Events on Friday, August 8

Ryan Claytor: Moving to Michigan Tour

Books: Reading

Ryan Claytor

Friday 8/ 8 @ Quimby's Bookstore

Comic-book artist Ryan Claytor is moving across the country with his lady friend and unveiling a new book along the way.... 

Janis Ian

Music

Janis Ian

Friday 8/ 8 @ Old Town School of Folk Music

Folkie wunderkind, taboo buster, musi-biz survivor — Janis Ian has worn a lot of hats. And she just added published author... 

We Are Scientists w/ Oxford Collapse

Music

We Are Scientists

Friday 8/ 8 @ Abbey Pub

NY indie rockers We Are Scientists burst onto the scene a few years ago with the snappy, punky single "Nobody Move... 

Ongoing Events

<em>A Declaration of Immigration</em>

Art

A Declaration of Immigration

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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... 

<em>Death + Extinction via Polaroids (1927-2008)</em>

Art: Photography

Death + Extinction

Friday 8/ 8 @ Chicago Art Department

With the death knell sounding for Polaroid film, there's been an upsurge of exhibitions centering on those much-loved instant photos. But... 

M&oacute;nica Herrera: <em>Strings</em>

Art

Mónica Herrera: Strings

Friday 8/ 8 @ Hyde Park Art Center

For her interactive sound installation at Hyde Park Art Center, Mónica Herrera transforms the gallery into a giant musical instrument and... 

City Gems

Brown Bag Stitching Salon

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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... 

Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary

City Gems

Montrose Point Bird Sanctuary

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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>ISN'T IT</em>

Art

ISN'T IT

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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... 

Mauled by Tigers Fest

Festival: Performing Arts

Mauled by Tigers Fest

Friday 8/ 8 @ Various locations

While the big-press festivals have passed (and so has Shark Week), Chicago still has plenty of worthy music... 

Daniel Traub: <em>City's Edge</em>

Art: Photography

Daniel Traub

Friday 8/ 8 @ Catherine Edelman Gallery

 As China becomes a major player in global culture, attention shifts towards its booming cities. In a new series of photographs,... 

Black Harvest International Festival of Film and Video

Festival: Performing Arts

Black Harvest International Festival

Friday 8/ 8 @ Gene Siskel Film Center

All month long, the Gene Siskel Film Center screens critically acclaimed movies that focus on the black community. This is the... 

Art: Photography

Beyond the Backyard

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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>Campaign Supernova!</em><em> or How Many Democrats Does It Take to Lose an Election?</em>

Comedy

Campaign Supernova!

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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... 

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

City Gems

Alfred Caldwell Lily Pool

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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... 

Zachary Cahill: <em>The Best Laid Plans </em>

Art

Zachary Cahill: The Best Laid Plans

Friday 8/ 8 @ DOVA Temporary

Explicitly political art has fallen out of favor in recent decades, although there have been signs of a comeback as the... 

<em>Tell No One</em>

Film

Tell No One

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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... 

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

Art

Collecting for Chicago

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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>Brideshead Revisited</em>

Film

Brideshead Revisited

Friday 8/ 8 @ Landmark Century Centre Cinema

For fans of the book and miniseries, it's hard to imagine how Brideshead Revisited could conform to a two-hour feature-film format.... 

<em>Are We There Yet?</em>

Art

Are We There Yet?

Friday 8/ 8 @ Hyde Park Art Center

Curated by photographer Dawoud Bey, Are We There Yet? is a group show of lens-based work that touches on issues of... 

Chicago Film Race

Special Event

Chicago Film Race

Friday 8/ 8 @ Various locations

Filmmakers who are creative under fire get a chance to shine when the Diesel Film Racing tour arrives in Chicago, giving... 

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

Art

Design in the Age of Darwin

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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... 

Chicago Park District's Taste of Fitness

Sports

Taste of Fitness

Friday 8/ 8 @ Various locations

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

Smart Home: Green + Wired

City Gems

Smart Home

Friday 8/ 8 @ Museum Campus

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

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

Art

Jane Fisher

Friday 8/ 8 @ Packer Schopf Gallery

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

<em>Superior Donuts</em>

Theatre

Superior Donuts

Friday 8/ 8 @ Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre

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

Jeff Koons

Art

Jeff Koons

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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>Fight Club</em> (1999)

Film

Fight Club

Friday 8/ 8 @ Music Box Theatre

When David Fincher released Fight Club, his adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's cult novel, it caused a media frenzy. Everyone had a... 

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

Art

Chicago Imagism: 1965-1985

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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... 

Baby Wants Candy

Comedy

Baby Wants Candy

Friday 8/ 8 @ Apollo Theater

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

Garfield Park Conservatory: Flower Power

City Gems

Flower Power

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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... 

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

Art

Several Landscapes and 3 Landscapes in the Modern Style

Friday 8/ 8 @ Western Exhibitions

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

<em>The Visitor</em>

Film

The Visitor

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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... 

Millennium Park Revealed

Special Event

Millennium Park Revealed

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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>The Dark Knight</em>: The IMAX Experience

Film

The Dark Knight

Friday 8/ 8 @ Navy Pier

The Dark Knight might go down as Heath Ledger's final film, but it would be a shame if the actor's tragic... 

Art

Book and Paper Arts Triennial

Friday 8/ 8 @ Center for Book & Paper Arts at Columbia College Chicago

This juried triennial exhibition, dedicated to paper preservation and innovation in an increasingly paperless world, opens today at Columbia College Chicago's... 

<em>On an Average Day</em>

Theatre

On an Average Day

Friday 8/ 8 @ Greenhouse Theater

Route 66 Theatre Company's production of John Kolvenbach's On an Average Day sold out its inaugural run in Los Angeles, where... 

UBS 12x12: Howard Henry Chen

Art

Howard Henry Chen

Friday 8/ 8 @ Museum of Contemporary Art

Howard Henry Chen's exhibition at the MCA is made up of just four artworks — a photographic triptych and three sculptural... 

The 2008 Silent Summer Film Festival

Festival: Performing Arts

The 2008 Silent Summer Film Festival

Friday 8/ 8 @ Portage Theater

The annual Silent Summer Film Festival resurrects the glory of film's Golden Age, screening classics from the silent era. Comedies, dramas,... 

<em>Pee-wee's Big Adventure</em> (1985)

Film

Pee-wee's Big Adventure (1985)

Friday 8/ 8 @ Music Box Theatre

With its whimsical plot, highly stylized visuals, and star turn from Paul Reubens, Tim Burton's directorial debut is a hypnotic fever... 

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

Art

Discarded Paintings by Gifted Amateurs

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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... 

<em>The Wackness </em>

Film

The Wackness

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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... 

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

Art

Mario Ybarra, Jr.

Friday 8/ 8 @ 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>Bottle Shock</em>

Film

Bottle Shock

Friday 8/ 8 @ Landmark Century Centre Cinema

In 1976, British oenophile Steven Spurrier (Alan Rickman) hosted a much-ballyhooed blind tasting between France's finest wine and California's — including...