In a couple of weeks, I’ll be moving just a few streets south, and therefore the local cross-streets that I consider my neighborhood. After living here for a year, I finally stopped in to “Beans and Bagels” which sits quietly under the Montrose Brown Line station. I have walked past it many times, usually around after-work hours when the place is closed. The cafe itself has a relatively simple exterior, a natural wood sign in a small building, and a simply stated name. You can’t see particularly well into the windows from the outside and I was surprised by how young and artsy the vibe was on the inside.

One one of the first things I notice in small cafes and restaurants is what, if any, pieces of art adorn the walls. In this case, just to the left of the entrance, hung a dark and thickly painted abstract piece.  The colors were a natural range of greens, blues, blacks and reds, applied with overly large brush strokes. In the thickly layered paint there existed free flowing movement reigned in by an industrial structure. Navy blue swirled back along red pillars to create a Gotham-esque, Lower-Wacker Drive.

The eloquent confidence of the painting startled me. It seemed unusually sophisticated fare for a small coffee joint. The amateur life drawings on the opposite wall were more appropriate to my expectations. The painting was large and dominated the space. Admittedly attracted to abstraction, the subtle structure of the work drew me in. I was impressed by the conflict between color and shape, skyscraper verticality, twisting roads of blue paint, a certain nighttime electricity.  I was impressed by its solid presence in modernity.

The future of painting in art is a common topic of discussion in museum cafes and college lecture theaters. There exists a thoughtful academic paranoia of the death of art itself. We have reached an age where art depicts concepts based on the reality of the every-day in a way that negates the power of high art.

While the painting hanging in Beans and Bagels did nothing to answer any of these questions, its presence there acted to throw in its two cents. With its roots in abstract expressionism, and a fingertip in urban futurism, I was pleased to have my mind unexpectedly inspired.

Madelynn

The corporate world can be a slow rush of alarms, trains, and quick lunches. The city is filled with the sounds of the sighing commuter and crinkling sandwich wrappers. Amidst the noise, it can be difficult to find time to stop, listen, and press a hand against the cold cement.

Behind the walls and through the glass, a thriving art culture exists in Chicago in the form of extensive art galleries and museums. The Art Institute of Chicago is itself holds a formidable collection of modern and impressionist art. In addition to the basic collection, the Institute’s regular shows and short exhibitions highlight art historical themes and and places works in context. A few streets away, the Museum of Contemporary Art differentiates itself with elevated train ads touting art that is, “Contemporary… Not Modern.”

The Loyola University Museum of Art (LUMA) is often quickly passed by visitors travelling from the Water Tower to Ghiradelli. River North contains a wealth of galleries, local universities put on excellent shows, and smaller scenes such as those in Pilsen and Logan Square are not to be missed.

It can be tough to stop for a second and take it all in. The goal of this blog is to highlight and discuss the art on display in Chicago. I hope for me, at least, it will be a comforting glimpse outside of the my cubicle wall.

Madelynn