| Summary: | Offers an account of the long history of Chicago art, from the rupture of the Great Fire in 1871 to the present, to Manierre Dawson, László Moholy-Nagy and Ivan Albright to Chris Ware, Anne Wilson, and Theaster Gates. This single-volume history presents an overlapping sequence of interrelated narratives that together tell a history of visual art in the city. From the blank canvas left by the Fire, we loop back to the 1830s and on up through the 1860s, tracing the beginnings of the city's institutional and professional art world and community. From there, we travel in chronological order through the decades to the present. Familiar developments--such as the founding of the Art Institute, the Armory Show, and the arrival of the Bauhaus--are given a fresh look, while less well-known aspects of the story, like the contributions of African American artists dating back to the 1860s or the long history of activist art, finally get suitable recognition. The six chapters, each written by an expert in the period, mix narrative and image, weaving in oral histories from artists and critics reflecting on their work in the city, and setting new movements and key works in historical context. The final chapter, comprised of interviews and conversations with contemporary artists, brings the story up to the present, offering a look at the vibrant art being created in the city now and addressing ongoing debates about what it means to identify as--or resist identifying as--a Chicago artist today. --From publisher description.
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