Friday 4/4 – Thursday 4/10
If we weren’t such jive-ass Chicagoans whose fingers are way off the pulse of the pop cult jugular, we would have been bestowed a Polly Esther’s earlier than this. The popular nightclub chain, which institutionalizes the dubiously stabilized 70s retro craze in much the same way the House of Blues institutionalizes you-know-what, has already landed in seven other cities. Of course truly hip nostalgics may want to hold out for the imminent arrival of establishments themed on the kooky hairstyles, clothing, and music of the early 90s. The revisionary club opens tonight at 8 at 213 W. Institute Place, 312-664-0777. Cover charge is $8.
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5 SATURDAY Arabic calligraphy is a vital and thriving form of artistic expression in the Middle East and Asia. The traveling exhibition The Right to Write: Calligraphic Works From the Collection of the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts includes work by 45 artists from 17 countries. Examples vary from traditional calligraphy in its purest form to abstracts that use characters totally divorced from their meanings to figurative representations of animals, humans, or objects formed by the ornate script. It opens this morning at 10 in the Sidney R. Yates Gallery of the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington. It’s free. Call 312-744-6630.
7 MONDAY In the legendary performances of Mark Pauline’s San Francisco-based Survival Research Laboratories, giant remote-controlled flame-throwing machines waged epic battles with organic robots made of animal parts and metal, while sonic cannons assaulted brave (or stupid) audiences with blasts of concentrated physical noise. The three SRL videos that will be shown tonight by the Psychotronic Film Society, A Bitter Message of Hopeless Grief, A Will to Provoke, and A Scenic Harvest, allow optimal viewing from a remote, safe distance. The free screening starts at 8 at the Liar’s Club, 1665 W. Fullerton. Call 773-509-4958.
