If Sculptor Christina A. West is staring at you, she’s probably picturing you naked. Well, maybe not literally, but that joke from her biography may ring true in some of her expertly-sculpted figures. Christina’s attention to the most minute intricacies of human body language and themes of alienation stem from the artist’s everyday observations and […]Read Post ›
When Swedish artist Joakim Ojanen approaches his sculptures, he comes with a kernel of an idea and let’s whatever happens next happen. And that loose, fluid and introspective process shows in his work. At first glance, Joakim’s art can be viewed as humorous and chaotic, but underneath that façade are characters that have experienced life […]Read Post ›
Sam Jones excels at mostly everything he does—except staying static. “I just could not sit around on an afternoon and smoke pot and watch TV—that was just never gonna be me.” With every new project he takes on, Sam approaches it with a skateboarder’s mentality, dating back to his days growing up in Fullerton, California. […]Read Post ›
Since the days of watching Celebrity Death Match reruns on MTV, I’ve always had a real fascination with claymation. It’s almost as interesting imagining the work that went into creating these little animated puppets as it was to watch Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman fight to the death. That’s why the second I came across the Instagram feed […]Read Post ›
A lot can be said about the work of Phoenix-based contemporary artist Colin Chillag. One might be quick to label his art as hyperrealism, but his pluralist approach to painting blends techniques from across the art spectrum. While his almost-photo like portraits and depictions of the mundane qualities of everyday life are so beautifully authentic, […]Read Post ›
It’s always nice to find other people in the world who enjoy television as much as you do. That’s probably why at least a quarter of the people I follow on Instagram are artists specializing in the new Pop Art style of TV-inspired graphic design. A perfect example of that style is Australian artist Twyla […]Read Post ›
If you’ve scrolled through Instagram’s “explore” section recently, odds are you’ve likely come across the artwork of Sam Cox, better known as Mr. Doodle. Known for his mixture of characters and loose, black and white scribbles, Mr. Doodle’s work has shown up all around the world, from apartment walls to high-profile clients like Adidas and […]Read Post ›
The list of accomplishments associated with Seymour Chwast is almost impossible to fit into one small blog post. So naturally, when he agreed to speak with me for this site, which barely even has an official domain name, I was pretty elated to say the least. Even if you don’t know the name Seymour Chwast, […]Read Post ›
I first met the artist known as Mute0n a little over a year ago in a back alley of a Wicker Park laundromat. It’s usually probably not the best idea to walk up to a stranger underneath the rails of the Blue Line, but I’ve been following his work for so long and couldn’t pass […]Read Post ›
There’s a big difference between “fake news” and fake news, and Matt Saincome thinks he’s cracked the code on the latter. With his punk rock satirical news site The Hard Times, Saincome—along with co-founders Ed Saincome and Bill Conway—has found success writing what he knows best—comedic news stories taking on the likes of Minor Threat […]Read Post ›
Let me paint a picture for you—no pun intended. There’s a guy who spends his days painting Subway and Pizza Hut storefronts in painstaking detail, and—according to his Wikipedia page—“gives in-depth investigative reports on various topics such as the history of the Frito-Lay corporation, PepsiCo and the NRA” on the radio. To the casual reader, […]Read Post ›
You never really know what you’re gonna get when a street artist agrees to an interview. It’s always a pretty tricky situation to finally meet an artist you’ve admired, sitting face-to-face with you across the table. When most people think of street artists, they likely have a set idea in their head of some sort […]Read Post ›
In Chicago, it’s hard to walk down a sidewalk without noticing one of the city’s most prominent art forms—sticker art. Whether you’re strutting past a street lamp or parking meter, odds are you’ve probably noticed at least one of the many sticker artists the city has to offer. One of those artists is Glass Cuisine. […]Read Post ›
Throughout the last 27 years, Bart Simpson has been many things. He was an Academy Award winner, boy-band sensation and even somehow managed to stay 10 years old the entire time. However, he was recently able to add another title to his already high-profile resume—a fine art subject. The iconoclastic cartoon character is part of […]Read Post ›
“If you build it, they will come.” The quote might be from “Feld of Dreams,” but it’s also the way Chicago fashion stylist Whitney Middletown views her beloved hometown’s growing art scene. Known for working with some of the city’s most noteworthy musical artists including Jamila Woods and most notably Chance the Rapper, Whitney is […]Read Post ›
A crumpled bag of Cheetos, some balled-up t-shirts and maybe a PlayStation. In the mess of a student’s dirty dorm room, one icon shines through the clutter: a concert poster from a favorite band. “The concert poster represents a tangible connection to part of their identity,” said Dan MacAdam, illustrator and founder of Crosshair Silkscreen […]Read Post ›
Street lamps, traffic signs, brick walls. Odds are if you’re in one of Chicago’s trendiest neighborhoods, you’ve run into at least one of Penny Pinch’s signature “Pinch” characters. The design is simple. A circle outlined from a single stroke of marker, two small dots for eyes, widened half-circle for a nose and a dash for […]Read Post ›
Jamila Woods is a Renaissance woman in the truest sense of the word. A poet, singer, teacher and social activist, she is an unparalleled talent rarely seen in popular culture. Known for her featured performances on hit singles like Donnie Trumpet’s “Sunday Candy” and Chance the Rapper’s “LSD,” Jamila is now making a name for […]Read Post ›
With a mix of freewheeling funk and top-notch humor, Vulfpeck—the self-proclaimed half-Jewish post-geographic rhythm section—is quickly making a name for itself as one of the most original independent groups to watch. Vulfpeck leader Jack Stratton decided to start the band while attending University of Michigan as a hypothetical rhythm section. The band now features multi-instrumentalists […]Read Post ›
This profile originally ran in the Columbia Chronicle in 2015 Standup comedian Cameron Esposito’s life changed forever on the night of Oct. 3, 2013. After nailing her short set during her first televised standup performance on “The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson,” Jay Leno, Ferguson’s guest for the night, called Esposito over to tell […]Read Post ›
Originally Published in The Columbia Chronicle in 2015 Nick Thune is a comedian from Seattle, Washington, where he was “born young” and “spent his early years growing up,” as he says. Since moving to Los Angeles a decade ago, 34-year-old Thune quickly made a name for himself as one of the top comedians in the […]Read Post ›
Choosing just one genre to define Yoni Wolf is a difficult task. Between forming the California-based alternative hip-hop band Why?, making an original Internet comedy video and creating his own podcast, “The Wandering Wolf,” Wolf is a Renaissance man in the contemporary age of music. After finding a 4-track in his father’s synagogue when he […]Read Post ›
This interview originally ran in the Columbia Chronicle in 2015 Philadelphia native band Dr. Dog has made a name for itself during the last 15 years as one of indie rock’s most celebrated groups. Consisting of guitarist and vocalist Scott McMicken, bassist and vocalist Toby Leaman, guitarist Frank McElroy, keyboardist Zach Miller, drummer Eric Slick […]Read Post ›
Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Courtney Barnett is quickly becoming one of the most sought-after singer/songwriters in the indie music scene. Thanks in part to her raspy vocals and carefree live performances, Barnett has garnered recognition as an artist to watch from music publications such as Pitchfork and Rolling Stone. Barnett’s personal lyricism and wry, straight-forward […]Read Post ›
Throughout music history, several bands have been labeled as “the next” this or that. For Mississippi rockers The Weeks, comparisons to rock band Kings of Leon have always run rampant. From its Southern drawl to its family aspect, it is not the most far-fetched comparison. Rather than shying away from them, The Weeks embraced the […]Read Post ›
At an early age, Brian Ewing knew he wanted to be an artist. Ewing, whose solo horror poster show “Scream With Me” is currently showing at Galerie F, 2381 N. Milwaukee Ave., through Dec. 2, fell in love with art as a young boy growing up in La Mesa, California. He said he considers himself […]Read Post ›
As a teenager growing up in Maine, Aly Spaltro worked the late shift at a video store so she could record her music in the basement. Better known as Lady Lamb, Spaltro preferred the seclusion of a video store basement as her music and lyrics possess a similar intimate quality. Lady Lamb—formerly known as Lady […]Read Post ›
Philippines-based illustrator Kerby Rosanes works mainly with ordinary black fineliners to magically illustrate his “doodle” world. What was once a personal hobby eventually caught the eye of art blogs around the world and led this Philippines-based artist to worldwide acclaim. His work blends the cartoonish with realistic qualities, creating a style of contrasting elements that […]Read Post ›
Originally published in The Columbia Chronicle prior to the series pickup of The Chris Gethard Show on Fusion. Failure is nothing new to comedian Chris Gethard. Gethard’s self-titled weekly variety show has had its fair share of ups and downs in its six-year run. From having P. Diddy appear on the show to getting rejected […]Read Post ›
Chicago-born rapper Big Dipper seems to share physical attributes with a hip-hop star like Rick Ross: a hefty build, big chains, busty video vixens and hyper-sexualized lyrics. But the similarities end there. Big Dipper is part of the rap scene known as “queer hip-hop,” which has a distinctly different message and audience, although the same […]Read Post ›
When most people doodle in their school notebooks, they usually do not create characters that become known throughout an entire underground art community. Then again, most people are not Goons. Goons, who prefers to be addressed by his moniker, is the Chicago street artist—currently based in Vermont—known for his brightly colored, big-mouthed goonie characters with […]Read Post ›
Walking into a local thrift shop, a casual shopper may pass an old cassette player and a stack of tapes and think nothing of it. In 1975, when boomboxes featuring cassette decks were introduced to U.S. consumers, the cassette became the go-to source for portable music listening until being all but completely phased out by […]Read Post ›
A small fro appears above the overcrowded line inside the South Loop Cuban sandwich shop Cafecito. Comedian Tim Barnes waits anxiously for the line to shorten, but it’s not budging. He grows tired, walks out the door and darts over to the nearby Dairy Queen. “My girlfriend’s a vegan. I’ve been dying for a burger anyway,” He […]Read Post ›
Greta Kline—better known by her stage and band name Frankie Cosmos—is a prolific artist by any appellation. With more than 40 releases between her previous persona Ingrid Superstar and the current Cosmos moniker, Kline captures the difficulties of teen angst with her sweet and concise songs. The topic of youth is a popular theme, not […]Read Post ›
Ezra Furman has never really fit in. The “outcast kid” has always carved his own path in musical genres, style or gender boundaries. Music has given the singer/songwriter both a dedicated fan base and the courage and confidence he has sought his entire life, he said. His music is also a vehicle for the Evanston, […]Read Post ›
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