Events on Friday, July 23

<em>Soundings: Films By James Herbert</em>

Film: Shorts

James Herbert

Friday 7/23 @ Chicago Filmmakers

Studying directors' crossover from music video to film is usually thought-provoking and often compulsively absorbing. For those of us who grew... 

Ongoing Events

Theater on the Lake: <em>Mary's Wedding</em>

Theatre

Mary's Wedding

Friday 7/23 @ Theater on the Lake

Theater on the Lake continues to recognize the strongest theater productions of the year in their summer series of remounts; and... 

<em>Here/Not There</em>

Theatre

Here/Not There

Friday 7/23 @ MCA Chicago

The first week of the MCA's returning Here/Not Here series opens with Club Nutz, a tiny mobile nightclub dubbed "the world's... 

Paula McCartney: <em>Birdwatching</em>

Art: Photography

Paula McCartney: Birdwatching

Friday 7/23 @ Museum of Contemporary Photography

Concurrent with her first monograph of the same name, Paula McCartney's show Birdwatching features a provocative series of beautifully composed, lush... 

Works on Paper from the MCA Collection

Art

Works on Paper from the MCA Collection

Friday 7/23 @ Museum of Contemporary Art

In the MCA's latest exhibit, an astutely chosen collection of works on paper depict exaggerated conflict, addressing various allegorical, emblematic, and... 

<em>Almost There: A Portrait of Peter Anton</em>

Art

Peter Anton

Friday 7/23 @ Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

Intuit's new Peter Anton show provides a productive and evocative foil for the museum's overlapping show of drawings by Charles Steffen,... 

<em>George Grosz in America 1933-1958</em>

Art

George Grosz

Friday 7/23 @ The Arts Club of Chicago

George Grosz, brutal caricaturist of the Weimar Republic and important member of Dada and New Objectivity in 1920s Germany, emigrated in... 

<em>Raw Meat</em> (1972)

Film

Raw Meat

Friday 7/23 @ Music Box Theatre

Music Box says: Beneath Modern London, buried alive in its plague-ridden tunnels, lives a tribe of once humans. Neither men nor... 

Lora Fosberg: <em>You Can't Fall Off the Floor</em>

Art

Lora Fosberg

Friday 7/23 @ Linda Warren Gallery

Epic in scale and addressing issues that in other hands could have become sanctimonious — deforestation, advertising speak — Lora Fosberg's... 

Terence Hannum: <em>Negative Altars</em>

Art

Terence Hannum

Friday 7/23 @ Peregrine Program

Fresh off a stacked, Brion Gysin-nodding collaborative performance in Brooklyn that also included work by Scott Treleaven and Genesis P-Orridge, Terence... 

<em>A Guide for the Perplexed</em>

Theatre

A Guide for the Perplexed

Friday 7/23 @ Victory Gardens Biograph Theater

Based on cast and crew alone, Victory Gardens' A Guide for the Perplexed is perhaps the most anticipated show of the... 

Unit 2 Art and Design Collective: <em>Live Station Project</em>

Performing Arts: Acrobatics

Unit 2 Art and Design Collective

Friday 7/23 @ Museum of Contemporary Art

MCA says: Live Station Project incorporates the ideas of studio practice, re-use of materials, and an examination of the local waste... 

<em>Stranger in Paradise: The Works of Reverend Howard Finster</em>

Art

Howard Finster

Friday 7/23 @ Chicago Cultural Center

Howard Finster, often described as one of the most important folk artists of the 20th century, was an "outsider" artist whose... 

<em>Roger Brown: Calif USA</em>

Art

Roger Brown

Friday 7/23 @ Hyde Park Art Center

Chicago Imagist Roger Brown is perhaps nearly as famous in Chicago now as a collector of art, particularly for the Roger... 

<em>Life Lines</em>: The Drawings of Charles Steffen

Art

Life Lines: The Drawings of Charles Steffen

Friday 7/23 @ Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

In many ways a beau ideal figure of "outsider art," Charles Steffen studied art at IIT before suffering a mental breakdown... 

<em>Proof</em>

Art: Photography

Proof

Friday 7/23 @ Catherine Edelman Gallery

A picture may not lie, but that doesn't mean it tells the full story. Proof, a group exhibition the Catherine Edelman... 

<em>New Icon</em>

Art

New Icon

Friday 7/23 @ Loyola University Museum of Art

Icons, by their very definition, can be difficult to understand. They act as signifiers, suggesting a meaning outside of themselves that... 

<em>A Parallelogram</em>

Theatre

A Parallelogram

Friday 7/23 @ Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre

A Parallelogram, the final play in one of Steppenwolf's strongest seasons in recent years, pairs longtime Steppenwolf collaborator, actor, and playwright... 

<em>Everyday Adventures Growing Up: Art From Picture Books</em>

Art

Everyday Adventures Growing Up

Friday 7/23 @ The Art Institute of Chicago

AIC says: The world is an exciting and frightening place for a young child. It's fun to make a new friend,... 

Latino Theatre Festival: New Work Weekend

Theatre

New Work Weekend

Friday 7/23 @ The Goodman Theatre

This year's Latino Theatre Festival is arguably the Goodman's strongest to date, thanks to thematic cohesion based on this year being... 

<em>This Train</em>

Theatre

This Train

Friday 7/23 @ Steppenwolf Garage Theatre

16th Street Theater, now in its third season, keeps proving its robustness and strong eye for talent and collaboration — it's... 

<em>Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: Form, Balance, Joy</em>

Art

Alexander Calder and Contemporary Art: Form, Balance, Joy

Friday 7/23 @ MCA Chicago

The Alexander Calder exhibit at the Museum of Contemporary Art tries to reposition the artist's legacy. The selections from Calder's work... 

<em>Orestes</em>

Theatre

Orestes

Friday 7/23 @ Dream Theatre

A stylish, poetic adaptation with the kind of dark, hip edge that classic Greek theatre seems to require now. The final... 

Milwaukee Ave Arts Festival

Summer Guide: Festival

Milwaukee Ave Arts Festival

Friday 7/23 @ 2250 - 2850 N Milwaukee Ave

After last year's successful debut, the Milwaukee Ave Arts Festival returns with another batch of fine local bands, dozens of art... 

<em>Earthworks</em>: Robert Smithson, Sam Durant, and Mary Brogger

Art

Earthworks

Friday 7/23 @ Museum of Contemporary Art

When a Modern Wing museumgoer accidentally stepped on Robert Smithson's floor-displayed Chalk-Mirror Displacement last month, jokes about the artist's pet themes... 

<em>Life Lines</em>: The Drawings of Charles Steffen

Art

Charles Steffen

Friday 7/23 @ Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

Intuit says: This retrospective features 30 pieces of Charles Steffen's work, covering a variety of imagery he knew in his limited... 

<em>Cherrywood</em>

Theatre

Cherrywood

Friday 7/23 @ Angel Island

Storefront-theatre company Mary-Arrchie consistently delivers provocative, innovative work. Their latest, the Midwest premiere of a show originally concocted by Austin's Rule... 

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Daniel Albrigo: <em>Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is&hellip; A LOVE STORY</em>

Art

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge and Daniel Albrigo

Friday 7/23 @ Western Exhibitions

The fact that Genesis P-Orridge had his teeth removed and replaced with gold casts — the act which inspired this exhibit... 

<em>ACTION!</em>

Art

ACTION!

Friday 7/23 @ Chicago Art Department

Chicago Art Department says: ACTION! is a Chicago Art Department exhibition themed around the idea of the Hollywood summer blockbuster movie.... 

<em>The Absolute Best Friggin' Time of Your Life</em>

Comedy

The Absolute Best Friggin' Time of Your Life

Friday 7/23 @ The Second City e.t.c.

The electric defibrillator paddles that briefly appear onstage during the Second City e.t.c.'s new sketch revue are an apt metaphor for... 

<em>Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies</em>

Performing Arts: Comedy

Spoiler Alert: Everybody Dies

Friday 7/23 @ The Second City

Does the title of this sketch comedy show refer to the cast or the audience? The answer, of course, is both.... 

Ray Noland: <em>Sweet Tea & American Values</em>

Art

Ray Noland

Friday 7/23 @ Chicago Urban Art Society

In Sweet Tea, Ray Noland reminds us once again that overtly political art can still be fresh and vigorous, not to... 

Prairie Avenue House Museums

Get Social

Prairie Avenue House Museums

Friday 7/23 @ Glessner House Museum

Chicago's historic Prairie Avenue district — the site of the 1812 Fort Dearborn Massacre — became known after the Great Chicago... 

John Baldessari: <em>A Print Retrospective From the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation</em>

Art: Photography

John Baldessari

Friday 7/23 @ Museum of Contemporary Photography

The influential American conceptual artist John Baldessari — gadfly to contemporary art theory and master of image-text paintings — is represented... 

Jason Middlebrook: <em>LESS</em>

Art

Jason Middlebrook

Friday 7/23 @ moniquemeloche gallery

Don't just live with less; make art with less. Jason Middlebrook, a pioneer of sustainability art, has focused in the past... 

Ox-Bow 2010 Centennial Exhibitions

Art

Ox-Bow Exhibitions

Friday 7/23 @ Various Chicago locations

It's the 100-year anniversary of Ox-Bow, the art school and artists' residency in Michigan; and to celebrate the centennial, there are... 

Baby Wants Candy

Comedy

Baby Wants Candy

Friday 7/23 @ Apollo Theater

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

Summer Residents: Cauleen Smith and Adia Millett

Art

Cauleen Smith and Adia Millett

Friday 7/23 @ threewalls

threewalls says: This July and August threewalls again hosts their summer residency, this year in conjunction with the Studio Chicago programming.... 

<em>The Girl Who Played with Fire</em>

Film

The Girl Who Played with Fire

Friday 7/23 @ Various Chicago locations

If it weren't for a little lady named Lisbeth Salander, and her creator Stieg Larsson, Americans might forever think of Sweden... 

<em>Art of Touring</em>

Art

Art of Touring

Friday 7/23 @ Johalla Projects

In conjunction with the new, Yeti-published book of the same title, Art of Touring showcases a bevy of strong (non-musical) art... 

<em>Close-Up</em> (1990)

Film

Close-Up

Friday 7/23 @ Gene Siskel Film Center

Forget Iran: Abbas Kiarostami is simply one of the world's superlative auteurs. And Close-Up, which the Tehran-born filmmaker made in between... 

<em>Rewind: 1970s to 1990s Works from the MCA Collection</em>

Art

Rewind: 1970s to 1990s

Friday 7/23 @ Museum of Contemporary Art

No better excuse to clear the dust bunnies from a collection of old favorites than to put together a best-of show.... 

<em>About Face</em>

Art

About Face

Friday 7/23 @ Thomas Robertello Gallery

A spectacular lineup, ranging from emerging artists to Chicago institutions, graces this summer group exhibition at Thomas Robertello Gallery, where the... 

<em>Wild Grass</em>

Film

Wild Grass

Friday 7/23 @ Music Box Theatre

Alain Resnais' Wild Grass follows an irrational pair of would-be lovers through a series of unsettling, amusing, and often surreal misadventures.... 

<em>Chicago Stories: Prints</em> and H.C. Westermann: <em>See America First</em>

Art

Chicago Stories and H.C. Westermann

Friday 7/23 @ The Art Institute of Chicago

This AIC exhibition charts the wild terrain of the Chicago post-war art scene — the adverse eccentrics, stylists, and self-taught artists... 

<em>Sound & Vision</em>

Art

Sound & Vision

Friday 7/23 @ The Art Institute of Chicago

The Art Institute's mashup of art and music through a wide grouping of photo and video is an untidy combination —... 

<em>New Sculptures, Paintings and Photography</em> by Coarse

Art

New Sculptures, Paintings and Photography by Coarse

Friday 7/23 @ Rotofugi

Works for the coarse world began in 2003, when German artists Mark Landwehr and Sven Waschk started a distinct style of... 

Art

People Wasn't Made to Burn

Friday 7/23 @ Smart Museum of Art

Ben Shahn and the Hickman Story In early 1947, a fire ripped through the one-room attic of a tenement building on... 

Urban Suite Fridays w/ DJ 33 1/3&nbsp;

Music: Hip-Hop

Urban Suite Fridays w/ DJ 33 1/3 

Friday 7/23 @ The Shrine

The Shrine brings you URBAN SUITE, the sexiest Friday night in Chicago! DJ 33 1/3 spins Hip Hop, Soul, Funk, R... 

<em>Good Design</em>

Art

Good Design

Friday 7/23 @ Smart Museum of Art

Mid-Century: "Good Design" in Europe and America, 1850–1950 Between 1850 and 1950, progressive artists, designers, and architects decisively reshaped the everyday... 

<em>Land Without End and Other Works</em> by Theo Leffmann

Art

Land Without End and Other Works by Theo Leffmann

Friday 7/23 @ Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art and Block Cinema

The fiber art of Chicagoan Theo Leffmann (1911–1996) evokes the ancient and the exotic, echoing pre-Columbian and non-Western processes and forms... 

Fuerza Bruta: Look Up

Performing Arts

Fuerza Bruta: Look Up

Friday 7/23 @ Auditorium Theatre

FUERZA BRUTA: LOOK UP is a non-stop collision of dynamic music, visceral emotion, and kinetic aerial imagery. Featuring mind-blowing visual effects... 

Rewind: 1970s to 1990s - Works from the MCA Collection

Special Event

Rewind: 1970s to 1990s - Works from the MCA Collection

Friday 7/23 @ MCA Chicago

  During its forty-year history, the MCA has distinguished itself with groundbreaking exhibitions that have contributed substantially to the evolving history... 

<em>Almost There</em>: A Portrait of Peter Anton

Art

Almost There: A Portrait of Peter Anton

Friday 7/23 @ Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

[if... 

I Do! Chicago Ties the Knot

Special Event

I Do! Chicago Ties the Knot

Friday 7/23 @ Chicago History Museum

A new costume exhibition shows the colorful history of wedding attire! I Do! presents 45 dresses, plus accessories, corsets, men's attire,... 

ComedySportz

Comedy

ComedySportz

Friday 7/23 @ The ComedySportz Theatre

Our long running main stage show "ComedySportz" offers a unique blend of fast funny improv comedy that is appropriate for all...