Never a Lovely So Real: Glimpses of a Beautiful, Brutal City
WDCB's Gary Zidek visits the Art Institute's new photo exhibit, NEVER A LOVELY SO REAL: PHOTOGRAPHY AND FILM IN CHICAGO, 1950-1980.
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"It's a passage that I think speaks to the character of the city, what makes it so wonderful, but also what makes it so brutal. And I think what you see in this exhibition, with this constellation of projects is exactly this kind of character with all of its contradictions" - Michal Raz-Russo, David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Associate Curator of Photography at the Art Institute of Chicago talking about the exhibit's title, which is taken from Nelson Algren's CHICAGO: CITY ON THE MAKE.
“Yet once you’ve come to be part of this particular patch, you’ll never love another. Like loving a woman with a broken nose, you may well find lovelier lovelies. But never a lovely so real.”
Over 160 vintage photographs and 12 films are on display in NEVER A LOVELY SO REAL.
Valeria “Mikki” Ferrill. Untitled from The Garage, 1972. Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Photos of a Chicago not often seen by people outside of certain communities are on display in NEVER A LOVELY SO REAL.
Danny Lyon. Uptown, Chicago, 1965. The Art Institute of Chicago. Gift of Mr. Danny Lyon. © Danny Lyon / Magnum Photos, courtesy Gavin Brown’s Enterprise.
Bob Crawford, Untitled (Fred Hampton) 1960/69
Images from NEVER A LOVELY SO REAL
Film screening within NEVER A LOVELY SO REAL
Images of Sun Ra and murals captured by Alton Abraham and Aye Aton on display in NEVER A LOVELY SO REAL
NEVER A LOVELY SO REAL: PHOTOGRAPHY AND FILM IN CHICAGO, 1950-1980. is part of the year-long Terra Foundation initiative ART DESIGN CHICAGO. The exhibit will be on display at the Art Institute through October 28.
NEVER A LOVELY SO REAL courtesy of the Art Institute.
