Press materials for the upcoming Seymour Rosofsky show “Xylophone Solo” describe the painter’s early subjects as “little monsters,” and that’s not just a cute attempt to reclaim the term from Lady Gaga. Rosofsky, who went to that great monsters’ ball in the sky in 1981, was part of the Monster Roster, a postwar Chicago movement that also included the likes of H.C. Westermann, Leon Golub, and Karl Wirsum. Based at the School of the Art Institute, the group championed a surrealistic form of representationalism at the height of the abstract-expressionist vogue. Rosofsky’s subjects are identifiable, yet really weird and even monstrous—characterized by a sense of whimsy touched with a seriously sinister undertone. His early painting Unemployment Agency features several rows of identical men in hats, sitting in severe, tall-backed chairs, facing rows of boxes that disappear into the distance. A nightmare of endless bureaucracy, it hangs now in Rahm Emanuel’s office. Make of that what you will.
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Opening reception Fri 7/27, 5-8 PM. Through 9/1: Tue-Sat 10 AM-5 PM, Corbett vs. Dempsey, 1120 N. Ashland, 773-278-1664, corbettvsdempsey.com. F
