Does man love Art? Man visits Art, but squirms.

[rojagato]

The Chicago Picasso
by Gwendolyn Brooks

August 15, 1967

"Mayor Daley tugged a white ribbon, loosing the blue percale wrap. A hearty cheer went up as the covering slipped off the big steel sculpture that looks at once like a bird and a woman."--Chicago Sun-TimesDoes man love Art? Man visits Art, but squirms

Comments

[ayun]

When I'm not about to be late for a meeting, I want to tell you a story about Gwendolyn Brooks.

[rojagato]

ayun I'm really glad that you followed the link to Pillay's essay and then riffed on it on FB. I found her essay while trying to find the best typeset version of Brook's poem -- and hers sure wasn't (it didn't even have Brook's epigraph for the published version), but it was the only one I found that talked about Chicago around that time.

The thing that started me on that quest was a couple of sponsored posts from Grub Street, the year-round writer's workshop that I attended when I lived closer to Boston. quoting just "Art hurts. Art urges voyages / and it is easier to stay at home" and I knew there had to be a lot more to that than some 70's poster "hang in there" vibe. There were a couple of people to whom I had pledged a "not out of context" quoting policy: my women's (read:queer) studies prof in undergrad, and to David, who wanted a LOT MORE DOCUMENTATION.