January 2025 Issue: Players 50 (Print Edition)

Paint Balls Over Baghdad The Intense Story of Wafaa Bilal's “Domestic Tension” Upon its Return to Chicago at the MCA "In early spring of 2007 artist Wafaa Bilal, whom I represented at FLATFILEgalleries, met with me to go over the plan for an upcoming solo show. We had settled on his “Human Condition” series months before. In 2006, I had shown his video installation, “Fourth of July,” in the lower-level project room to much acclaim and discussion. The video loop showed the bombing of Baghdad layered with the Fourth of July fireworks at Navy Pier. It was a powerful piece, shown small in the darkened room to invite intimacy. Wafaa has a sixth sense for creating effective political art, and I was eager for his show."  (Susan Aurinko) The Fighter in Winter The Ass-Kicking Life and Times of Fred Degerberg, the Martial Arts Master who Trained John Belushi (and Keeps a Dead Bird in His Freezer) "The shadows were closing in on the old fighter. Chicago martial arts legend and rock ‘n’ roll secur