Sat, Feb 10
|Chicago Cultural Center
Towers of Steel, Concrete & Glass: Book Release
Drawings by Kareem Davis + Richard Willis
Time & Location
Feb 10, 2024, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E Washington St, Chicago, IL 60602, USA
About the event
Our friendly neighborhood publisher, Almighty and Insane Books, has just released a stunning new book of works by Kareem Davis and Richard Willis. Their art reverently celebrates Chicago's features, so we're thrilled to kick off this wonderful project with a special discussion at the Chicago Cultural Center! Join us from 2 - 4 pm in the Buddy Store as we hear from the artists, Faheem Majeed from the Floating Museum, and our very own creative director, Robyn Jablonski!
From the bookseller:
Known worldwide for its architecture, Chicago is host to an abundance of historical buildings that exemplify major architectural movements of the 20th century—from Commercial Style (a.k.a the Chicago School) to Prairie Style to International Style (or Second Chicago School). Kareem Davis and Richard Willis are Chicago artists whose work concerns the urban landscape around them. Their shared enthusiasm for the histories of buildings and other structures around the city betrays a passion for Chicago’s architecture—famed or otherwise. Davis’s line drawings of residential buildings (from luxury condos to now demolished CHA high-rises) float between architectural renderings and geometric abstraction while Willis’s drawings of water-tanks and water-towers are more expressive in character with added color and imaginative flourishes. Both these artists record and interpret Chicago’s architectural history through their personal expression. This publication is intended to capture these moments of history to share with others, and to be experienced from many perspectives—aesthetic, architectural, historical, social, and personal—while celebrating the work of these artists and the dedication to their city.Â