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Over dinner at Penney’s Noodle shop we discussed the plan of action, I went into my weird version of tour guide where every bock was a new diversion. I could see it happening still in the race to get out of Chicago we took the el to Bucktown. On the way back the bus – you can see more on a bus – and in the end took a nice walk under Michigan Avenue – less tourists – back to Ohio Street.

She wanted to see my Chicago – the closest I want to come to Chicago is Madison – but my Chicago would be seeing if certain sites still existed – the Little People’s Museum in Marquette Park, or wandering about South Chicago and the East Side. Nevertheless we both being artists and me working where I do we thought that we should go out in search of art - no mean feat.

She caught the bug by buying a five day bus pass and wandering about Pilsen.

For me this hasn’t been a great month for art as all my fears about the medium seemed to not only manifest itself but grow. Looking at more portfolios than I care to, while I found great intellectual treatises, many works that referred to other works or the short comings of the medium that was being used. I saw work that took a distanced cynical look of the world as if to get closer or more involved would infect the artist with SARS or some other deadly disease. The fear that comes across in the nightly news was also apparent in the photographs -either by distance or by the fact that the snappers would never leave their studio. As one student put it, it seems that art having nothing to do with craft or an engagement with the world is simply one person saying that they are smarter than another person and is about as universal a way of communicating as Friesian.

It was a good night for it as there were three openings in the three realms of the gallery world. The plan was to go from the established to the “innovative” to her show on the periphery of the gallery universes here.

We were unfashionably early to the show of Ken the elder, he wasn’t there yet but and there were few people mingling. It felt strange to actually see the work. Chatted with the directors and looked at some work that would have potential with my class.

Ken arrived we exchanged jokes – but he had these handlers who seemed intent on protecting him from people in scarves and with odd accents. So we left. Was hoping for a boost in morale by running into former WGAS faculty inmates but to no avail.

Headed over to River West for Buddy’s opening which was just the opposite. It was packed - CTA trains as rush hour are less populated I couldn’t think or hear so a few nods and a departure. The work talking more about other work than anything in the world itself.

Lot’s to talk about heading to her opening which was a blend of the two. Less crowded, worse small talk, finding out that the Upper Canadian hunter had made the chandelier piece – one person said that she knitted cosies for hand grenades.

The best part of the evening was seeing an ex-student who was scoping out the gallery and - NYC style – had small prints of her work.

They were funny, visually complex, had multiple levels of entry and quite well done, close to the best thing I saw all evening. As an artist model in schools and groups, when there was a break she would photograph the people painting/drawing her with herself in a mirror at times making herself look like the paintings they were trying to make, the mirror’s frame working like an ornate border for the painting. At times everyone was looking toward the viewer creating even more of a confusion. She was looking for places to show the work.

After nodding and smiling and making sure she hit all the judges, we left but being Chicago, nothing in the area was open for a snack and there wasn’t enough time to go anyplace before the train back.

After dropping her off at the hotel, I made snaps through the windows of the closed restaurants on the way to the train.