Events on Friday, June 20

Willie Nelson & Family w/ James Hunter

Music

Willie Nelson & Family

Friday 6/20 @ The Pavilion at Ravinia

Of late, the Red Headed Stranger has only made headlines via a string of so-so albums, dubious new-country collaborations (though we... 

Dilated Peoples w/ Aceyalone and 88-Keys

Music: Hip-Hop

Dilated Peoples

Friday 6/20 @ Double Door

Fresh off their latest DVD/CD, The Release Party, '90s LA crew Dilated Peoples hold it down tonight for the Chicago stop... 

Black Angels w/ the Warlocks

Music

Black Angels

Friday 6/20 @ Logan Square Auditorium

Neo-psychers the Black Angels plumb a pretty wide range of obscurist delights, cozying up to everyone from Spacemen 3 and My... 

Ongoing Events

Jeff Koons

Art

Jeff Koons

Friday 6/20 @ Museum of Contemporary Art

It's easy to forget that art star and auction darling Jeff Koons made his name as a provocateur. His Made in... 

<em>Superior Donuts</em>

Theatre

Superior Donuts

Friday 6/20 @ Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre

Chicago theatergoers might know better, but for a long time, most people only recognized Tracy Letts as "that guy from the... 

Baby Wants Candy

Comedy

Baby Wants Candy

Friday 6/20 @ Apollo Theater

Whether you love or fear musicals, you can delight in Baby Wants Candy, a fully improvised comedy show with song, dance,... 

<em>About Art</em>: Photographs by Jason Lazarus and Brian Ulrich

Art: Photography

Brian Ulrich and Jason Lazarus

Friday 6/20 @ City Gallery

Jason Lazarus and Brian Ulrich take an irreverent glimpse behind the scenes of the art market with About Art, their photographic... 

Art

Amanda Browder: Cyclone

Friday 6/20 @ Green Lantern

Dynamic fiber and performance artist Amanda Browder spins into Chicago again — this time with a stuffed tornado in tow. Browder... 

Garfield Park Conservatory: Flower Power

City Gems

Flower Power

Friday 6/20 @ Garfield Park Conservatory

If the concrete trek and throngs of spectators at Friday's Fourth of July festivities leave you pining for something a little... 

David Hockney<em>:</em> <em>Looking at Woldgate Woods</em>

Art

David Hockney

Friday 6/20 @ The Arts Club of Chicago

David Hockney gained recognition in the '60s for his flat, single-panel paintings of swimming pools, but he also creates more narrative-based... 

Smart Home: Green + Wired

City Gems

Smart Home

Friday 6/20 @ Museum Campus

Just admit it, you've ogled the sleek modern houses you pass on certain streets and wished you could peek inside. The... 

<em>Collecting for Chicago: Prints, Drawings, and Patronage</em>

Art

Collecting for Chicago

Friday 6/20 @ The Art Institute of Chicago

You may not have noticed, but the Art Institute's Department of Prints and Drawings has been running in stealth mode —... 

<em>Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts</em>

Film: Documentary

Glass: A Portrait of Philip in Twelve Parts

Friday 6/20 @ Gene Siskel Film Center

Scott Hicks' documentary on the legendary composer Philip Glass is an admiring portrait, not a warts-and-all exposé. Hicks, the director of... 

<em>UBS 12x12: New Artists/New Work</em> feat. Mark Booth

Art

Mark Booth

Friday 6/20 @ Museum of Contemporary Art

In the current installment of the UBS 12x12 series, Mark Booth presents drawings and paintings that combine text with biomorphic forms... 

Lucky Plush Productions:  <em>The Sky Hangs Down Too Close</em>

Dance

The Sky Hangs Down Too Close

Friday 6/20 @ The Galaxie

Bertolt Brecht's play In the Jungle of Cities — sans convoluted vendetta, lumber, and prostitutes — is an ideological wrestling match,... 

<em>Chicago Imagism: 1965-1985</em>

Art

Chicago Imagism: 1965-1985

Friday 6/20 @ Russell Bowman Fine Art

Chicago Imagism began with a group of artists from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago who first showed their... 

City Gems

Brown Bag Stitching Salon

Friday 6/20 @ Jane Addams Hull House Museum

This bring-your-own-lunch gathering of handicrafters is held in honor of artist, educator, and social activist Ellen Gates Starr, who historically co-founded... 

<em>Three Hours Between Planes: Contemporary Photography from Leipzig and Chicago</em>

Art: Photography

Three Hours Between Planes

Friday 6/20 @ Chicago Cultural Center

In Three Hours Between Planes, co-curators Marco Poloni and Eiko Grimberg find the common themes running through the work of 11... 

Millennium Park Revealed

Special Event

Millennium Park Revealed

Friday 6/20 @ Chicago Architecture Foundation

Millennium Park has only been open officially for four years, but it's already a Chicago landmark. And like most things in... 

<em>Son of Rambow</em>

Film

Son of Rambow

Friday 6/20 @ Landmark Century Centre Cinema

Young Will lives in a religious household that forbids television or film. But once school bully Lee exposes him to a... 

<em>Clouds, et al</em>

Art

Clouds, et al

Friday 6/20 @ Carrie Secrist Gallery

During the quiet months of summer, dealers often turn to group exhibitions as an easy way to trot out the work... 

<em>Up the Yangtze</em>

Film: Documentary

Up the Yangtze

Friday 6/20 @ Music Box Theatre

Earthquakes and social protest make headlines, but a far more complex and subtle catastrophe is taking shape in the shadow of... 

Alex Katz: <em>Subject to Reversal</em>

Art

Alex Katz: Subject to Reversal

Friday 6/20 @ Richard Gray Gallery

At 81, Alex Katz has only recently emerged as one of America's major contemporary artists. The Richard Gray Gallery shows why... 

<em>Ladylike</em>

Art

Ladylike

Friday 6/20 @ Gosia Koscielak Gallery

In a post-third-wave landscape of mommy wars, Sex and the City fever, and continuous political upheaval, feminism is having a bit... 

<em>Design in the Age of Darwin: From William Morris to Frank Lloyd Wright</em>

Art

Design in the Age of Darwin

Friday 6/20 @ Block Museum, Northwestern University

What effect did Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species have on the development of early modern architecture? What can we... 

Ben Gest

Art: Photography

Ben Gest

Friday 6/20 @ Stephen Daiter Gallery

Ben Gest's portraits of friends and family are carefully orchestrated to seem totally improvised. But where like-minded photographers Sally Mann, Tina... 

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

City Gems

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

Friday 6/20 @ Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

Escape the roaring cars on Lake Shore Drive and the crowds at Lincoln Park Zoo by slipping through the unobtrusive entrance... 

<em>Portraying Food (and the Absence of It)</em>

Art

Portraying Food (and the Absence of It)

Friday 6/20 @ Walsh Gallery

Interest in Chinese art has reached a fever pitch, but Wu Hung has always been ahead of the curve. Since 1999,... 

<em>Refusenik</em>

Film

Refusenik

Friday 6/20 @ Landmark Century Centre Cinema

A chronicle of the 30-year international movement to free Soviet Jews, Refusenik is old-school — full of talking heads, historical footage,... 

Christa Donner: <em>ExtraSensory</em>

Art

Christa Donner

Friday 6/20 @ International Museum of Surgical Science

For decades, the International Museum of Surgical Science has spotlighted the macabre wonders of invasive surgery. But along with historical displays... 

<em>Campaign Supernova!</em><em> or How Many Democrats Does It Take to Lose an Election?</em>

Comedy

Campaign Supernova!

Friday 6/20 @ The Second City e.t.c.

From the director of the recent hit Between Barack and a Hard Place comes another election-season winner, Campaign Supernova!, performed by... 

<em>Shape-Shifters</em>

Art

Shape-Shifters

Friday 6/20 @ Alfedena Gallery

Curated by Newcity art editor Jason Foumberg and hosted by Alfedena Gallery, the Contemporary Arts Council's 14th annual emerging-artist exhibition illustrates... 

Foundation for Freedom Open House

Workshop/Class

Foundation for Freedom

Friday 6/20 @ Mess Hall

Regarding those who toil on Madison Avenue, the acid-tongued Bill Hicks once riffed, "You are Satan's little helpers… kill yourself, seriously…... 

Tony Fitzpatrick: <em>The Wonder:</em><em> Portraits of a Remembered City</em>

Art

Tony Fitzpatrick

Friday 6/20 @ Chicago Cultural Center, Studio Theater

Born and raised on the South Side, Tony Fitzpatrick is a prolific artist whose work ethic and oeuvre are both quintessentially... 

<em>ISN'T IT</em>

Art

ISN'T IT

Friday 6/20 @ Tony Wight Gallery

At first glance, ISN'T IT appears to be a loose collection of sculptures that brings modest materials to life. But the... 

<em>The Visitor</em>

Film

The Visitor

Friday 6/20 @ Landmark Century Centre Cinema

Some character actors should really never be leading men (Jude Law), and some just haven't been given the chance. Richard Jenkins... 

Mario Ybarra, Jr.: <em>Take Me Out</em>&hellip;<em> No Man Is an Island</em>

Art

Mario Ybarra, Jr.

Friday 6/20 @ The Art Institute of Chicago

In his first solo museum exhibition, Mario Ybarra, Jr. presents a witty comparison of Chicago and Los Angeles through the exploits... 

<em>Sangre de Mi Sangre</em>

Film

Sangre de Mi Sangre

Friday 6/20 @ Music Box Theatre

New York has always been a magnet for black sheep, a makeshift family for people who don't have family of their... 

<em>Everyday People</em>

Art

Everyday People

Friday 6/20 @ estudiotres

Curators Rob Bondgren and David Getsy push beyond the reductive categories of sexuality and gender in the LGBT-themed exhibition Everyday People... 

<em>Bloody Bess: A Tale of Piracy and Revenge</em>

Theatre

Bloody Bess

Friday 6/20 @ Storefront Theater

Bloody Bess isn't a pirate story for children, and it's definitely not your standard, polite downtown theater — the show's full... 

Art: Photography

Beyond the Backyard

Friday 6/20 @ Museum of Contemporary Photography

Recognized as a fixture in Americana, the backyard has, over the previous two decades, become a space favored almost as much... 

Maleonn: <em>Days on the Cotton Candy</em> and Brian Yates: <em>you ruin everything</em>

Art

Maleonn and Brian Yates

Friday 6/20 @ Kasia Kay Art Projects

The term "visual artist" is a relatively vague one, but it's a dead-on description of Shanghai's Maleonn; his work demands a... 

<em>Orchestrations</em>: Paintings and Drawings by Jim Tansley

Art

Jim Tansley

Friday 6/20 @ Chicago Cultural Center

Jim Tansley's abstract paintings and drawings combine seemingly familiar lines with expanses of soft color to create arrangements that appear both... 

<em>Boys of Summer</em>

Art

Boys of Summer

Friday 6/20 @ moniquemeloche gallery

A good group exhibition can feel like a free buffet serving top-quality market produce; it all looks so enticing, and you... 

<em>When Did You Last See Your Father?</em>

Film

When Did You Last See Your Father?

Friday 6/20 @ Landmark Century Centre Cinema

Adapted from writer Blake Morrison's 1993 memoir about his bullying father's death from cancer, When Did You Last See Your Father?...