Last-Minute Plans: Chicago Urban Art Society's "The Daley Show" Closing Reception

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 7, 2011 7:40PM

When the Chicago Urban Art Society were in the process of curating opened their current exhibition "The Daley Show" in September, it was under the assumption that His Elective Majesty would run again, and the exhibit would be a look at the ruling dynasty that's informed Chicago to its foundation for nearly half a century. With Daley's announcement that he wouldn't seek another term, the focus of the show changed to a satirical farewell. Curator Peter Kepha told ArtSlant's Abraham Ritchie what a lot of us have been thinking, "Good or bad, the man still made a pretty good city."

As Ritchie notes, the artwork for the exhibit falls into two camps: those who try to take the starch out of Daley's autocratic leadership style. And those who look at the man behind the mayor, the elected official who seems to be out of answers to cure what ails the city, who seems at times as though he'd rather be at his wife's side to care for her as her health declines.

We've featured some of the work of one of the artists, Nick Adam, in some "Around Town" installments the past couple of months, he's the guy behind the "Mayor Daley: Forever and Ever" artwork. CUAS also has a Flickr page of the exhibition's opening that's worth a look. Anyway, all good things come to an end and "The Daley Show" is no exception. The closing reception for the exhibition is tomorrow night from 6-10 p.m. at CUAS' Pilsen studio (2229 S. Halsted).