2013 Greatest Hits

Photo by Jessica Pierotti.

Ah, 2014 cometh. There’s already much to look forward to:

• I’ve just been invited to be the guest juror for Water Street Studios’ spring show, opening April 11. Thanks, Steven Lockwood!

• I’ve also received a VIP invite to the second edition of Art Basel Hong Kong, happening in May. (Here’s my recap of the inaugural fair.) And right after Hong Kong, I’ll be in New York City for my 5-year college reunion (holy shit).

• But before all that: My visiting artist workshops at the Chicago Children’s Museum are this Saturday and Sunday and next Thursday. Chicagoans, bring your kids to Navy Pier and let me be a bad influence on them. I mean, yeah. (I’ll also be showing them the weird stuff I drew when I was around their age.) A fun way to kick off the new year.

Opportunities:

• Artists: The CTA is seeking art for Blue Line stations. Apply! Submissions are due January 6.

• Illinois residents: The Art Institute of Chicago will be free every weekday from January 6 through February 12! Warm up this winter with art.

Photos from my last two adventures of 2013:

• Sixty Inches From Center and Autotelic’s birthday bash (photos by Claire Demos and Jessica Pierotti).

• My highlights from Art Basel Miami Beach and the rest of Miami Art Week (including parallel fairs, concurrent exhibitions, and public art throughout Miami) on Facebook and Flickr.

And now for the year in review. Here are your top 10 most read posts of 2013:

10. “Agora” – The aftermath of my latest show. 

9. “You may say I’m a dreamer / But I’m not the only one” – I got interviewed about Dreams of a City. 

8. “Forward” – Installation shots from my latest show. 

7. “Uptown Pearls” – The venue for said show. 

6. “Everybody get up, it’s time to sLam now” – My latest and best Hong Kong trip so far. 

5. “She sneaks around the world” – Words.  

4. “Will you be electric sheep / Electric ladies, will you sleep” – I got interviewed, got invited to do stuff, and got fangirly over Janelle Monáe. 

3. “EXPO CHICAGO 2013 // An Interview with Tony Karman” – Chi-city’s premier art fair returns. 

2. “East Middle West // An Interview with ICY and SOT” – My profile of two young street artists. 

1. “King of Kowloon” – Roots. Also, Drake shade.

(10 classic* posts that still got tons of hits this include: “Notes from [an] underground [art scene advocate / Miami Art Week virgin],” “Discussion: Art as political weapon, artist as social instigator,” “Discussion: Why do you collect art?,” “Oh twelve oh yeah // Year in Review,” “Discussion: Skill vs. concept,” “Lucky 13 and More Numbers,” “Midwesterner in the Middle Kingdom // The Outsider,” “EXPO CHICAGO // An Interview with Tony Karman,” “Discussion: So did Banksy make this, or some art student who actually preferred cash over a résumé line referencing an unpaid internship?,” and “Winging It, in the Modern— / People’s Choice.”)

*(OK so none of them are over 2 years old. But still.)

This year, I received the 2013 Individual Artists Program grant from the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events for Dreams of a City, Artists on the Lam was named “Best Local Visual Arts Blog” in the Chicago Reader’s Best of Chicago 2013 issue, I got press, I traveled, I curated exhibitions from the intimate to the insane / -ly cavernous, according to Facebook’s inexplicable algorithms I was disgusted by pumpkin spice lattes, etc.

Thank you, everyone, for helping make my 2013 great. Now let’s make 2014 even greater!