Harlequins, Jesters, cocktails, Cubism and the Minotaur make
for a glamorous Friday night; along with a performance by My Gold Mask and a
stroll through the Picasso And Chicago exhibit at The Art Institute Of Chicago. The event, After Dark, lives up
to its posh reputation; a wild night of creative people gathering for music,
nosh and art.
When I first arrived (by invitation and only a $25 ticket)
music by djs spinned and performers dressed in circus and mythological costumes
danced about the sea of people gathering in the long open corridor of the
modern wing. There were cocktails to
suck down and cheese to top crackers, rice crispy treats for your sweet tooth
and popcorn to pop.
I went straight for Picasso.
This exhibit was huge. The event,
nine to midnight was not enough time. I
don’t know if I will express the correct feelings, attributes, etc. If you did not know much of Picasso, this
exhibit would make you fall in love with him and his work. The copy written on the walls, the captions
under the work all expressed what great creativity and passion he had. What I am most impressed with that some of
the work showed is how he started with a simple line, lines, circles, a pencil
sketch and then the progression of the drawing into a masterpiece.
He is a unique abstract artist. I like how many of the abstracts of women looked to me, like same person, his muse (and he seemed to have many). Whether the picture was a real figurative or abstract you could see that same person throughout. He captured the person’s features and for me I saw it in both types of his execution.
The other type of formula he is famous for was cubism. What I like about this type of work is the
piece is a secret and you have to fit the cubes together to see the real piece.
You get all angles, different views of the subject. For these works I felt the colors were soft,
a glowing warmth, which is how I imagine he could have been in real life warm,
glowing and inviting.
The Chicago Picasso connection; we gave the artist a shot.
Chicago featured his work first in a museum and that to me just proves that
Chicagoans have open arms and insight. Chicago is a great city to be part of;
to have it part of your provenance.
I had the great pleasure to meet with Gretta Rochelle and
Jack Armondo of My Gold Mask, whose performance was part of the event. Gretta,
a tiny waif has a voice so powerful, it’s like thunder. Their music I would say is a cross between
Heart (strong guitar by Jack), Cat Power and Blondie (and not because of the
hair) “Let’s go get some culture!” Gretta roared as we left the cocktails behind
and entered back into the exhibit...
