Second Friday Of The Month Means Art, Art, And More Art

By Staff in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 12, 2010 7:00PM

Tado

Post By: Sam Booker

Friday is here, which means the culturally minded slash economically disadvantaged among our readers are all wondering one thing: where can I get cheap wine, cheese and crackers I'll feel guilty eating, and hilarious overheard conversation?* And art, also some art.**

There's a variety of choices, with the 2nd Friday of the month being Chicago's arbitrary agreed upon night for gallery openings/open houses, and we've listed relevant factors below, but lets be honest, you're just going to go the ones proximal to the best bars.

Rotofugi Gallery 728 N. Lincoln
The Wrong 'Uns: New Work by Tado

The British illustration duo leans toward the childlike in Rotofugi's childlike/street-art/grotesque triangle of influence, but with (of course) a helping of self awareness. If kidrobot is your thing, but you've always wished it had a slightly more innocent hyperactive younger brother, this is for you. A fair amount of the draw for tonight looks to be merch rather than just looking, as Tado will actually be signing at the gallery for some of the night.

Starts 7pm, goes till 10pm (Tado leaves at 8)

Dubhe Carre(n with tilde) Gallery 118 N. Peoria (2nd floor)
Ruth Borgenicht: 2D/3D

Borgenicht's pieces are knit stone ware, tightly coiled chain mail mimicking and extrapolating on familiar shapes. The opening looks to be game for people who follow sculptural work so if you like seeing pretty paintings of stuff that looks like stuff, this is probably not for you. That said, it looks a little austere for our tastes. Still, if you're going for wine and snackums, they'll probably be the best out of the galleries listed here...

Starts at 5pm, goes till 8pm

Chicago Arts District (Roughly Halsted and 18th)

This one is tricky, not only because it's an open house rather than an opening, but because it's actually a few open houses. The proximity of all of the Podmajersky artist lofts to each other makes this super walkable, and the fact that you're more or less walking into artists' studios makes conversation a little less stilted than the usual gallery-speak. If you don't like the work you're seeing, you just walk out and around the corner. These are young working artists though, so that will happen. Possibly a lot.

We recommend starting at S. Halsted and 18th and browsing outwards. Unless you get real friendly with the artists there will probably be a dearth of food and drink.

Starts 6pm, goes till 10pm.

The Fine Arts Building 410 S. Michigan Ave.

If you've never been to one of the Fine Arts Building's open houses, it's worth going to see the building alone, which dates to 1885 and features amazing Art Nouveau murals. Downsides: the variety of the artists working there makes the quality of the work a bit of a grab bag, and the food and drink selection is currently unknown.

Starts 4:30pm, goes till 9:30pm.


SAIC's Sullivan Galleries 33 S. State
Touch and Go: Ray Yoshida and his Spheres of Influence

Yoshida (who died last year) is less known than some of his contemporaries, but his work is pretty fantastically recognizable to a modern viewer. This is probably due in large part to the popularity of his students, including Christina Ramberg, Chris Ware and Jim Nutt, who have borrowed heavily on his look (hence the name of the show). Yoshida's influence on the current Chicago scene makes the show worthwhile, and the curators' framing of Yoshida's work in relation to the environment of the School of the Art Institute makes the exhibition an act of visual anthropology as much as a gallery show.

Chances of wine: medium to low. Chances of extreme crowding: medium to high.

Starts 6pm, goes till 8pm.

Noble and Superior Projects 1418 W. Superior, 2R
You Are Looking At Art About Looking At Art

This is a show about what this show is about. Probably the most youthful show on our list, it promises both running meta-commentary on the act of viewing art and a mix of media. It's probably also the riskiest show on the list, with the greatest chance that you are going to hate everything, and also possibly the biggest reward. If you are a young person and enjoy art because it is both momentary and eternal, a constant balance of contradictions, and because cute hipsters are into it, this is your show.

It's doubtful there will be wine, find a cool kid loitering outside, he'll have a flask. Starts 6pm, goes till 10pm

*Neither the author nor Chicagoist or its affiliates guarantee these.
**Not strictly guaranteed to be good art.