The Museum of Contemporary Art opens two new shows this week, and other arts news. more ›

Affordable ideas and specials around Chicago for Valentine’s Day. more ›

The Renaissance Society, Museum of Contemporary Photography and Rhona Hoffman Gallery hold openings, among other art news. more ›

Chicago museums and galleries close several shows today and hold openings throughout the week. more ›

The Museum of Contemporary Art’s 12 x 12 series comes to a close this month with Ann Toebbe’s trio of “cut-paper paintings” (don’t worry: there will still be a dedicated space for Chicago artists). The paintings are made up of thousands of hand-painted pieces of paper, all of which Toebbe meticulously pieces together to form a scene from other women’s memories. more ›

Free tickets for this year's Chicago Dancing Festival will be available next tuesday. more ›

Okay, so it's not even March yet, but the major spring-summer museum exhibits are already on view. Here are a few we think you won't want to miss: more ›

The Museum of Contemporary Art recently opened Jim Nutt: Coming Into Character, an exhibit that moves easily between haunting and hilarious with its vivid portraits of imaginary women. Nutt is a Chicago artist and founding member of the surrealist group the Hairy Who, which exhibited at the Hyde Park Art Center in the late 1960s. Although it includes nearly half a century of Nutt’s work, the MCA exhibit is more of a focused retrospective, most of it portraits of imagined women over a period of about 20 years. more ›

We’ve mentioned this Museum of Contemporary Art exhibit before, but finally got a chance to check it out this weekend. And we’re sorry we waited this long. Vito Acconci, the artist who created the exhibit’s Convertible Clam Shelter, puts the exhibit’s philosophy succinctly: “A piece should be inhabitable, used by people the way they use other things in their everyday life…” Taking up the two galleries on the main floor, Without You I’m Nothing: Art and Audience explores the relationship between art and artist with provocative works from the permanent collection. Some of the art is physically interactive (like a pre-fab-style compartment you can walk through), and some of it invites more contemplative engagement. Each work’s label sets the boundaries, inviting you to walk through it or climb inside it or move it around. We’re so accustomed to museums’ hands-off policies that we actually had to walk around the gallery a couple times before we got comfortable enough to dig in, and we noticed other visitors who were just as tentative about touching/walking on/traipsing through some of the art. We love how the MCA is challenging our ingrained beliefs that art is something to be viewed, not experienced. more ›

Infographics! The kids love 'em! And so do we, obviously, since we brought you "Is It Food" earlier today and follow up with this "Man, Chicago Used To Be Bigger, Didn't It" population chart from the Museum of Contemporary Art. We stumbled across this last week and thought we'd bring it to you today - click through for the full sized version. more ›

Nothing says happy holidays like too much time stuck inside with the family. Besides, the next week or two will bring an end to a lot of great exhibits around town, so consider this your last chance to get out and see some fantastic shows we’ve mentioned before. Get your family out of the house, see great art, maintain family togetherness. Win-win-win. more ›

Whether you love spending time with your family or need to get them out of the house (or both), today’s a great day to take (or send) your out-of-town visitors to one of Chicago’s museums. There are some great exhibits showing, so skip Black Friday and work off your tryptophan hangover with some culture. While we think the crowds will be a lot more pleasant at the Art Institute than the mall, this is a busy day for museums, so plan accordingly. more ›

Our relationship with art might not quite be symbiotic, but we sure do like it. Here are three exhibits we think you can't (or shouldn't) live without this week at the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Tony Wight Gallery. more ›

The "First Fridays" events at the Museum of Contemporary Art are usually themed affairs that also double as one of the more popular meet markets in town. more ›

The air is getting crisper, the leaves are turning, and the fall art scene is kicking into gear. Here’s a few contemporary exhibits we think you won’t want to miss: more ›

Last week we brought you some not-to-be-missed museum exhibits that are closing this week. This week we’re rounding up a few exhibits that are kicking off the fall season. Rest up over Labor Day weekend and then add these to your calendar: more ›

We hate to admit it, but the unofficial end of summer is nearly upon us. Since this will be the last weekend before Labor Day, we wanted to give you a heads up to the many art exhibits that will be closing in the next two weeks around town. We know it's hard to think about heading indoors when the weather is this beautiful, but we think you won't want to miss some of these: more ›

It's your last chance to catch the Magical Musical Showcase at the MCA's Tuesday evening events more ›

First off, we should tell you that we’re more familiar with Mel Brooks’ “Young Frankenstein” than Mary Shelley’s original novel. Or the Boris Karloff movie. Or any other version, really. (Our apologies to the Chicagoist Literary and Film Offices if they’re ashamed of us in any way.) The point is: We fully accept that The Hypocrites’ Frankenstein may have included references that went right over our heads. That being said: Prior knowledge and research certainly enrich the audience’s experience, but they shouldn’t be required. Throughout this entire show, we couldn’t shake the feeling that we had missed something. It was a frustrating 70 minutes. more ›

The online wine community and retailer Bottlenotes is holding its first wine and food tasting at the Museum of Contemporary Art Friday from 7-10 p.m. The event, called "Around the World in 80 Sips," will feature wines from, well, all over: Old World, New World, North and South America, Israel and Lebanon. Those wines will be paired with cheeses provided from Artisanal Premium Cheese. more ›

This Saturday night, the Brazilian bossa nova master Leny Andrade and her trio will perform at the Museum of Contemporary Art. Andrade has been likened to Ella Fitzgerald, a comparison that goes beyond a slight physical resemblance and scatting abilities (which rival those of Ms. Fitzgerald). Her voice, although rounder and deeper, has a similar breathy, care-free quality combined with scary pitch accuracy. more ›

Is there anything more beautiful than the cherubic voice of a singing child? Well, folks in the 18th century didn't think so. That's why they lopped off the testicles of prepubescent boys, halting their vocal development, as well as altering bone growth, which enlarged the rib cage and increased lung capacity. The result was a powerful and permanent child-like voice, perfect for Baroque opera. And you thought kiddie beauty pageants were bad. more ›

The Spot, 4437 N. Broadway, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 8 p.m., $10. more ›

7 p.m., Quimby's, 1854 W. North Ave., Free more ›

It's been a season of milestones for the city-sponsored music festivals. Today marks the 10th anniversary of the World Music Festival. What started out as a small festival centered in Chicago's notable places for international music has evolved into a city-wide event, with artists performing throughout the city limits. WMF highlights Chicago's reputation as a city of neighborhoods. In incorporating most of the major club venues, WMF also does more to shine a positive spotlight on our vibrant music club scene in one week than venue owners often do themselves. Only the ongoing resistance to the promoters ordinance can unite club owners as well. more ›

The Jeff Koons exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art opened on Saturday, which means more from the man who created the museum’s well-known “Pink Panther” sculpture. The modern-art-loving public is crazy for Koons, who throughout his decades-long career has been revered both for his large-scale kitsch art and his theories on the significance of the contemporary art “experience.” So kudos to the MCA for assembling the first U.S. survey of Koons's work in over 15 years. more ›