Events on Friday, July 11

Feist

Music

Feist

Friday 7/11 @ The Pavilion at Ravinia

No one could have foreseen Leslie Feist's slingshot rise to indie stardom. Actually, on second thought, wasn't it always kind of... 

Modey Lemon w/ Lover! and Head of Skulls!

Music

Modey Lemon

Friday 7/11 @ Beat Kitchen

In the early aughts, Pittsburgh scuzz-fuzz trio Modey Lemon were easy to lump in with a gaggle of garage revivalists. Nowadays,... 

Dengue Fever

Music

Dengue Fever

Friday 7/11 @ The Empty Bottle

Dengue Fever's musical M.O. — lush, surf-inspired psychedelic rock, spiked with Chhom Nimol's shiver-inducing Khmer soprano — is well-known to fans... 

Ongoing Events

Baby Wants Candy

Comedy

Baby Wants Candy

Friday 7/11 @ Apollo Theater

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

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

Art

Alex Katz: Subject to Reversal

Friday 7/11 @ 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>Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson</em>

Film: Documentary

Gonzo

Friday 7/11 @ Various locations

The father of gonzo journalism and a '60s-counterculture icon, Hunter S. Thompson revolutionized American prose with his drug-fueled, first-person narrative style.... 

Jane Fisher: <em>Big Heads and Bigger Women</em>

Art

Jane Fisher

Friday 7/11 @ Packer Schopf Gallery

Figurative painter Jane Fisher returns to Chicago with her latest series of paintings: a simple celebration of humanity entitled Big Heads... 

Art: Photography

Beyond the Backyard

Friday 7/11 @ 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... 

<em>Several Landscapes </em>and <em>3 Landscapes in the Modern Style</em>

Art

Several Landscapes and 3 Landscapes in the Modern Style

Friday 7/11 @ Western Exhibitions

If you relish summer group exhibitions and air conditioning, head to the two landscape-themed shows at Western Exhibitions. Director Scott Speh... 

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

City Gems

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

Friday 7/11 @ 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... 

Millennium Park Revealed

Special Event

Millennium Park Revealed

Friday 7/11 @ 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>Poisoned by Polonium: The Litvinenko File</em>

Film: Documentary

Poisoned by Polonium: The Litvinenko File

Friday 7/11 @ Facets Cinémathèque

The tragic turn of events surrounding Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko's poisoning and subsequent death unfolded like a seedy crime novel. The... 

<em>Clouds, et al</em>

Art

Clouds, et al

Friday 7/11 @ 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>The Wackness </em>

Film

The Wackness

Friday 7/11 @ Landmark Century Centre Cinema

The Wackness is the sort of movie whose most redeeming qualities are least likely to be advertised in its trailers. About... 

<em>Gutenberg! The Musical!</em>

Theatre

Gutenberg! The Musical!

Friday 7/11 @ Royal George Theatre Center

Aspiring Broadway composer/lyricists trying to attract angel investors usually consider more contemporary material than Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press.... 

Summer Artist in Residence: Gisela Insuaste

Art

Gisela Insuaste

Friday 7/11 @ Museum of Contemporary Art

Local artist Gisela Insuaste mines the terrain of personal recollection and material culture for her multidisciplinary installations. In painting, drawing, and... 

<em>Ladylike</em>

Art

Ladylike

Friday 7/11 @ 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>Videodance: Works from the Centre Pompidou</em>

Art

Videodance

Friday 7/11 @ Hyde Park Art Center

Since 1978, the Centre Pompidou in Paris has paired visual artists with choreographers and dancers at its annual Vidéodanse festival.... 

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

Art

David Hockney

Friday 7/11 @ 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... 

Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary

City Gems

Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary

Friday 7/11 @ Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary

If nothing else, taking up birdwatching gives you a convenient excuse to bring terms like "Magnificent Frigatebird" and "Purple Gallinule" into... 

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

Art

Portraying Food (and the Absence of It)

Friday 7/11 @ Walsh Gallery

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

<em>Brick Lane</em>

Film

Brick Lane

Friday 7/11 @ Landmark Century Centre Cinema

With its sunflower hues poking through England's grime, Brick Lane cleaves to the trajectory of an East-to-West immigration tale. Teenager Nazneen... 

Christa Donner: <em>ExtraSensory</em>

Art

Christa Donner

Friday 7/11 @ 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>Outsourced</em>

Film

Outsourced

Friday 7/11 @ Gene Siskel Film Center

What do you do if the only way to save your job is to fly off to India and train your... 

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

Theatre

Bloody Bess

Friday 7/11 @ 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... 

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

Art

Chicago Imagism: 1965-1985

Friday 7/11 @ 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 7/11 @ 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>Orchestrations</em>: Paintings and Drawings by Jim Tansley

Art

Jim Tansley

Friday 7/11 @ 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>ISN'T IT</em>

Art

ISN'T IT

Friday 7/11 @ 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>When Did You Last See Your Father?</em>

Film

When Did You Last See Your Father?

Friday 7/11 @ 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?... 

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

Art

Mario Ybarra, Jr.

Friday 7/11 @ 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>Up the Yangtze</em>

Film: Documentary

Up the Yangtze

Friday 7/11 @ Music Box Theatre

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

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

Comedy

Campaign Supernova!

Friday 7/11 @ 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>About Art</em>: Photographs by Jason Lazarus and Brian Ulrich

Art: Photography

Brian Ulrich and Jason Lazarus

Friday 7/11 @ City Gallery

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

Chicago Park District's Taste of Fitness

Sports

Taste of Fitness

Friday 7/11 @ Various locations

Let's be honest — exercising in gyms is boring and expensive. But the Chicago Park District has a solution to the... 

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

Art

Design in the Age of Darwin

Friday 7/11 @ 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... 

<em>Sunday Painters: Discarded Paintings by Gifted Amateurs</em>

Art

Discarded Paintings by Gifted Amateurs

Friday 7/11 @ Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

Whereas most found-art exhibitions make aesthetic objects out of forgotten knick-knacks, the focus of this exhibition is, more literally, fine art... 

Smart Home: Green + Wired

City Gems

Smart Home

Friday 7/11 @ 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>Boys of Summer</em>

Art

Boys of Summer

Friday 7/11 @ 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>Tell No One</em>

Film

Tell No One

Friday 7/11 @ Landmark Century Centre Cinema

Herein lies living proof that the French can spin a gorgeous existentialist drama in any genre. Pediatrician Alex (François Cluzet) has... 

Jeff Koons

Art

Jeff Koons

Friday 7/11 @ 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 7/11 @ Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre

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

<em>Macho</em>

Comedy

Macho

Friday 7/11 @ Lincoln Lodge

Tonight might be your only chance this summer to get a shot of testosterone delivered by two women, as NYC comics... 

<em>A Declaration of Immigration</em>

Art

A Declaration of Immigration

Friday 7/11 @ National Museum of Mexican Art

It may be a country founded by those who arrived from elsewhere, but the United States arguably has a long way... 

Foundation for Freedom Open House

Workshop/Class

Foundation for Freedom

Friday 7/11 @ 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…... 

Garfield Park Conservatory: Flower Power

City Gems

Flower Power

Friday 7/11 @ 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... 

Art

Michael Jones McKean

Friday 7/11 @ threewalls

Michael Jones McKean's ramshackle constructions combine disparate found objects with wood, clay, and papier-mâché. His work has a strong physical presence,... 

<em>The Visitor</em>

Film

The Visitor

Friday 7/11 @ 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... 

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

Art

Collecting for Chicago

Friday 7/11 @ 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>My Winnipeg</em>

Film

My Winnipeg

Friday 7/11 @ Music Box Theatre

In My Winnipeg, Guy Maddin fashions both a valentine and a Dear John letter to his hometown, with a hypnagogic blur...