Arts Roundup: History Buff Edition
By Laura M. Browning in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 29, 2010 6:20PM
Marc Chagall, America Windows, 1977. The Art Institute of Chicago, A gift of March Chagall, the City of Chicago, and the Auxiliary Board of The Art Institute of Chicago.
Last week we brought you some cool contemporary shows to check out. This week, we’ve rounded up a list of exhibits that look a little further to the past.
Marc Chagall's America Windows
Art Institute of Chicago
In case you missed the news, the Marc Chagall America Windows —absent from public view for the last five years—will be back this Monday! If you check in on Foursquare by the newly reinstalled windows, you can earn a Ferris Bueller badge.
America Windows reopens November 1 at the Art Institute, 111 S. Michigan Ave, and we hope they never disappear again.
Ballplayers, Gods, and Rainmaker Kings
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute promises us more than the place where Ferris and Sloan kissed. Ballplayers, Gods, and Rainmaker Kings showcases sculptural masterpieces from ancient Mexican civilizations. Spanning more than a thousand years, the sculptures trace common spiritual beliefs.
Ballplayers, Gods, and Rainmaker Kings is showing at the Art Institute, 111 S. Michigan Ave, until January 2, 2011. Admission is $16 for Chicago residents and is free on Thursdays from 5 - 8 p.m.
Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan
Smart Museum
Meanwhile, in sixth century China, the Northern Qi dynasty was producing what are today considered some of the greatest achievements in Chinese sculpture. The University of Chicago has collaborated on a project to reunite dispersed objects from Buddhist caves carved into mountains of northern China. The exhibit relies on actual objects (borrowed from museums like the Victoria & Albert in London and the Met in New York City) as well as digital recreations of the caves.
Echoes of the Past is showing at the Smart Museum, 5550 S. Greenwood Ave, until January 16, 2011. Admission is always free.
The African Presence in Mexico: From Yanga to Present
DuSable Museum of African American History
For two more weeks, the DuSable Museum’s exhibit answers the often-unasked question: Why didn’t African-Americans try to resist slavery? The short answer is that there were many resisters, their stories are just not well known. The exhibit begins with Gaspar Yanga, a slavery resister known as the First Liberator of the Americas, and looks at other stories of resistance through the present day.
The African Presence in Mexico is showing at the DuSable Museum, 740 E. 56th Place (in Washington Park). Admission is $8 for Chicago residents and free on Sundays.