A couple of days ago, I got an email from my cousin Diana Leviton Gondek who lives back in Naperville, a western suburb of Chicago. I've mentioned here several times that Diana is an accomplished artist, most notably for the three fiberglass "horses" she made to honor fallen police that were displayed around the city, including outside Mayor Rahm Emmanuel's office, as well as being commissioned to do the artiwork for the 50th anniversary of the Special Olympics, which got its start in Chicago. My own mentions aside, my favorite piece about Diana was when eShe magazine published in New Delhi, India, did a story which referred to Diana as "Famed America artist," which I told her likely came as a surprise to the estate of Jackson Pollock. However, it did allow me to make up business cards to refer to myself as "Cousin of Famed America Artist." The point being that it didn't come as a surprise when she offhandedly noted that "The local paper did a nice little article about me and a show I was just in." “The local paper did a nice little article about me…” When I read that, my first reaction was, ‘Oh, how nice, the Napervile Gazette wrote a little feature on her." Even closer than eShe magazine. Then I clicked on the link and it was the freaking Chicago Tribune!! Okay, yes, fairness, it is the “local paper.” But still. That’s carrying modesty much too far… The article is extremely good, centered on a pandemic-focused art show in Chicago called "In the Same Boat - Or Are We?" But it singles out Diana and her work, in particular a mixed-media work of oil, colored pencil, acrylic and photography, called "Beach." Yes, I'm utterly biased, but being as objective as I can be, it's wonderful And just because I'm biased doesn't mean I'm wrong. And given that it's mixed-media, I can only imagine the added layers of texture when one sees the work in person. (I hope you appreciate that I used one of the few "painting" words I actually know, "texture," and hopefully did so properly.) Okay, "Naperville artist" doesn't have the same panache as "Famed American Artist," but then the Chicago Tribune is merely the "local paper," after all, so I can understand their civic pride emphasizing one of their native daughters.
(Why the reporter's credit says "Naperville Sun," I'm not sure. Perhaps the Chicago Tribune has a complementary relationship with the paper, or for all I know they may even own it, and that's who the writer works for. But this was most definitely published in the Chicago Tribune.) If you'd like to read the full article -- in the Chicago Tribune -- you can find it here. Lots more good material in it, about the interesting-sounding show, as well as the featured artist. Plus, when you're done, you can click over to the Sports section and read about the Cubs. But Diana comes first.
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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