To honor sacked Sun-Times photographers, museums could follow Gardner Museum

To honor sacked Sun-Times photographers, museums could follow Gardner Museum
Anyone who has visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston since the notorious March 18, 1990 art heist knows the haunting power of the museum’s decision to leave empty frames hanging on the walls where masterpieces once appeared. Absence — particularly when it is literally framed with ornate detail — can be at least... Read more »
By Menachem Wecker,
June 27, 2013 at 3:08 pm • 

Why does Facebook mistake me for a Blackhawks fan?

Why does Facebook mistake me for a Blackhawks fan?
With the Stanley Cup underway, I’ve been left scratching my head why I’ve been getting bombarded over the past week with so many Facebook ads about the Chicago Blackhawks. Given Facebook’s market value of $55 billion, shouldn’t it be “smart” enough to see from many of my posts that as a Bostonian I’m rooting for... Read more »
By Menachem Wecker,
June 15, 2013 at 8:36 pm • 

Painting via 'power of thought' may hold some promise

Painting via 'power of thought' may hold some promise
An Austrian-based company called G-Tech Medical Engineering has developed software that allows people to “paint” on a computer through the “power of thought,” reports Telegraph science correspondent Richard Gray. As Gray notes, the tool — which researchers are hoping to develop to the point that it can be a chip implanted in the brain —... Read more »
By Menachem Wecker,
May 26, 2013 at 8:41 pm • 
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Is it chutzpah for Israel to host a jazz festival in Chicago?

Writing on the Israeli Jazz Festival (May 19-23) in Chicago, Tribune arts critic Howard Reich notes that the country of just 8 million “has become a powerhouse in nurturing high-caliber jazz talent.” Listing several Israeli jazz artists who probably won’t be known to most readers, Reich suggests that the festival points to “Israel’s increasing role... Read more »
By Menachem Wecker,
May 19, 2013 at 12:44 pm • 

Chicago temporarily becomes cowboy country at Lyric Opera

Chicago temporarily becomes cowboy country at Lyric Opera
Some operas and plays have obvious villains. Méphistophélès in Faust is literally the devil; Hansel and Gretel features a witch who has no qualms about baking children in her oven; and Salome has any number of options, from the bloodthirsty Salome herself to Herod to Herod’s wife. The villain of Oklahoma! — at the Lyric Opera in Chicago through May 19... Read more »
By Menachem Wecker,
May 17, 2013 at 4:44 pm • 

The unmeetable Vera Stark

The unmeetable Vera Stark
A search on the Encyclopedia Britannica website for Vera Stark yields two hits: Mike Leigh, a British writer and director, and the National Science Foundation. Vera Stark has no Wikipedia page, and if one ignores references to Lynn Nottage‘s play By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Goodman Theatre, through June 2) and to a South... Read more »
By Menachem Wecker,
May 15, 2013 at 10:26 am • 
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Apparently, Chicago public doesn't understand public art

Apparently, Chicago public doesn't understand public art
Despite its reputation as a temple celebrating some of the world’s greatest architecture, Chicago’s public art seems to be confounding the understanding of both residents and reporters. CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman has filed what the channel seems to view as an investigative story about Chicago spending millions of dollars on unpopular public art. The... Read more »
By Menachem Wecker,
May 9, 2013 at 11:39 am • 

Did Chicago's Art Institute really show Picasso first?

Walking downtown or riding the “L,” it’s hard to avoid signs advertising “Picasso and Chicago,” the major exhibit which is on view at the Art Institute of Chicago through May 12. When it promotes the exhibit, the Art Institute refers often to its early adoption of Picasso’s work. “A century ago, in 1913, the Art... Read more »
By Menachem Wecker,
April 2, 2013 at 5:04 pm • 

Easter Sunday Service at The Moody Church

I’ll be live blogging the service below.
By Menachem Wecker,
March 31, 2013 at 9:41 am • 
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Goodman Theatre's 'Measure' anything but measured with Shakespeare's play

Goodman Theatre's 'Measure' anything but measured with Shakespeare's play
Shakespeare’s plays are comparable, in some ways, to the paintings of Mark Rothko. The more one tries to imitate or to tweak them, the more one realizes how delicately and deliberately balanced they are, and how hopelessly they collapse if the balancing act is frustrated. Robert Falls‘ interpretation of Shakespeare’s “Measure for Measure” at the... Read more »
By Menachem Wecker,
March 23, 2013 at 12:51 am •