BIG WEEKEND!!!

A new art season is upon us! There's lot's going on this weekend, and it'll likely be impossible to catch everything you want to see, so here are my personal picks.

Let's Hot Box! I love this concept. I saw Veggiesomething's show a couple weeks back, and instantly fell in love with this idea. It's a box truck. It's a gallery. It's both! A traveling gallery if you will, both inside and out. This weekend, the featured artist is REVISE CMW. I have a feeling this is gonna be stupid. STUPID AWESOME! It'll be driving/parking in and around Pilsen tonight (2nd Fridays!), and then in Wicker Park Saturday to party with this weekend's Renegade Craft Fair. Do not miss this one.


And speaking of Renegade Craft Fair, soak in the works of over 300 artists in one monstrous creative event. This could easily keep you busy for an entire day, so prepare thyself.


This actually opened last night at Columbia College's C33 Gallery, but it'll remain on display til October 14th. Artist's involved include: Klepto, Blutt, Brooks Golden (who's work's featured on the flyer), Stockyard Institute, amongst many others. It's nice to see a show like this. Show your support.


David Burdeny's showing his super crispy photographic landscapes at the David Weinberg Gallery, starting this evening. I love photographs, and I love skylines. I hope to make it over there before it's too late, or else I'll be disappointed in myself. I've never seen David's work personally, so I'm really excited to see these photos firsthand.


Sonar Festival! Typically held in Barcelona, has landed in Chicago bringing a plethora of sick electronic artists for us to feed on this weekend. I saw The Slew (featuring Kid Koala) last night at the almighty Pritzker Pavilion (for FREE of course), and it was well worth the money ;) In fact, I've never seen a show at the Pavilion at night, and it really is a completely different experience. That is by far one of my favorite venues for music (weather-permitting) in Chicago as the sound and sight's are second to none. Performances all weekend will be taking place there and many others spaces, so take advantage of this opportunity if electronic music is your thing.

Have fun, be safe, and most importantly, take advantage of all the great things going on this weekend.

PEACE.

Lowdive.com is officially online. We'll try our best at keeping readers up to date with what's brewing, both throughout the industry, and most importantly in our very own lab. Should be a fun ride!

What You On Tonight?

Tonight in Pilsen, it's the monthly Second Friday's. Lot's of galleries/studios open to the public for free. Specifically, stop by the Beer Run Gallery to catch Won Kim and Jarrett Spiegel's collaborative effort. Won says it's very different than anything else he's done. Goose Island beer's and DJ Intel on the beats... it's a no-brainer.



This is special. Stop by the Gene Siskel Film Center tonight for the 8:15 screening of Sharkula's documentary, Diarrhea of a Madman. This guys somewhat of a Chicago legend, and will show only once, so this is a rare opportunity. Should be good.

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Boris plays at the Metro tonight. Get your face melted.

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Thursday at Sheffield's, Goose Island invades for the bar's 30th anniversary. What that means is a lot of special beers on tap. Beers you will never see in bottles, and may never see on tap again. Chili pepper Bourbon County?? YES PLEASE.

Photo courtesy of LunaPark

Lastly, peep the production OS GEMEOS and FUTURA 2000 are working on in Manhattan. Why can't Chicago get these kind of treats??

Beer & Art

Low Dive is about to jump into our 20th beer brewed. We've made some great beers and learned quite a bit in the last year and a half. We're about to take the next step in doubling our normal batch sizes from five to 10 gallons. It's been fun learning, experimenting, and of course drinking these beers, so I'm excited for our next 20. Yesterday in fact, we bottled our oak-aged barleywine ale, Malevolence, clocking in at a hefty 17.75% abv. We brewed it on Halloween, so it was nice finally getting that in bottles. I suspect we'll try a bottle in a couple months, but the rest will likely be resting in the cellar to allow the alcohol to mellow and the flavors to balance out. But it did taste quite well I must say. Here's to hoping I get to drink our beer with each and every one of you in the near future!



I'm getting back to painting which feels good. More on that later.




Shawn Smith has a show opening at Oh No! Doom this Friday titled Monster March. Shawn's been doing big things lately, so I'm curious to see what he brings. Oh No! Doom moved into a new spot this year also, and if you haven't been yet, you should go based on that alone. Good people and a dope space.



Won is a good friend, and he along with Jarrett Spiegel have been working on this show for the last several months (when he wasn't cooking, Painting signage at your local watering hole/big-ass Whole Foods or DJing). I've personally not been to the Beer Run Gallery yet. I know a couple of the artists that run it, so I'm excited to see them along with Won's work. Pay it a visit. I'll be there. What more could you want??



It's Midwest Craft Beer Month at all Binny's locations in August. Find your favorite libations or better yet, use this sale as an opportunity to try something new. ALWAYS SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BREWERIES, but more importantly, please support the entire craft/micro beer movement. It's certainly growing in popularity, but it could still use your help.



Half Acre announced the release of a highly anticipated collaboration between them, Short's Brewing and Jonathon Cutler from Piece. I cannot wait to try this. Freedom of '78 (Pure Guava IPA) will be released Friday, August 6!



Jason Brammer teamed up with sculptor Jason Hawk for a collaborative exhibition titled "Finding the Future" as part of the Pop-Up Art Loop at 240 S. State tonight from 5-8. I think it's safe to say that their work will surely entertain.

CHEERS!

D*Face!

D*Face, Artist :: Off The Wall from friendswelove.com on Vimeo.

So...it's been a minute.

I've been dealing with a number of issues in the last few months, most notably, I was in a bike accident in early August. August 9th to be exact. Broke my left elbow and right wrist as well as busted my chin. The bike, well the bike is out of commission. The fork is definitely bent, but I've since then bought a new bike (new to me that is) since I can ride now albeit a bit uncomfortably. It's an SE Premium Brew frame, and still needs some work, but if I had to, it is ride-able. Shortly after getting my second cast removed, I came down with the flu, and still to this day am fighting this nagging cough that is driving me crazy. During that whole time, I basically had no energy or will to do much more than veg out on the couch or drink with the homies. But enough about me! It's gloomy outside, but it's not gonna bring me down as there are a few nice art-related events going down this weekend.

However, First things first. Chicago Police Detective Joseph Frugoli, after being involved in several DUI cases already, once again got behind the wheel of his Lexus with a blood-alcohol level 3x the legal limit, and plowed into a broken-down car that was parked on the side of the Dan Ryan. That car immediately went into flames and killed both Andrew Cazares and Fausto Manzera ages 23 and 21 respectively who were sitting in the pulled-over vehicle. To make matters worse, Frugoli was found by police fleeing the scene. He was arrested, and later released on a $500,000 bond. The reason I bring this story up again is because Frugoli's police pals have organized a fundraiser for him to be held this evening at the Fraternal Order of Police headquarters at 1412 W. Washington Blvd. It infuriates me that a piece of shit like this can not only get released from jail, but that his police pals are hosting a fundraiser in his honor. Care to support a shameful cause and slap the faces of every family member and friend of the two young men he killed, then by all means hurry your slimey self to this event, but I assure you there will also be a protest by those seeking actual justice.


Now, back to happy thoughts. FACT is one of Chicago's profound graffiti writers and now he's inviting you all to see what he does on a fine art tip. It's tonight at the Novem Store on Ashland. It should be interesting.

Who doesn't like documentaries? Mark Rosengren is presenting I Write on Stuff tonight at the Silver Room in Wicker Park. The documentary covers some of Chicago's graffiti writers which can always make for good entertainment. The list includes some stand-out names, so I'm expecting a good show here.

Saturday at Oh No! Doom will be the last show at their current location before they move into Bucktown. Curated by Phoneticontrol, this show includes an impressive list of Chicago artists who are all interpreting the same 3D model designed by Phoneticontrol. I love the concept. I've seen Artillery's piece already, and let me tell ya, this is gonna be a good show, and there'll be a lot of good people in attendance. Come out and send the Oh No! Doom collective on to their new digs with style.

Finally, another favorite Chicago artist of mine, Mr. Jason Brammer is opening up a solo show Fragments From the Future Saturday evening at April 7s in Ukranian Village. He never disappoints me. He and his wife, Erin are super people, so please support them and see what he's been up to as of late.

PEACE

Joey Potts!

Love Joey's work. Here's a look inside the mind of Mr. Potts.

VIMBY - Joey Potts