Samuel Schwindt
@wrongside-writer.bsky.social
🏳️🌈Word/object/surface-smith — Always searching for the maddest spectacles and the vampiest explosions.
The Wrong Side, Chicago, IL.
Www.samuelschwindt.xyz
The Wrong Side, Chicago, IL.
Www.samuelschwindt.xyz
I've been going to Big Chick's uptown bar for years -- and their art collection is riveting, although secretive. I discussed it thoroughly with other people in the Chicago art community and the LGBTQ+ (along with conversations with the owner).
sixtyinchesfromcenter.org/comforting-g...
sixtyinchesfromcenter.org/comforting-g...
Comforting Ghosts: Big Chick’s Art Collection - Sixty Inches From Center
Read about the stories behind the art collection located within an equally storied Uptown queer bar.
sixtyinchesfromcenter.org
August 29, 2025 at 3:45 PM
I've been going to Big Chick's uptown bar for years -- and their art collection is riveting, although secretive. I discussed it thoroughly with other people in the Chicago art community and the LGBTQ+ (along with conversations with the owner).
sixtyinchesfromcenter.org/comforting-g...
sixtyinchesfromcenter.org/comforting-g...
Been a minute Bluesky! But I’m excited to share updates on my writing. I’ve been busy with NewCity Art in Chicago. Follow along in this post for the latest:
art.newcity.com/2025/07/16/l...
art.newcity.com/2025/07/16/l...
Review: Nanako Kono's "Doublespeak" at Western Exhibitions
There's a difference between playful and experimental—one’s a hunch, one’s a hypothesis. Nanako Kono is the latter.
art.newcity.com
August 18, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Been a minute Bluesky! But I’m excited to share updates on my writing. I’ve been busy with NewCity Art in Chicago. Follow along in this post for the latest:
art.newcity.com/2025/07/16/l...
art.newcity.com/2025/07/16/l...
“Someone here is going to tell me a secret I don’t want to hear,” I said to Tony Lewis. Check my latest review in New City Art :
art.newcity.com/2025/04/25/e...
art.newcity.com/2025/04/25/e...
Lewis Bag's Experimental Cocktails at Barely Fair, Chicago
It’s a respite; illustrated cocktails on the far right greet after the circuitous path to the bar. It’s that feeling where you really need a Sazerac (or a “Bartender’s Choice”) to begin speaking to co...
art.newcity.com
April 25, 2025 at 3:32 PM
“Someone here is going to tell me a secret I don’t want to hear,” I said to Tony Lewis. Check my latest review in New City Art :
art.newcity.com/2025/04/25/e...
art.newcity.com/2025/04/25/e...
A translucent raw hide leather, molded over an anatomical skull and spine.
April 21, 2025 at 4:41 PM
A translucent raw hide leather, molded over an anatomical skull and spine.
I’ve been scarring, scraping, and carving leather from, basically, my archival leather collection. Under the residency “Green Garnet Press,” at Christine Forni’s Mana Contemporary Studio. I have soaked, stained, roller-ed, and altered traditional printmaking techniques to make strange permutations.
April 19, 2025 at 3:45 PM
I’ve been scarring, scraping, and carving leather from, basically, my archival leather collection. Under the residency “Green Garnet Press,” at Christine Forni’s Mana Contemporary Studio. I have soaked, stained, roller-ed, and altered traditional printmaking techniques to make strange permutations.
The latest from my studio. Custom-made acrylic paint with precious pigments, vermiculite (sourced from a special effects store used for “explosion” scenes). Then, of course, neon light. 💥💥💥
April 11, 2025 at 11:18 PM
The latest from my studio. Custom-made acrylic paint with precious pigments, vermiculite (sourced from a special effects store used for “explosion” scenes). Then, of course, neon light. 💥💥💥
A casual viewer could spiral into childhood nostalgia and Mandela effects (early 2000s Nickelodeon, MTV), But Noah Kashiani’s script is full camp: his fascination (obsession?) with toys rendered inert yet afforded venal vibes.
art.newcity.com/2025/03/13/t...
art.newcity.com/2025/03/13/t...
Art Review: Noah Kashiani's "Dubya Em Deez" at Cleaner Gallery & Projects
“Dubya Em Deez” is a shrine to the need-for-speed, reflecting on grotesque gluttony (an unfortunately ontological human condition). And that’s Kashiani: an alien squirt-gun playboy on the surface, and...
art.newcity.com
March 13, 2025 at 4:52 PM
A casual viewer could spiral into childhood nostalgia and Mandela effects (early 2000s Nickelodeon, MTV), But Noah Kashiani’s script is full camp: his fascination (obsession?) with toys rendered inert yet afforded venal vibes.
art.newcity.com/2025/03/13/t...
art.newcity.com/2025/03/13/t...
It’s a form of archiving lately in the studio — needing to preserve my leathers beyond a crate in the studio. So, I’ve been making prints of them.
March 2, 2025 at 3:55 AM
It’s a form of archiving lately in the studio — needing to preserve my leathers beyond a crate in the studio. So, I’ve been making prints of them.
My most recent sculpture:
“The cartographic figure, as a mad spectacle”
40 in (h) x 63 in (w) x 14 in (d).
leather (sourced from Mexico City, Chicago, and Indianapolis), lavender light, and cross-stitch sutures
“The cartographic figure, as a mad spectacle”
40 in (h) x 63 in (w) x 14 in (d).
leather (sourced from Mexico City, Chicago, and Indianapolis), lavender light, and cross-stitch sutures
February 26, 2025 at 9:50 PM
My most recent sculpture:
“The cartographic figure, as a mad spectacle”
40 in (h) x 63 in (w) x 14 in (d).
leather (sourced from Mexico City, Chicago, and Indianapolis), lavender light, and cross-stitch sutures
“The cartographic figure, as a mad spectacle”
40 in (h) x 63 in (w) x 14 in (d).
leather (sourced from Mexico City, Chicago, and Indianapolis), lavender light, and cross-stitch sutures
I curated a show called “Material Messengers: Ephemeral Environments” at Side Street Studio Arts in Elgin last summer, and it’s still on my mind. I sought out artists using brilliant material and craft gestures to construct political daggers, if you will, about issues facing Chicago and beyond.
February 23, 2025 at 11:54 PM
I curated a show called “Material Messengers: Ephemeral Environments” at Side Street Studio Arts in Elgin last summer, and it’s still on my mind. I sought out artists using brilliant material and craft gestures to construct political daggers, if you will, about issues facing Chicago and beyond.
“In queer ecology, supposed hiccups in flora and fauna relationships, such as non-reproductive sex and gender non-conforming behavior, aren’t perverted glitches in the matrix. They are studied, monumentalized, and celebrated.” Check my latest review:
chicagoartistwriters.com/queer-ecolog...
chicagoartistwriters.com/queer-ecolog...
February 22, 2025 at 4:41 PM
“In queer ecology, supposed hiccups in flora and fauna relationships, such as non-reproductive sex and gender non-conforming behavior, aren’t perverted glitches in the matrix. They are studied, monumentalized, and celebrated.” Check my latest review:
chicagoartistwriters.com/queer-ecolog...
chicagoartistwriters.com/queer-ecolog...
On the way home from CDMX. The art (although I wish I saw more) was incredibly revitalizing. Experimental materially and conceptually — and in that sense, just f*cking fearless. Color everywhere. Unrestrained. Every material imaginable. I got those art chills again, finally.
February 16, 2025 at 7:54 PM
On the way home from CDMX. The art (although I wish I saw more) was incredibly revitalizing. Experimental materially and conceptually — and in that sense, just f*cking fearless. Color everywhere. Unrestrained. Every material imaginable. I got those art chills again, finally.
My biggest stress and most important job right now is sending pictures of all the food I eat to my pregnant best friend. I get in trouble if I don’t. Totally fine with this being our relationship now. Guncle duties you know.
February 6, 2025 at 2:42 PM
My biggest stress and most important job right now is sending pictures of all the food I eat to my pregnant best friend. I get in trouble if I don’t. Totally fine with this being our relationship now. Guncle duties you know.
These are my two latest reviews in @chicagoreader.com — of Cody Tumblin’s solo and Caleb Schroder’s solo. Writing has always been learning for me. Also, it’s actually fun when I’m writing about someone else’s work?
chicagoreader.com/visual-arts/...
chicagoreader.com/visual-arts/...
chicagoreader.com/visual-arts/...
chicagoreader.com/visual-arts/...
Fabric becomes the body - Chicago Reader
At Ackerman Clarke, Caleb Schroder uses upcycled flannel to stitch and contort space through site-responsive works.
chicagoreader.com
February 6, 2025 at 12:50 AM
These are my two latest reviews in @chicagoreader.com — of Cody Tumblin’s solo and Caleb Schroder’s solo. Writing has always been learning for me. Also, it’s actually fun when I’m writing about someone else’s work?
chicagoreader.com/visual-arts/...
chicagoreader.com/visual-arts/...
chicagoreader.com/visual-arts/...
chicagoreader.com/visual-arts/...
Cleaned up the studio today to see all the fresh work together. Smells like leather and paint in here.
February 6, 2025 at 12:09 AM
Cleaned up the studio today to see all the fresh work together. Smells like leather and paint in here.
Reposted by Samuel Schwindt
I hope the woman who told Beyoncé to “stay in her lane” is having a terrible morning.
February 3, 2025 at 11:51 AM
I hope the woman who told Beyoncé to “stay in her lane” is having a terrible morning.
Visit to the Indianapolis Museum of Art — I’m not even sure how long it’s been. A lot has changed — a lot has not. In positive and negative ways, in the fuzzy in between.
February 1, 2025 at 6:42 PM
Visit to the Indianapolis Museum of Art — I’m not even sure how long it’s been. A lot has changed — a lot has not. In positive and negative ways, in the fuzzy in between.
The rain makes me disappointed — longing for the windows down tonight, on highway 65 to Indy. Fuck it, Eusexa by FKA Twigs will fit the mood.
January 31, 2025 at 5:47 PM
The rain makes me disappointed — longing for the windows down tonight, on highway 65 to Indy. Fuck it, Eusexa by FKA Twigs will fit the mood.
Excited about this one night ticketed event I’m in— a wine tasting and curated meal, with artists based in Chicago on display and in conversation. Knowledge about wine feels very demure and mature so it’s time I join the club *lifts wine glass with one pinkie raised*
vinodivino.club
vinodivino.club
January 30, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Excited about this one night ticketed event I’m in— a wine tasting and curated meal, with artists based in Chicago on display and in conversation. Knowledge about wine feels very demure and mature so it’s time I join the club *lifts wine glass with one pinkie raised*
vinodivino.club
vinodivino.club
Dropped off at Lightwriters neon, and this is one of two sculptures. Weathered leather, sweat droplets, neon, cable covers.
January 27, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Dropped off at Lightwriters neon, and this is one of two sculptures. Weathered leather, sweat droplets, neon, cable covers.
It’s easy to feel powerless right now. But, working on drafts of two essay commissions (on queer midwestern ecology and speculative queer futures in sci-fi, respectively), is helping. Also watching trixie and katya with my man doesn’t hurt.
January 27, 2025 at 1:49 AM
It’s easy to feel powerless right now. But, working on drafts of two essay commissions (on queer midwestern ecology and speculative queer futures in sci-fi, respectively), is helping. Also watching trixie and katya with my man doesn’t hurt.
Saw some great work last night at Elmhurst Art Museum — called Sustenance and Land. In the beginning, you test soil samples — by lifting a bell jar and sniffing the interior, all collected soil samples. Then, into sneakily beautiful but grotesque paintings / sculptures. And then — the bagel.
January 25, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Saw some great work last night at Elmhurst Art Museum — called Sustenance and Land. In the beginning, you test soil samples — by lifting a bell jar and sniffing the interior, all collected soil samples. Then, into sneakily beautiful but grotesque paintings / sculptures. And then — the bagel.
Reposted by Samuel Schwindt
Just look at these fantastic spaces in brand-new libraries opened across the Brooklyn, NY, and Queens library systems last year (Sunset Park, Inwood, Far Rockaway)
January 24, 2025 at 5:33 AM
Just look at these fantastic spaces in brand-new libraries opened across the Brooklyn, NY, and Queens library systems last year (Sunset Park, Inwood, Far Rockaway)
Published late last year, I dived into a stunning collection of photographs of queer clubs and spaces in Chicago’s past. Check it here: sixtyinchesfromcenter.org/static-elect...
STATIC ELECTRICITY: "JUST BELOW THE SURFACE" at Chicago Art Department - Sixty Inches From Center
Samuel Schwindt finds queer cross city connections in their review of Just Below the Surface at the Chicago Art Department.
sixtyinchesfromcenter.org
January 23, 2025 at 12:55 AM
Published late last year, I dived into a stunning collection of photographs of queer clubs and spaces in Chicago’s past. Check it here: sixtyinchesfromcenter.org/static-elect...
Reposted by Samuel Schwindt
I wrote a brief appeal about why you should donate to the Chicago Reader to keep my newsroom afloat. Please donate if you can
donorbox.org/save-the-chi...
donorbox.org/save-the-chi...
Save the Chicago Reader - Leor Galil's Fundraiser on Donorbox
I published my first Reader story in the summer of 2010. It concerned a Logan Square DIY space called Strangelight, which operated out of a storefront in the Congress Theater. I was 24 at the time. Be...
donorbox.org
January 22, 2025 at 5:05 PM
I wrote a brief appeal about why you should donate to the Chicago Reader to keep my newsroom afloat. Please donate if you can
donorbox.org/save-the-chi...
donorbox.org/save-the-chi...