.

DeMar DeRozan has been the only constant, this year. He’s carried the team. Even Ayo Dosunmu has been relatively good, but he hasn’t been what Ball is to this team.

Without Ball’s court vision and IQ, and his smarts on defense, this team is a far cry from where they found themselves early last season. If Ball continues to progress slowly, the Bulls can wave goodbye to this season.

Read More

CHICAGO — Today, Public Narrative relaunched the Chicago Media Guide. In partnership with Public Narrative, the Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) also launched the Chicago Independent Media Directory. Together, these resources will connect outlets, journalists, funders, advertisers and the audiences they serve with the full breadth of Chicago’s local media ecosystem.

Public Narrative, a Chicago-based nonprofit that has been elevating community voices in journalism for more than 30 years, has produced the Chicago Media Guide since 1995. The guide now provides a centralized and personalized platform of robust contact information for more than 5,000 media outlets, journalists, writers and more in Chicago — and now greater Illinois and beyond.

This resource provides free and paid subscription models that allow users to quickly discover and obtain media contacts in order to build relationships with journalists and media entities for their own work.

Explore databases for outlets and individual journalists by name, city, coverage topics, language and more. You can also make and place selections of the entities and the reporters’ contacts that you need into your own media list and export them to keep for future use.

Journalists, community members, nonprofit leaders and small business owners, among others, can rely again on the Chicago Media Guide as a trusted, comprehensive and up-to-date resource staple of the country’s third-largest media market and more. Media outlets and journalists interested in being added to the contact lists or wanting to provide an update to their existing contact information can email Olivia Obineme, Public Narrative’s director of journalism and media engagement, at [email protected] to learn more.

In partnership with Public Narrative, the Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) — a project of the Reader Institute for Community Journalism linking more than 60 community media entities representing more than 80 outlets — has created the free Chicago Independent Media Directory. Featuring outlet statistics and audience demographics, this media directory features Chicago-area, independent, local media outlets in one central website. 

Businesses, government, foundations, and other entities can use the Chicago Independent Media Directory to find local media outlets to advertise with, give grants to, or support in other ways. Users can filter their search by community area of coverage, audience, language, beats, and much more to easily find outlet statistics and export a list of outlets with their contact information. Chicago-area outlets interested in being added to the Chicago Independent Media Directory can contact CIMA co-director, Savannah Hugueley, at [email protected] to request the form.

The partnership between Public Narrative and CIMA has been essential in advocating for independent community media in the city, including by bringing in new resources. This media directory is one element of this partnership that will be critical to linking small, local outlets with advertisers and new sources of revenue.

The guide and directory were revamped and created simultaneously with local media advocating for equitable advertising by government agencies. In October 2020, CIMA began the work of replicating a study of New York City governmental advertising conducted by the Center for Community Media at the City University of New York (CUNY) Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. The New York project resulted in an Executive Order signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in mid-2019. In 2020, the first year of full implementation, there was a multi-million-dollar shift to community and ethnic media. 

Advocacy by CIMA and other local media outlets culminated on October 26, 2022, when Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot signed an Executive Order designating that City of Chicago departments allocate at least 50 percent of their annual advertising spending to community media outlets. As part of the Executive Order, the Office of the Mayor will maintain a list of local media that exemplify Chicago’s interconnected communities. Agencies will also be able to utilize the Chicago Media Guide and Chicago Independent Media Directory in order to access an up-to-date, comprehensive list of outlets throughout the city and their contact information.

CIMA’s Chicago Independent Media Directory: cimadirectory.org

Public Narrative’s Chicago Media Guide: publicnarrative.org/the-guide/

On Wednesday, December 7, 6-7:30 p.m., Public Narrative and CIMA will host a conversation about the history and future of community media collaborations, including Chicago’s recent Executive Order. This virtual event, “What’s Next? The Future of Community Media Collaborations”will feature Jhmira Alexander, president and executive director of Public Narrative, and Tracy Baim, publisher of the Chicago Reader and founder of CIMA. It will be moderated by Maple Walker Lloyd, director of development and community engagement for Block Club Chicago. Register here to join.

About CIMA

The Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) is a coalition of 62 independent, local, and community-driven media entities covering communities throughout the Chicago area, representing more than 80 outlets. Through regular collaboration and the creation of new revenue streams, CIMA uplifts the ecosystem in order to amplify the voices of Chicagoans. Since its founding in 2019, CIMA has helped direct more than $700,000 in funding for its members, through an annual fundraiser, matching foundation funds, and collaboration grants. Founded in 2019, CIMA is a project of the Reader Institute for Community Journalism, publisher of the Chicago Reader. See indiemediachi.org/about/.

About Public Narrative 

Public Narrative is Chicago’s premiere cultivator of narrative change and supporter of community-oriented journalism since 1989. It facilitates training, programming and resource building focused on cultivating media literacy, uplifting community voices in media, and shifting narratives around public health, public safety, and public education. Public Narrative supports more than 200 community and ethnic news outlets and for-and not-for-profit organizations through its initiatives. And it builds meaningful relationships among stakeholders to shift existing community narratives and amplify more inclusive and complete storytelling across Chicago, greater Illinois and beyond. See publicnarrative.org.

Read More

A compact solo exhibition at MICKEY presents the remarkable range of Michelle Grabner’s three-decade career. A celebrated figure in local and national art scenes, Grabner has done it all. Adjacent to her dedicated studio practice, Grabner’s pioneering curatorial platform The Suburban—an experimental gallery established in Oak Park in 1999 with her husband Brad Killam—has championed the ingenuity of artist-run spaces. Additionally, Grabner has taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for over twenty-five years, leaving an indelible mark on the city’s artists and creative ecosystem. 

Entering the first gallery, one can appreciate the scope of Grabner’s trademark domestic vernacular applied across painting, sculpture, and photography. However, this survey is far from comprehensive. “A Minor Survey” hinges on a swiftly spoiled joke: all works on view were made in 2022. The motifs are largely recycled: two monumental, oil-on-burlap gingham paintings reprise Grabner’s signature checkered series, debuted in 2015; and three oil-on-canvas works, resembling bleached cloths, recall both textile paintings from the nineties and a recent series of pastel pictures adorned with white enamel globs. This may be Grabner’s first solo presentation in Chicago since 2013, but what differentiates her recent interventions from ideas honed over the past ten years? Look past the titular punchline, and the show could be brushed off as same old, same old.

But Grabner succeeds at iterating upon presumed old hat with novelty and aplomb. Some forms remain the same. For instance, a recent tondo painting—comprising a black, gesso-coated panel drawn over with graphite rays—replicates a form initiated over a decade ago. Nevertheless, the meditative icon, elegantly rendered with mechanical precision, emanates a timeless quality illustrative of Grabner’s enduring brand of abstraction. 

Other works test the limits of past ideas in new configurations. A particularly compelling patinated brass blanket breaks with Grabner’s previous textile sculpture idioms. Unlike earlier metal-cast cloth works, which appear vertically suspended from two points, this crocheted knit lays loosely folded on the floor. The uneven appearance of the blanket’s corners, not quite lined up, summons the labor required to fold linen uneasily handled by a single person. A simple chore can be a heavy order without the help of others. 

Despite her focused engagement with abstraction, Grabner’s appropriation of household accessories, from jam jars to dish towels, is perhaps too easily read as social critique—invoking second-wave feminist rhetoric espoused by the Wages for Housework movement and simultaneously vulnerable to casual sexism—as demonstrated in a 2014 New York Times review that conflated her artistic output with the efforts of a soccer mom. The tendency for viewers to extrapolate class and gender discourse follows not only from the artwork’s domestic content and the geographic context of the suburban midwest, but also from Grabner’s parallel success as a curator, critic, and educator. Unpacking the social terms of her interdisciplinary career in a 2012 interview with critic Barry Schwabsky, Grabner stated, “…curating, writing, and teaching are super social endeavors, and they often evoke various critical positions. But yes, my studio is not social.” Unlike past institutional surveys that included bibliographic videos, collaborations, and work by other artists, MICKEY’s presentation conspicuously omits Grabner’s more social endeavors, focusing on the scope of her aesthetic strategies. 

While the artwork cannot entirely escape external associations, the present survey approximates the routines underpinning Grabner’s studio methodology. It’s a conceptual and self-referential practice where nothing goes to waste; ideas are repeatedly executed to the point that all possibilities are exhausted—or so you might think. Clarity and wit sprout from her sustained engagement with monotony. 

Look at a delicate wall-mounted sculpture, composed of bronze rods and flowering plants burgeoning at the joints. Resembling a canvas stretcher, the work is based on an arcane double entendre—“mullions” and “mulleins”—the former a term for a window frame divider and the latter a type of perennial plant. It’s a cheeky pun, perhaps originating from extended time spent mulling things over.  

Michelle Grabner, “Untitled”, 2022, silver on steel, dimensions variable. Credit: Courtesy of MICKEY and the artist

Nearby, an assortment of cans and tins coated in silver leaf lay atop a plinth. Their lids are peeled back but largely intact, as if the artist’s phantom hand was suspended in motion. The veneer—an ornamental redundancy, in which metal adorns metal—belabors a sense of being worked over. But these pieces also espouse a lightness. Rid of their utilitarianism, these containers are open-ended and permeable. They preserve nothing.

Two other sculptures appropriate the visual language of DIY crafting projects. Repurposing salvaged wood slabs, Grabner cuts out shallow circular beds to house assorted lid-like objects—some readymade, others trompe l’oeil. The reliefs, evocative of her mobile sculptures, emulate salon-style hangs of Grabner’s various material strategies. Paintings, metal castings, and found objects lay side-by-side like spare parts of a whole practice. But for all their succinctness and poetry, these wood board assemblages could run the risk of falling flat. The quirky yet refined conceit exists precariously, calibrated just enough to avoid the pretense of triteness. 

Grabner has articulated boredom as a critical measure in her process and an unlikely defense against her work turning stale. To better understand the capricious conditions of her practice, one might look to artist Dick Higgins’s seminal 1968 essay, “Boredom and Danger,” published in the Something Else Newsletter. The text appraises a shift in art’s production and accompanying terms of engagement; describing danger as a crucial element in successful works, he remarked, “…a sense of risk is indispensable, because any simple piece fails when it becomes facile. This makes for all the more challenge in risking facility, yet still remaining very simple, very concrete, very meaningful.” Embracing the possibility of failure, Grabner’s work exists at the edge of easy. An ode to looking hard and looking harder at the simplest of conceits, “A Minor Survey” revels in the stunning patience of Grabner’s gaze.

 “A Minor Survey”Through 12/18: Tue-Thur 12-6 PM, Fri-Sat, 12-4 PM, MICKEY, 1635 W. Grand, mickey.online

Read More

When it comes to the Houston Astros, most baseball fans can agree that it’s easy not to like the reigning World Series Champions. For Chicago Cubs fans, that sentiment might only grow here in the near future.

Sure, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Cubs fan or not. There is a simple reason to dislike Houston, and obviously that’s due to the cheating scandal in which the Astros were found guilty of stealing signs over a couple of season.

Now the current Word Series Champions, the Astros just leave a bitter taste in most fans’ mouths. And as for the Cubs, that taste could get even worse.

According to a report this week, the Astros are in discussions with Contreras and plan to meet with the All Star catcher at the winter meetings.

Willson Contreras could soon be leaving the Chicago Cubs to join the World Series champs.

If the 30-year-old catcher does indeed leave the Cubs during free agency, it wouldn’t necessarily be a shock. After all, the Cubs have been in full-on selling mode for a while now and haven’t shown much loyalty to players they have groomed in-house over the last few years.

To go along with that point, the Cubs and Astros were also in agreement on a deal last season to send Contreras to Houston. But, manager Dusty Baker and owner Jim Crane weren’t in agreement with the deal. Neither one of them liked the idea, therefore it didn’t go through.

The trade would’ve sent pitcher Jos? Urquidy back to the Cubs in exchange for Contreras. Fortunately for the Astros, they were able to keep one of their better pitchers and ended up winning it all anyways.

But now, Houston could land Contreras without having to give up any assets. The 3-time All Star catcher has played his entire 7-year career with the Cubs and was of course part of the World Series team just a few years back.

It would be sad to see Contreras go, but at this point, not much of a surprise. Hopefully, the Cubs can turn their mindset into more of being a spender, as some reports have suggested. The fans deserve better, and hopefully they receive just that.

Read More

CHICAGO — Today, Public Narrative relaunched the Chicago Media Guide. In partnership with Public Narrative, the Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) also launched the Chicago Independent Media Directory. Together, these resources will connect outlets, journalists, funders, advertisers and the audiences they serve with the full breadth of Chicago’s local media ecosystem.

Public Narrative, a Chicago-based nonprofit that has been elevating community voices in journalism for more than 30 years, has produced the Chicago Media Guide since 1995. The guide now provides a centralized and personalized platform of robust contact information for more than 5,000 media outlets, journalists, writers and more in Chicago — and now greater Illinois and beyond.

This resource provides free and paid subscription models that allow users to quickly discover and obtain media contacts in order to build relationships with journalists and media entities for their own work.

Explore databases for outlets and individual journalists by name, city, coverage topics, language and more. You can also make and place selections of the entities and the reporters’ contacts that you need into your own media list and export them to keep for future use.

Journalists, community members, nonprofit leaders and small business owners, among others, can rely again on the Chicago Media Guide as a trusted, comprehensive and up-to-date resource staple of the country’s third-largest media market and more. Media outlets and journalists interested in being added to the contact lists or wanting to provide an update to their existing contact information can email Olivia Obineme, Public Narrative’s director of journalism and media engagement, at [email protected] to learn more.

In partnership with Public Narrative, the Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) — a project of the Reader Institute for Community Journalism linking more than 60 community media entities representing more than 80 outlets — has created the free Chicago Independent Media Directory. Featuring outlet statistics and audience demographics, this media directory features Chicago-area, independent, local media outlets in one central website. 

Businesses, government, foundations, and other entities can use the Chicago Independent Media Directory to find local media outlets to advertise with, give grants to, or support in other ways. Users can filter their search by community area of coverage, audience, language, beats, and much more to easily find outlet statistics and export a list of outlets with their contact information. Chicago-area outlets interested in being added to the Chicago Independent Media Directory can contact CIMA co-director, Savannah Hugueley, at [email protected] to request the form.

The partnership between Public Narrative and CIMA has been essential in advocating for independent community media in the city, including by bringing in new resources. This media directory is one element of this partnership that will be critical to linking small, local outlets with advertisers and new sources of revenue.

The guide and directory were revamped and created simultaneously with local media advocating for equitable advertising by government agencies. In October 2020, CIMA began the work of replicating a study of New York City governmental advertising conducted by the Center for Community Media at the City University of New York (CUNY) Newmark Graduate School of Journalism. The New York project resulted in an Executive Order signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio in mid-2019. In 2020, the first year of full implementation, there was a multi-million-dollar shift to community and ethnic media. 

Advocacy by CIMA and other local media outlets culminated on October 26, 2022, when Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot signed an Executive Order designating that City of Chicago departments allocate at least 50 percent of their annual advertising spending to community media outlets. As part of the Executive Order, the Office of the Mayor will maintain a list of local media that exemplify Chicago’s interconnected communities. Agencies will also be able to utilize the Chicago Media Guide and Chicago Independent Media Directory in order to access an up-to-date, comprehensive list of outlets throughout the city and their contact information.

CIMA’s Chicago Independent Media Directory: cimadirectory.org

Public Narrative’s Chicago Media Guide: publicnarrative.org/the-guide/

On Wednesday, December 7, 6-7:30 p.m., Public Narrative and CIMA will host a conversation about the history and future of community media collaborations, including Chicago’s recent Executive Order. This virtual event, “What’s Next? The Future of Community Media Collaborations”will feature Jhmira Alexander, president and executive director of Public Narrative, and Tracy Baim, publisher of the Chicago Reader and founder of CIMA. It will be moderated by Maple Walker Lloyd, director of development and community engagement for Block Club Chicago. Register here to join.

About CIMA

The Chicago Independent Media Alliance (CIMA) is a coalition of 62 independent, local, and community-driven media entities covering communities throughout the Chicago area, representing more than 80 outlets. Through regular collaboration and the creation of new revenue streams, CIMA uplifts the ecosystem in order to amplify the voices of Chicagoans. Since its founding in 2019, CIMA has helped direct more than $700,000 in funding for its members, through an annual fundraiser, matching foundation funds, and collaboration grants. Founded in 2019, CIMA is a project of the Reader Institute for Community Journalism, publisher of the Chicago Reader. See indiemediachi.org/about/.

About Public Narrative 

Public Narrative is Chicago’s premiere cultivator of narrative change and supporter of community-oriented journalism since 1989. It facilitates training, programming and resource building focused on cultivating media literacy, uplifting community voices in media, and shifting narratives around public health, public safety, and public education. Public Narrative supports more than 200 community and ethnic news outlets and for-and not-for-profit organizations through its initiatives. And it builds meaningful relationships among stakeholders to shift existing community narratives and amplify more inclusive and complete storytelling across Chicago, greater Illinois and beyond. See publicnarrative.org.

Read More

A compact solo exhibition at MICKEY presents the remarkable range of Michelle Grabner’s three-decade career. A celebrated figure in local and national art scenes, Grabner has done it all. Adjacent to her dedicated studio practice, Grabner’s pioneering curatorial platform The Suburban—an experimental gallery established in Oak Park in 1999 with her husband Brad Killam—has championed the ingenuity of artist-run spaces. Additionally, Grabner has taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for over twenty-five years, leaving an indelible mark on the city’s artists and creative ecosystem. 

Entering the first gallery, one can appreciate the scope of Grabner’s trademark domestic vernacular applied across painting, sculpture, and photography. However, this survey is far from comprehensive. “A Minor Survey” hinges on a swiftly spoiled joke: all works on view were made in 2022. The motifs are largely recycled: two monumental, oil-on-burlap gingham paintings reprise Grabner’s signature checkered series, debuted in 2015; and three oil-on-canvas works, resembling bleached cloths, recall both textile paintings from the nineties and a recent series of pastel pictures adorned with white enamel globs. This may be Grabner’s first solo presentation in Chicago since 2013, but what differentiates her recent interventions from ideas honed over the past ten years? Look past the titular punchline, and the show could be brushed off as same old, same old.

But Grabner succeeds at iterating upon presumed old hat with novelty and aplomb. Some forms remain the same. For instance, a recent tondo painting—comprising a black, gesso-coated panel drawn over with graphite rays—replicates a form initiated over a decade ago. Nevertheless, the meditative icon, elegantly rendered with mechanical precision, emanates a timeless quality illustrative of Grabner’s enduring brand of abstraction. 

Other works test the limits of past ideas in new configurations. A particularly compelling patinated brass blanket breaks with Grabner’s previous textile sculpture idioms. Unlike earlier metal-cast cloth works, which appear vertically suspended from two points, this crocheted knit lays loosely folded on the floor. The uneven appearance of the blanket’s corners, not quite lined up, summons the labor required to fold linen uneasily handled by a single person. A simple chore can be a heavy order without the help of others. 

Despite her focused engagement with abstraction, Grabner’s appropriation of household accessories, from jam jars to dish towels, is perhaps too easily read as social critique—invoking second-wave feminist rhetoric espoused by the Wages for Housework movement and simultaneously vulnerable to casual sexism—as demonstrated in a 2014 New York Times review that conflated her artistic output with the efforts of a soccer mom. The tendency for viewers to extrapolate class and gender discourse follows not only from the artwork’s domestic content and the geographic context of the suburban midwest, but also from Grabner’s parallel success as a curator, critic, and educator. Unpacking the social terms of her interdisciplinary career in a 2012 interview with critic Barry Schwabsky, Grabner stated, “…curating, writing, and teaching are super social endeavors, and they often evoke various critical positions. But yes, my studio is not social.” Unlike past institutional surveys that included bibliographic videos, collaborations, and work by other artists, MICKEY’s presentation conspicuously omits Grabner’s more social endeavors, focusing on the scope of her aesthetic strategies. 

While the artwork cannot entirely escape external associations, the present survey approximates the routines underpinning Grabner’s studio methodology. It’s a conceptual and self-referential practice where nothing goes to waste; ideas are repeatedly executed to the point that all possibilities are exhausted—or so you might think. Clarity and wit sprout from her sustained engagement with monotony. 

Look at a delicate wall-mounted sculpture, composed of bronze rods and flowering plants burgeoning at the joints. Resembling a canvas stretcher, the work is based on an arcane double entendre—“mullions” and “mulleins”—the former a term for a window frame divider and the latter a type of perennial plant. It’s a cheeky pun, perhaps originating from extended time spent mulling things over.  

Michelle Grabner, “Untitled”, 2022, silver on steel, dimensions variable. Credit: Courtesy of MICKEY and the artist

Nearby, an assortment of cans and tins coated in silver leaf lay atop a plinth. Their lids are peeled back but largely intact, as if the artist’s phantom hand was suspended in motion. The veneer—an ornamental redundancy, in which metal adorns metal—belabors a sense of being worked over. But these pieces also espouse a lightness. Rid of their utilitarianism, these containers are open-ended and permeable. They preserve nothing.

Two other sculptures appropriate the visual language of DIY crafting projects. Repurposing salvaged wood slabs, Grabner cuts out shallow circular beds to house assorted lid-like objects—some readymade, others trompe l’oeil. The reliefs, evocative of her mobile sculptures, emulate salon-style hangs of Grabner’s various material strategies. Paintings, metal castings, and found objects lay side-by-side like spare parts of a whole practice. But for all their succinctness and poetry, these wood board assemblages could run the risk of falling flat. The quirky yet refined conceit exists precariously, calibrated just enough to avoid the pretense of triteness. 

Grabner has articulated boredom as a critical measure in her process and an unlikely defense against her work turning stale. To better understand the capricious conditions of her practice, one might look to artist Dick Higgins’s seminal 1968 essay, “Boredom and Danger,” published in the Something Else Newsletter. The text appraises a shift in art’s production and accompanying terms of engagement; describing danger as a crucial element in successful works, he remarked, “…a sense of risk is indispensable, because any simple piece fails when it becomes facile. This makes for all the more challenge in risking facility, yet still remaining very simple, very concrete, very meaningful.” Embracing the possibility of failure, Grabner’s work exists at the edge of easy. An ode to looking hard and looking harder at the simplest of conceits, “A Minor Survey” revels in the stunning patience of Grabner’s gaze.

 “A Minor Survey”Through 12/18: Tue-Thur 12-6 PM, Fri-Sat, 12-4 PM, MICKEY, 1635 W. Grand, mickey.online

Read More

At 3-9, the Chicago Bears do not have a whole lot left to play for this season. But, on Sunday, they’ll have one thing and one thing only: pride.

This Sunday is an all-important matchup in the most stories rivalry in the history of the game. It’s Green Bay Packers week.

This time, the Bears host the Packers in a game that has a couple of question marks when it comes to the quarterback position. For Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers has been playing with a broken thumb — and the veteran has stated he’s going to play against the Bears.

As for Chicago, it’s Justin Fields who has been sidelined the past week with a separated shoulder. After sitting last week in favor of Trevor Siemian getting the start, Fields’ status for Sunday’s game against the Packers is unknown. However, one particular Bears insider believes he knows the eventual status.

Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields will play against the Green Bay Packers, according to one of the most respected names in Chicago media.

Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune appeared on 670 The Score’s Mully and Haugh Show on Thursday morning and had some pretty direct words when asked about Fields’ status for Sunday.

“I think he plays.”

Biggs also added that he is more optimistic of Fields playing this weekend than he was last week against New York.

It’s risky business for Fields to consider playing this weekend, considering the Bears’ season is all but over in terms of any postseason hope. Not to mention, Fields has taken quite the beating all year long. He’s been beat up enough in the last few weeks that even newly-acquired wide receiver Chase Claypool has noticed the young quarterback’s resilience.

“I’m seeing the type of resilience you don’t get from every quarterback, you know?” Claypool said Wednesday. “He is getting beat up and he’s bouncing back on his feet every single time. I think that just shows the kind of leader he is because he wants to see his team win and do well and he knows he’s a big part of that, but he also knows that he has to be smart. There’s a give and take with that.” (via NBC Sports)

Prior to injuring his shoulder against the Atlanta Falcons, Fields was enjoying a breakout for the ages. He was taking the league by storm, predominantly with his legs. Fields set multiple NFL records this year, one for the most rushing yards by a quarterback in a game (breaking MIchael Vick’s previous number) and another for most rushing yards by a quarterback within a 5-game span.

Fields even still finds himself in the top 10 in the NFL in rushing, overall, even after missing a week and starting the season slow. He’s got 834 rushing yards this year, which is nearly double what he had all of last season as a rookie. Should he return soon, Fields will become the first-ever Bears quarterback to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.

Should Fields return on Sunday, fans will be understandably weary of the decision. Risking even more injury to your franchise’s quarterback of the next decade is not an ideal scenario.

But, on the flip side, fans have to admire the fact that Fields wants to play. The fact that he knows this is a rivalry game, and though the season is effectively over, the guy still wants to play. He wants to be out there.

Regardless of risk, you have to respect it.

Read More

Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Read More

Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Read More