Medicine Cabinet

In Chicago we praise our apartment-gallery scene for the unusual curatorial strategies arising from its relaxed environment and lack of available space. Given the latter fact, it’s not uncommon to find a curated artwork hanging in the bathroom. Residential gallerist Chris Smith has decided to parody this tendency, and the main-space/project-space dichotomy native to many commercial galleries, with Medicine Cabinet. Adjacent to Smith’s Second Bedroom Project Space, and occupying the entirety of his bathroom medicine cabinet, Medicine Cabinet is perhaps the smallest single exhibition space in town. The cabinet most recently became a projection surface for Jesse McLean’s video installation Side Effects (through November).

3216 South Morgan, 4R
(630)849-7750
the-medicine-cabinet.blogspot.com/

Best of Chicago 2009

Ramova Grill

The only thing spicier than the zesty all-spice-tinged Greek/Cincinnati-style chili here is the mix of characters who’ve gathered down the street at the 11th Ward Democratic headquarters (the political birthplace of the Daley clan) in Bridgeport to make kings and decide which city asset gets sold off next.

3510 South Halsted
(773)847-9058

Audience choice:
(TIE) Lindy’s
3685 South Archer
(773)927-7807
Ramova Grill

Best of Chicago 2009

The South Branch of the Chicago River

From roughly 1885-1972, the Chicago Stockyards employed 40,000 people, processed nine million animals a year and pumped in 50,000 gallons of water a day from the South Branch of the Chicago River. Even though they used the animal’s hooves, eyes, nose, ears, small bones and testicles (“everything but the squeal”) for those tasty hotdogs, they still dumped a good portion of the waste into the South Branch of the Chicago River. Due to the rotting animal matter, which is still decomposing decades after the stockyards have closed, the water often “bubbles” when the bottom is stirred. Locals call it “bubbly creek.” Yet on June 20, 2008, an eerie, swampy creature patrolled the murky, cauldron-like waters of the South Branch of the Chicago River. It was the great Chicago alligator. Experts say that it was probably in the water for about a week, snacking on fish and, hopefully, rats, when bystanders working at Midland Metal spotted a five-foot long, forty-five pound alligator. They immediately called Animal Control, and the scaly swimming lizard was rounded up and placed into a truck. Some talked about the potential dangers the alligator may have posed, possibly swallowing a dog, cat or even a small child playing along the riverbank. Since it was a South Sider, it was given the name White Sox. Animal Control says they shipped the “gator” to a nature preserve in Florida, but Bubbly Creek observers still talk about just how at home the alligator seemed. “It was just swimming, swimming around like it was its normal habitat,” one local worker said. Yes, if there is a best place in Chicago where an alligator could find happiness, it would be Bubbly Creek.

Best of Chicago 2008