FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Marc Moscato | (503) 235-2159 |
[email protected] marcmoscato.com | http://dillpickleclub.wordpress.com/ “BRAINS, BRILLIANCY, BOHEMIA” EXHIBITION EXAMINES FORGOTTEN ERA OF CHICAGO COUNTERCULTURE, OPENS APRIL 4 AT MESS HALL Brains, Brilliancy, Bohemia: Art & Politics in Jazz-Age Chicago Mess Hall, 6932 North Glenwood Ave., Chicago, IL 60626 April 4 – April 15 | Tues-Friday 1PM-5PM | Sat-Sun 12-6 Chicago, IL (March 1, 2009) – Encompassing an exhibition of 1910s-1920s hobohemian ephemera, an accompanying publication and an events series, Brains, Brilliancy, Bohemia connects Chicago’s long tradition of non-tradition with the work of contemporary artists and activists. The exhibition is the first known overview of visual culture produced during the hobohemian era, a precursor to present day cultural resistance. Material from the exhibition draws heavily from the archives of the Newberry Library, whose collections chronicle Chicago’s legendary but ill-forgotten Dill Pickle Club. The Dill Pickle provided a forum for free speech and the meeting place for many of the city’s most famous authors, intellectuals and radicals, including Carl Sandburg, Sherwood Anderson, Floyd Dell, Clarence Darrow, Lucy Parsons, Ralph Chaplin, Ben Hecht, Harriet Monroe and Vachel Lindsay. Included in the exhibition are photocopy reproductions of letterpress and woodcut handbills, fliers and posters announcing and advertising numerous lectures, readings, parties, plays and other regular activities. In a video installation will be Marc Moscato’s The More Things Stay the Same, a short documentary examining the life and world of Dr. Ben Reitman (1879-1942), known in his day as “the Clap Doctor”, “King of the Hoboes” and “the most vulgar man in America.” Often best remembered as press agent and lover to anarchist Emma Goldman, Reitman’s work as caretaker for hoboes, prostitutes and the underclass continues to resonate with social and political relevance.