Michael Barlow

Michael Barlow invited The UnScene Chicago team into his artist’s den on 140 S. Michigan Ave, Chicago’s Landmark artist-in-residence building, the Fine Arts Building. This fifty year old painter and printmaker was very cordial, welcoming us grandly into his approximately 900 square feet studio as if it was his palace.

He first explained each of a series of paintings done like a pop art, Warhol print, but they are not printed. Each painting has a specific meaning or story behind it articulated very well by the artist. The common thread in every piece is the artist’s wife. She is silhouetted abstractly as a face that is, at once, personal to Barlow and representative of the African American face. Some of the paintings have social or political discourses subtext.

His creative life is certainly as close to his hearts as his encouraging wife, an extremely personable and candid individual. She flew in to introduce herself with a smile from ear to ear spoke with friendly sophistication amidst ambient jazz that grounded us in the city. As our amiable hosts fed our bellies with delicious cheese and crackers, our evening came to a close with the satisfaction that someone and something unscene would soon be seen.

At the Fine Arts Building every second Friday of every month from 4:30 to 9:30, Barlow holds an open gallery event free to the public to see his work. Barlow is also an Art and Design professor at Columbia College Chicago.

We encourage you to view the full video of this indelible evening.

Please visit the website of the Fine Arts Building for more information on its history, programming, and artists in residence: Fine Arts Building