Roger Ebert and Life Itself

After many weeks in 2013 without a new Roger Ebert film review, April 3 brought relief when the Pulitzer Prize winning film critic announced a "leave of presence" to recover from another cancer.

His treatment would, he wrote, afford him time to focus on only the movies he wanted to see.

So today's afternoon news that Ebert died in Chicago took the wind out of me.

Tonight, reading his wife's quotes in the Chicago Sun-Times, Ebert's employer of 46 years, it seems the beloved critic was set to enter home hospice care (a sign he was closer to the end than the optimistic "leave of presence" notice led me to believe).

It's just sad either way.

Reading public comments about Ebert this afternoon, it's clear my stories and memories of the man are not unique. What a life he led!

Clicking on Facebook's "Like" feature took on a different meaning for many selecting "thumbs up" in tribute to Roger.

Many millions got to know Ebert as I did via PBS syndication of his review programs with Gene Siskel. Their review shows were among the few "adult" broadcasts of the late 1970s that my parents let me watch as a preschooler -- their review of the original "Halloween" movie with Jamie Lee Curtis remains seared in my brain (equally for the critique and the scary scene that led to my bedroom closets being open until teen years), as is SNL "Weekend Update" reporter Dennis Miller's mid-1980s announcement that Siskel & Ebert officially got renamed "the fat guy and the other one" (not respectively).

Ebert also made big brown glasses "cool" when my eyesight required lenses (about 1979). Reviews of "Tootsie" and "Thelma and Louise" stand out, as did the credits for their show, my early introduction to urban Chicago.

By my 1991 arrival at Minnesota State University at Mankato, I had more than a decade of Ebert critiques on the brain, and his style inspired not only a "great movies to rent" column for the MSU Reporter, but also my entry in to the mass communications program. My MSU friend Paul Rignell and I shared many Ebert-inspired chats (and spirited debates) as part of the campus film selection committee.

When my first girlfriend asked for Christmas gift suggestions, Ebert's 1993 review compilation was my No. 1 choice, and the more I read his columns (to complement the broadcast versions), the more inspiring the journalism track became (my home library now includes six Ebert review books and his excellent, inspiring autobiography "Life Itself," which I could not put down in early 2012 -- I cannot wait for a lucky filmmaker to turn this autobiography into a silver screen classic).

Ebert's website and blog served as inspiration for this Olympic blog (and occasional film blog) as well.

I love that he wrote captions for The New Yorker cartoon caption contest, entering many times before finally winning (reminiscent of the Olympic motto on the importance of taking part).

And speaking of the Olympics, Ebert also offered commentary of several Olympic moments including Beijing's and London's opening ceremonies. His notes on his Chicago's loss of the 2016 Olympic bid turned attention to other pressing matters for the city to tackle. He reviewed almost every Olympic-related film from "Olympia" to "Chariots of Fire" and "Cool Runnings" with panache.

And he could cook! This New York Times report about Ebert, by Atlanta-based food writer Kim Severson, is one I clipped and placed in the pages of "Life Itself" for future reference.

I am going to miss Roger Ebert.

Photos via the Chicago Sun-Times

Picasso And Chicago at Art Institute (See It!)

When trekking through Chicago, disappointment of "what could have been" (2016 Olympics) still crosses my mind. That October morning beside the Picasso sculpture and City Hall was a bummer.

But with each return to Chicago, new memories get forged, and the Chicago Art Institute's outstanding current exhibition "Picasso And Chicago" provided a great bridge to new cheer about the windy city and its rich ties to art and art history.

Chicago's Picasso show was not the first experienced in early 2013 -- a couple months ago the Guggenheim's P.R. team arranged tickets for "Picasso Black and White" (excellent). The Chicago exhibition rounded out a lot of the Picasso story for me, showcasing career details that did not previously resonate.

For instance, I had no idea Picasso created hundreds of ceramic items in one year of focus on this medium. "Picasso And Chicago" includes several examples, including a beautiful and tall work with four human figures (a modern take on the Greek urns on loan from the British Museum a couple of galleries from the special exhibition space).

Picasso also wrote hundreds of poems and two plays, creating illustrations to bring some of these works to life on paper or canvas. His tiny drawings are simply amazing in their detail.

The Art Institute show also taught more about Picasso's love life and the women who influenced the artist.

I loved discovering (spoiler alert) that when Chicago's mayor travelled to meet Picasso about the City Hall sculpture commission, the politician brought along works by famous Chicago-born artists, prompting Picasso's excited reaction (paraphrasing here), "Hemingway -- my friend! He's from Chicago?" and comments about how the master painter taught the master writer "everything he knows about bullfighting."

The exhibition is bookended by the history of Chicago's most famous sculpture, with the entryway showcase of a bronze model of the work, flanked by "The Blue Guitar" and speakers broadcasting news interviews from the sculpture unveiling event in downtown Chicago (as today, folks on the first day shared candid comments spanning the spectrum from instant love to perplexed reactions to the work).

One work stood out for this blogger -- "Peasant Woman With A Shawl" -- presented as the first Picasso that Chicago and American audiences viewed in the artist's first USA exhibition. A handful of massive canvases, several two-faced female portraits, and several of Picasso's 2,500+ prints round out the exhibition (250 works in all -- my head was spinning in a good way).

For those who visit "Picasso And Chicago" be sure to pick up the audio tour and museum card highlighting several additional Picasso that are in the museum but not included in the exhibition.

Many thanks to the Art Institute for setting up the blogger tickets. Many new happy memories forged in Chicago.

Now if we can just convince the mayor of Chicago to pursue the 2024 Olympic bid ...

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

I [dot] Roy Lichtenstein at Chicago Art Institute

During the 1990s, a friend introduced me to the official Cultural Olympiad poster series for the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad at Los Angeles, including an iconic equestrian-themed work I purchased (one of my first Ebay finds). And during a college spring break trip to New York, another friend pointed out a massive Roy Lichtenstein mural in the lobby of a Manhattan building -- loved it!

These two events, and later reading Lichtenstein's 1997 obituary in the New York Times (which I vividly recall, as his distinct work jumped off the page during morning reading at my first full-time P.R. job in Atlanta), form my earliest introductions to an artist now among my all-time favorites.

My apartment includes that early Ebay purchase of "The Red Horseman" poster from LA84, as well as a large poster from the Museum Ludwig Köln featuring a Lichtenstein titled "Landscape with Figures and Rainbow," and small snapshot photos of other works in museums visited through the years.

You can imagine my delight to learn of the Chicago Art Institute exhibition "Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective" opening in May. After patiently waiting to return to The Windy City last week, I at last experienced the exhibition with my girlfriend. Borrowing from the show's souvenir button design (inspired by "I [heart] N.Y." T-shirts) ... I [dot] Lichtenstein.

With thanks to the Chicago Art Institute public relations team for the media pass, what follows are an array of afterthoughts from two visits to the exhibition, first on June 16 then a return June 24 (yes, the exhibition is worth multiple visits). The press release for the exhibition provides a good overview, as does this museum video on the installation process.

"Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective" includes more than 160 works by the American artist. The entry arcade is flanked by two large works portraying architectural features, among the many building blocks and areas of study Lichtenstein explored during more than 50 years of painting.

We delighted in the cheerful Disney-inspired "Look Mickey" in vivid red, blue and yellow, with thousands of hand-painted dots that are part of so many of the works (we learned how the artist employed stencil and toothbrush to apply these points of paint on later images). And before diving into many advertising- and cartoon-inspired canvases in the second gallery, the exhibition provides a handful of compare and contrast works showing early Lichtenstein creations (most are not easily recognizable as Lichtenstein) juxtaposed with 1990s "Brushstroke" works -- with just a few paintings, visitors can see the huge leap Lichtenstein made from what was popular in art circles to his own brand of pop art.

Around the first corner, and around every turn in this exhibition, are wonderful surprises. Eyes meet the Lichtenstein everyone knows -- comic strip couples embrace while jet fighters and submarine commanders unleash attacks. The first big corner in this exhibition reveals themes of Early Pop (including common items from detergents to sneakers and jewelry), Black and White (with larger than life golf ball, tire, radio and desk calendar canvases -- don't miss the Magnifying Glass) and the first glimpse of War and Romance themes.

The most intriguing surprise early in the exhibition: ceramic busts and coffee cups (we liked how the stacked coffee mugs were just a few steps from the brown and yellow "Cup of Coffee" painting). The 18"x 45" "Hot Dog With Mustard" sort of jumps out as much as "The Ring (Engagement)" as the first Lichtenstein explosion in the exhibition (the red and black facets moving outward like the blasts of "Whaam!" in the next room).

Returning to the Black and White section, we marveled at the advertising-inspired "Large Jewels" as another of the early surprises to enjoy. So much to love in this exhibition -- we spent almost an hour in only the first two rooms!

The big guns are out in the room of comic war and romance paintings. The best treats: the aforementioned "Whaam!" facing a U-boat commander screaming in "Torpedo ... LOS!" as well as "Bratatat!" and "Takka Takka." I was humming Lionel Richie tunes upon spotting "Cold Shoulder" (with an eerie, forlorn message of Hello ... in a caption bubble almost crying off the canvas) and "We Rose Up Slowly" with its couple kissing like Brook Shields and her partner in "Endless Love" movie scenes.

"Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective" rounds the bend to unveil several more explosions and brushstrokes, with some curious three-dimensional works of porcelain enamel on steel. Several private collection works are shown here and in the landscapes series in the next gallery. Most impressive are the "Perforated Seascape #1" (as visitors cross the room this 3D work comes alive in vivid red, white and blue) and two Rolux-infused paintings titled "Seascape" and "Pink Seascape" (amazing and so surprisingly Roy).

Rounding another bend takes your breath away. It is amazing to see "Landscape with Figures and Rainbow" -- the real one rather than my apartment poster -- on loan from Germany measuring an enormous 8' x 10' (awesome!); the room features Lichtenstein's amazing history of art celebrating his take on Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Morris Louis and others. We spent the most time evaluating the sculptures in this section, as well as the 120" x 102" canvas "Laocoön" inspired by a major European sculpture (blending brushstrokes, dots and more colors than any other painting in the room).

Modern works, Mirrors, numerous studies (including the study for my favorite "The Red Horseman" and my girlfriend's favorite "Alka Seltzer" in pencil and crayon), angular/geometric shapes classified as Perfect/Imperfect and Artist's Studio works build the exhibition's third crescendo with a room of Nudes (with the floor-to-ceiling "Nudes with Beach Ball" drawing a lot of attention. The concluding gallery unveils the surprise of Lichtenstein's landscapes (many with Asian themes) and a return to the brushstrokes. Amazing. And the enormous scale of the landscapes offers an unintended "Where's Waldo" game to find the tiny philosopher or boat captain in a couple of the monumental works.

Obviously, we loved "Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective" and highly recommend a visit while its in the Chicago Art Institute through Sept. 3, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington Oct. 14 to Jan. 13, then in London and Paris throughout next year. I also recommend the exhibition catalogue with 368 pages and full color images of hundreds of Lichtenstein and related works. I don't typically use/recommend museum audio guides, but this exhibition's audio tour includes so many archived Roy Lichtenstein interviews it is a must-listen for the first-timer or longtime fan.

One thing that struck me, reading the catalogue and other museum writings through the exhibition, is the absence of reference to Ben-Day dots, often used to describe some of Lichtenstein's artistic process. My hunt through the catalogue continues, but I am curious to know whether the curators purposely avoided use of the Ben-Day reference, which also is absent from the audio guide. Was there a copyright issue of the word Ben-Day? What was the point of ommiting Ben-Day descriptions? It's not even on the dot-edu link for the exhibition.

Whether or not the dot answer is determined, the "Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective" exhibition is outstanding. Period.
Photos by Nicholas Wolaver except the LA84 poster from this link

Chicago 2016 One Year Later

Has it really been a year? A year since "Black Friday" in The Windy City?

Until receiving an email from World Sport Chicago on Friday, it almost slipped by this weekend: The anniversary of Rio de Janiero winning the 2016 Olympic Games bid, and Chicago's first-round elimination in the big vote at Copenhagen.

The loss for Chicago was a disappointment to thousands of people, notably the hard-working army of volunteers who donated time and resources to World Sport Chicago and the multi-year bid effort.

On this day, there are likely folks in Madrid and Tokyo pondering their Olympic dreams denied as well.

It still hurts thinking about the stunning news delivered via satellite when my girlfriend, her sister, thousands of Olympic enthusiasts and I stood shoulder to shoulder in Daley Plaza on a Friday morning. Like Phil Rogers expression and the "face" of the plaza's famous Picasso sculpture, the devastating news -- Chicago was out -- left us all breathless and frozen. Stunned silence. Like a kick hit everyone in the solar plexus.

I was very happy to learn yesterday, however, that one year later, World Sport Chicago, NBC 5 in Chicago and others collaborated to create a one year later video titled "Making Big Plans: The Story of Chicago's Olympic Dream" to focus on the positive aspects of the bid, and (I suspect) to close the books on the 2016 with an inspirational message for a future potential attempt to host the Olympic Games in Chicago. This was a classy move.

The trailer for the film includes Patrick Ryan, father of the bid, Mayor Daley and other key players from Chicago 2016. Here's wishing someone can share a recording of the full broadcast with me -- I really would like to view it.

Love that Ryan states "Chicago didn't lose. Rio won. But Chicago won in so many ways" and Mayor Daley summed it up with, "You have to take risks and if you don't you never succeed in life, and that's why I'm glad we did it in Chicago."

In my bones I have a feeling that Chicago will someday be a great Olympic host city. For 2016, it just wasn't our turn again for North America and the U.S. When another bid team is ready to start work, sign me up to help make some big plans.

Chicago, Don't Tease Me

Catching up on weekend Olympic headlines, came across a UPI.com story noting that Chicago Mayor Richard Daley shared advice for future administrations (since he will not seek reelection) regarding a possible 2020 Olympic bid.

It hasn't yet been a year since Rio de Janiero won the Games for 2016 (with Chicago out in early voting by the International Olympic Committee -- that was a long and gray day in The Windy City).

According to the article, Daley's caution was that the IOC is likely to continue selection of host cities based on geographic locations where the Games did not yet visit: Africa, the Middle East, India.

While I tend to agree with this assessment, the Olympics have not been to the Midwest U.S. since St. Louis in 1904 -- only a state away from Chicago. Could this be a shimmer of hope for Chicago that Mayor Daley inadvertently planted?

Given the Commonwealth Games fiasco in India, that does perhaps move that nation way down the "next for the Olympics" target list. Africa could indeed be a contender. Not sure about the Middle East.

Whatever the case, Chicago, please don't tease! Will the city jump into another bid? That would be something!

Photo via UPI.com