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menasgallerychi.bsky.social
Menas Gallery Chicago
@menasgallerychi.bsky.social
56 followers 110 following 190 posts
/mæn-ʌs/ --- /MAN-us/

Chicago art history and artists in a broader context

Publisher of /mæn-ʌs/: A Chicago Art Zine (First issue published October 2025)

https://www.menasgallerychicago.com
https://www.youtube.com/@MenasGalleryChicago

#chicagoart
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menasgallerychi.bsky.social
Available January 1 in the shop The second issue of /mæn-ʌs/ Chicago Art Zine! RIP Tony Fitzpatrick, Maxwell Volkman mask, public art, and more - 40 pages this time, printed on 60lb stock, edition of 100.

#chicagoart #art #chicagoartzine #zine
December 14, 2025 at 9:42 PM
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
Crazy that Francisco Terrace was demolished but it's great that there are similar buildings to visit
leebey1.bsky.social Lee Bey @leebey1.bsky.social · 1d
Halle Berry & Samuel L. Jackson at South Park Terrace apartments 6116 S. King in "Losing Isaiah." Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright associate Harry Hale Waterman, and a near twin of Wright’s since-demo'd Francisco Terrace. A 1909 carbon copy, Washington Park Terrace, stands at 6160-6212 S. King.
December 14, 2025 at 7:01 PM
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
Support the 2026 art activities at COMPOUND YELLOW! $25,000 matching grant thru 1/31/26!

www.facebook.com/donate/13731...

#compoundyellow #fundraiser #chicagoart
Image shows artists and musicians enjoying their time at Compound Yellow in Oak Park, Illinois
December 12, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Menas Gallery Chicago
quimbysbookstore.bsky.social
Quimby's has launched a print and design service Quimby's Ink! Check Quimbys.com/blog for info!

We offer publication design, in-house risograph, letterpress, and tabloid color Laser Printing and binding for zines and comics! Stop in to the bookstore or contact us to tell us about your project!
December 12, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Menas Gallery Chicago
kerryreid.bsky.social
Give yourself a break from doomscrolling and read this lovely interview with a living Chicago legend.
December 11, 2025 at 9:34 PM
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
#ChicagoArtHistory: #Chicagoartist Theaster Gates used (and continues to use) his urban planning background and his artistic sensibilities to help struggling neighborhoods start their revival.

www.forbes.com/sites/joegos...

#art #chicagoart
To Theaster Gates, Art And Redevelopment Are One And The Same
Urban planner and artist Theaster Gates, who incorporates a heavy dose of art into redevelopment, has spearheaded renewal on Chicago's South Side and recently earned the J.C. Nichols Prize for…
www.forbes.com
December 11, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Menas Gallery Chicago
marc-fischer.bsky.social
I had a lot of fun writing this new single-sheet Public Collectors zine: "Why Aren't People Buying Your Books and Zines at Fairs?" Reprinted in full here. It's free if you ask for it when you order from halfletterpress.com or you can get it in this set I made: halfletterpress.com/3-single-she...
In November 2025, I started an open editable document titled Art Book Fair / Zine Fest Public Sales Transparency. You can find it here: https://l1nk.dev/ArtBookFairSales. It gives publishers a space to share events they were in, what it cost to participate, how much they sold, and more on how it went, Event organizers often survey participants to gather this information on their own but the data they collect is not shared with the public. I wanted to make something everyone could see, use, and learn from. Book fair and zine fest costs can include travel, table fees, food, lodging, shipping and other expenses, The more data publishers add to the doc, the better others can try to understand if an event is worth the time and expense. There are many non-monetary benefits and reasons for participating in events (meeting people, sharing your work, visiting a new city, and building community). But this document should help others think about the economic dimension with care as they plan for fairs and think about what publishing means for them. In a discussion about Art Book Fair / Zine Fest Public Sales Transparency, some people commented that they sell very little at fairs, possibly because they are just starting out or finding their audience. I wanted to give them a pep talk, but there are so many factors involved with selling books and zines. Everyone has fairs that go badly or publishes things that don’t sell as easily as they had hoped. Still, there are some themes that emerge. As a fun way to try to diagnose why things don’t always work out, I created this list of possible reasons that attendees aren’t buying books. This text is informed by many years of tabling at book fairs and zine fests in the US as well as internationally. I hope people will take it in stride and think of this list as something lighthearted by a member of the community, for the community. Now go out there and find your readers! — Marc Fischer / Public Collectors Excerpt (the whole left page): Possible Reasons Why People Aren't Buying Your Books and Zines at the Art Book Fair / Zine Fest They are also publishers and have little money for other people’s books and zines. You left your table to go look at other publishers’ stuff or buy lunch because you didn’t pack enough snacks. You are looking at your phone too much. Or, you are busy reading someone else’s book and need to look up from it. You aren’t talking to them and are passively waiting for someone to understand your work, care, and buy it with no effort on your part. There are too many other people with tables at the fair/fest and not enough attendees to justify having so many participants. The economy sucks and no one has money, but they attended anyway because they love books, zines, and people who make them. Your prices are too high, and the books/zines feel like they are a poor value compared to other publications with similar qualities and production values. You made something that is a weird format or too large and no one wants to carry it around. They want to pay for your books and zines with some version of money that you don’t accept because every publisher is now expected to take about five different forms of payment. They came to the event to be seen and you are just scenery. There is a DJ, you are close to the speakers, and the music is too loud to have a conversation about your work. The vibes are bad. The light is bad, The breath/B.O. is bad. They are holding four cups of coffee, a glass of wine, and three tote bags filled with books. They are too burdened with stuff to handle or buy any more things. They only came to trade their books and zines with other publishers. Selling isn’t everything, you capitalist jerk! The last page of the main text: They’re a librarian and blew their budget too early in the fair. They are nervous about buying your last copy. Your work is great but your tone or content don’t fit the fair. They already have 93 different zines about the same subject that your publications are about. You have failed to offer a different take on whatever your thing is. Your type is small and hard to read. Your materials are fragile and will get destroyed in transit. You made the cover of your zine as graphic as possible, and no one wants to be seen carrying around a publication with a giant penis, dead body, or photo of Ted Cruz on the front. Apparently they came to the book fair/zine fest to buy plants, ceramics, stuffed animals, toys, chocolate, jewelry, clothes, and 3-D printed tchotchkes, not books and zines. They are distracted by the dazzling pattern on the tablecloth that you have placed under your books and zines. They are afraid of knocking your books and zines off the elaborate display structures and scaffolding that you are using to display 175 titles on a 3 foot wide table surface. You are still in the process of assembling your books and zines at your table and they don’t want to get in the way of your stapler, bone folder, cutting board and collating station. The super desirable thing you made ten years ago is out of print and your new stuff just isn’t hitting like the thing you are tired of and don’t want to reprint for the rest of your life even though it was profitable. Public Collectors www.publiccollectors.org Publication #110, December, 2025
December 11, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Reposted by Menas Gallery Chicago
justinkingdesigns.bsky.social
Hell Chimp Raffle. I’m pleased to give away this cool art piece!

To enter the Hell Chimp Raffle.

👹like
👹share
👹comment

Raffle ends Dec 18th. I’ll do a follow up post announcing a winner and collect shipping info. Good luck!

#raffle #giveaway #art #artraffle
December 11, 2025 at 12:38 PM
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
Available January 1 in the shop The second issue of /mæn-ʌs/ Chicago Art Zine! RIP Tony Fitzpatrick, Maxwell Volkman mask, public art, and more - 40 pages this time, printed on 60lb stock, edition of 100.

#chicagoart #art #chicagoartzine #zine
December 10, 2025 at 6:38 PM
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
The first issue of /mæn-ʌs/ Chicago Art Zine is now available! A lot of cool content - 32 pages, printed on 60lb stock, edition of 100.

Available now in the shop: www.menasgallerychicago.com/shop/p/mn-s-...

#chicagoart #artzine #art
The image shows the first issue of /mæn-ʌs/ Chicago Art Zine, shrink-wrapped and in piles with one loose issue on top.
December 9, 2025 at 8:35 PM
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
Ode to the Waitress (poem by Kevin Coval)

youtu.be/W5z_OKgpfso?...

#chicagoart #art #chicagopoetry
Ode to the Waitress (poem by Kevin Coval)
YouTube video by Kevin Coval
youtu.be
December 9, 2025 at 1:29 PM
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
Happy Monday all!
Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day - Manic Monday feat. Susanna Hoffs of The Bangles [Cover Video]
Just another No Fun Mondays covering Manic Monday by The Bangles with the help of Susanna Hoffs in the video. Order Saviors (édition de luxe) - out now: https://greenday.lnk.to/SaviorEDL Website…
youtu.be
December 8, 2025 at 1:08 PM
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
Support the 2026 art activities at COMPOUND YELLOW! $25,000 matching grant thru 1/31/26!

www.facebook.com/donate/13731...

#compoundyellow #fundraiser #chicagoart
Image shows artists and musicians enjoying their time at Compound Yellow in Oak Park, Illinois
December 8, 2025 at 12:23 AM
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
Chicago artist Nick Cave's "Untitled," 2017, shows a single black arm, piled high with white towels, a commentary on black labor.

From the artist's personal collection, on display at the Art Institute of Chicago

#chicagoartist #chicagoart #art
Chicago artist Nick Cave's "Untitled," 2017, shows a single black arm, piled high with white towels, a commentary on black labor.
December 7, 2025 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Menas Gallery Chicago
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
One of the Art Institute's most famous paintings, Georgia O’Keeffe's "Sky above Clouds IV" is an attempt by the artist to share her experience above the clouds that she had observed from airplane windows during trips all over the world

youtube.com/shorts/GOmG2...

#georgiaokeeffe #chicagoart #art
Chicago Artist: Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), Sky above Clouds IV, 1965, at Art Institute of Chicago
YouTube video by Menas Gallery Chicago
youtube.com
November 24, 2025 at 3:16 PM
Reposted by Menas Gallery Chicago
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
I want you to want me
I need you to need me
I'd love you to love me
I'm beggin' you to beg me
I'll shine up my old brown shoes
I'll put on a brand new shirt
I'll get home early from work
If you say that you love me
Didn't I, didn't I, didn't I
See you cryin' (cryin, cryin')
November 23, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Reposted by Menas Gallery Chicago
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
Sean combines High Renaissance subjects with layers of graffiti aesthetics, bold colors, and hints of modern day life. (from Arch Enemy Arts website).

Sean Patrick Hannaway, Crying Cupid, 2025

Provenance: Arch Enemy Arts, SMALL WONDERS 14, group show, November 7-9, 2025

#chicagoart #art
Chicago artist Sean Patrick Hannaway's "Crying Cupid," painted 2025, depicts a crying Cupid in predominantly red tones, in a wash over other shapes and words.
November 21, 2025 at 9:17 PM
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
Love or hate his designs, he changed the way we look at building and impacted Chicago architecture with his ideas.
RIP Frank Gehry (1929-2025)

chicago.suntimes.com/obituaries/2...

#chicagoart #art #chicagoarchitecture
Architect Frank Gehry who designed Millennium Park's Pritzker Pavilion and foot bridge dies at 96
The visionary West Coast architect had deeply rooted Chicago connections and friendships.
chicago.suntimes.com
December 6, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Reposted by Menas Gallery Chicago
xjamarkleyx.bsky.social
December 6, 2025 at 5:04 PM
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
Available January 1 in the shop The second issue of /mæn-ʌs/ Chicago Art Zine! RIP Tony Fitzpatrick, Maxwell Volkman mask, public art, and more - 40 pages this time, printed on 60lb stock, edition of 100.

#chicagoart #art #chicagoartzine #zine
December 6, 2025 at 4:08 PM
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
Chicago artist Theaster Gates on Creating Communities Through Art

youtu.be/ngWH0uY7yjQ?...

#afromingei #chicagoart #chicagoartist #artisttalk #artvideo #theastergates
Theaster Gates, Creating Communities Through Art
I discovered Theaster's work though his connection to Japan and the Mingei movement. Theaster is an accomplished potter and learned pottery in Tokoname Japan, but his art cannot be defined by one…
youtu.be
December 4, 2025 at 6:02 PM
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
Why are people still using Spotify?
December 4, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Reposted by Menas Gallery Chicago
marc-fischer.bsky.social
Yo! If you missed the first two printings, tonight I cranked out 100 more copies of the Public Collectors booklet "Who Shares the Restroom Code with ICE Agents?" Still just $6.00 from the Half Letter Press webstore. Give the gift of FUCK ICE to someone you love. halfletterpress.com/who-shares-w...
Who Shares the Restroom Code with ICE Agents? (3rd printing)
This collection of questions is an invitation to think about situations we may encounter with ICE, a poetic rant against ICE, and a provocation for ICE’s allies.
halfletterpress.com
December 3, 2025 at 4:50 AM
menasgallerychi.bsky.social
The first issue of /mæn-ʌs/ Chicago Art Zine is now available! A lot of cool content - 32 pages, printed on 60lb stock, edition of 100.

Available now in the shop: www.menasgallerychicago.com/shop/p/mn-s-...

#chicagoart #artzine #art
The image shows the first issue of /mæn-ʌs/ A Chicago Art Zine, with a list of words President Trump told federal agencies not to use
December 3, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Reposted by Menas Gallery Chicago
thisiscolossal.com
Tea time courtesy of Glen Taylor

www.thisiscolossal.com/2023/09/glen...
a teacup with barbs
December 2, 2025 at 4:42 PM