The International Vintage Poster Fair is back in town this weekend at the Cultural Center, with a high-flying featured exhibition of aviation and airline posters such as this nostalgic gem from United. (I wouldn’t be surprised if Mad Men’s Don Draper had a hand in the campaign.) Chicago’s own Poster Plus and the Chicago Center for the Print are among the 25-plus dealers who will be offering more than 10,000 posters for sale
The magazine’s latest Chicagoans of the Year led a Ritz crowd in a joyful celebration of worthy acts
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Jill Dryer has a background in architecture and design (she worked at Architectural Digest for seven years), so it’s a no-brainer that elements of those worlds show up in her current work as a fine artist and illustrator. The Chicagoan will be having a one-night showing tomorrow from 6 – 9 at a loft space in the building that houses Avec, easily one of my favorite restos in the city (get the chorizo-stuffed dates and the garlicky whipped brandade, when you stop in for a snack after the exhibition). “My friend owns the building, and currently doesn’t have a tenant so she offered me the space,” explains Dryer of the somewhat unorthodox venue. “It’s a nice open white loft with wood floors, high ceilings, big windows…perfect for a show, and ideal for my purposes!” She’ll be showing paintings and prints from the series she calls “Design Meets Nature” and I call clever, colorful, and not a little silly. The lamps In “Flamingo” are Castore Suspension by Artemide, the cup in “Sandpiper” is Russell Wright, and, in one of my favorites, “Robinson Zanuso,” a bird perches on a Marco Zanuso chair in front of a Vernor Panton lamp. As a bonus, Jill’s design is well within reach—signed prints are $30, and original paintings under $1,000.
—BRADLEY LINCOLN
The Wheaton townhouse her client wanted to sell needed a bit of dressing up, but the real-estate agent Laura Reedy Stukel thought that putting away some of the sports memorabilia and buying fashionable new bedspreads was only a first step…
Chicago-born Hollywood actress Alex Meneses keeps a posh pad on the Gold Coast
In April’s letters: divergent opinions on Michelle Obama and some second opinions on our health care coverage
Express Yourself
Shortly after launching an online create-your-own photo holiday card company, Sacha Katz decided to use her self-taught computer illustrating skills to the fullest. So the 30-year-old Lincoln Park resident redesigned the product line and, last month, re-launched U Stationery (ustationery.com; 773-942-7657), which now offers…
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One of our favorite shops, Willow, is closing its doors. So sad, but the silver lining is that it’s staying in business online—and there’s a blow-out sale at the store today through Monday, March 30.
—Gina Bazer
Toasted Ox (2470 N. Lincoln Ave.) helped college hoops lovers ring in the most unproductive month of the year by hosting the Lincoln Park Young Professionals’ March Martini Madness event on Friday. Formerly known as Lucille’s, the recently remodeled bar served hor d’oeuvres to pair with SKYY vodka martinis and wine tasting by…
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I walk past the Michigan Avenue Crate & Barrel all the time, and usually I do just that—walk past. But a couple of days ago I saw these gnarly (literally) driftwood end tables and went in to inspect. They are made of three or four hunks of unfinished wood from Java, stand about 25 inches high, and are topped with a circle of glass. I would have liked a thicker top—a designer once told me to go half-inch or go home, and that advice is stuck in my head—but these are nice accent tables nonetheless. They’re $399, and if you want one (or two?) I recommend that you go in and pick them out, don’t order by phone or cyberspace because they are all very different snowflakes. Some have a nice solid heft, like the one above, but some look like they were cobbled together by a clock-watching factory worker anxious to get home to see who got booted from Indonesia’s Next Top Model.
—BRADLEY LINCOLN
