An excerpt from Chicago painter Derek Erdman’s interview with
himself: “I see that you’ve painted Hitler, KKK members, John Wayne
Gacy, and many other unsavory characters. Is there anyone you would
absolutely never paint?” “No. If I think I can sell it, I will paint
it… if you paint Holly Hunter on a Honda CB200 held up by a candy
cane on the roof of the Wieners Circle, well, you’re going to sell
a couple of those.” His paintings are big, raw, and slightly out of
control. (The Anne Bonny, 1355 E Olive Way, 382-7845.
Noon–7 pm, free.)

Jen Graves (The Stranger’s former arts critic) mostly writes about things you approach with your eyeballs. But she’s also a history nerd interested in anything that needs more talking about, from male...