“Chicago Blues and Beyond”/Installation Image courtesy of Matthew Rachman Gallery
1 Mies van der Rohe: Chicago Blues and Beyond (Matthew Rachman Gallery) A collection of original blueprints, artifacts and furniture by legendary modernist architecture pioneer Mies van der Rohe explores the legacy of the architect and designer in Chicago and elsewhere. Through July 21
2 The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt (Spertus Institute) Last chance: New York cartoonist Ken Krimstein illustrates Hannah Arendt’s encounters with the artists, writers and thinkers of pre-WW II Europe in a biography that sheds light into the work of one of the twentieth century’s most important political philosophers. Through June 23
3 CAKE: Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (Center on Halsted) The annual meet-up of comic and small press publication lovers promises a weekend of workshops, exhibitions, panel discussions and more celebrating independent artists. June 1-2
4 Do Division Street Fest (Division Street between Damen and Leavitt) The annual street festival has live music and performances, food and drink vendors from around the city and provides an excellent small-business shopping opportunity. May 31-June 2
5 Chicago Pride Fest and Parade 2019 (Montrose Avenue and Broadway to Diversey Parkway and Sheridan Road) The most colorful celebration of freedom, diversity and culture starts with the Pride Fest on the third weekend of June only to set the tone for the parade one week later. Pride Fest: June 22-23; Parade: June 30
Greek-born Vasia Rigou is a Chicago-based art critic and pop culture journalist, largely on the subjects of contemporary art, design, and fashion. She moved to Chicago in 2013 to study Arts Journalism at the School of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC,) where she was awarded the New Artist Society Merit Scholarship. She grew up to appreciate art after years of carefully planned, culture-filled travel itineraries and museum-hopping around Europe with her family. During this time, she received a bachelor’s in English Literature, in her native Athens; a master’s in Media, in Nottingham, UK; and studied foreign languages—English, German, and Spanish at the University of Salamanca, Spain. Her writing—reviewing museum exhibitions, gallery shows, art fairs, fashion shows, and music festivals among others—has been published nationally and internationally both in print and online. In 2017, she founded and now serves as editor-in-chief of Rainbowed.—an independently published website focused on the visual and performing arts, digital media, and popular culture. When she’s not writing about art or looking at art—wine in hand, she keeps up with Chicago’s creative entrepreneurial and startup community, makes lists for pretty much everything, drinks immense amounts of coffee and takes cross-country road trips every chance she gets.
