Lill Coal and Oil

William Dolan 

Our Landlord bought his coal from a smaller outfit, as there were still quite a few in Chicago in the 1960s. Lill Coal and Oil was one of the largest. They had a yard at Berwyn and what is the Red Line, today. I remember seeing the coal cars that the CTA dropped off at night next to the L tracks. I believe, The North Shore Line used to deliver these cars. Coal heat was still very popular back then, especially in the larger corner apartment buildings. Like today, the owners of these places did not like to invest money in them, so they were slower to upgrade the heating systems to oil or natural gas. I love the smell of coal.

Open All Night

As the late and early 19th century neighborhoods have been largely demolished to make way for the early 21st century neighborhoods, the mid-century section of the city and inner ring suburbs have been left alone, for the most part. Some of it is decaying and is looking well-worn.

Grotesque

I would like to see a revival in grotesques. There has been a trend in the last couple of decades of referencing the architecture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries in modern buildings. This, along with a renewed interest in ornate fixtures, such as street lights, gives the urban and suburban environment a warmer, more human feeling, I guess.

Unfortunately, in many cases it hasn't been done well. This leads to a cartoonish, Disneyesque recreation of past cities that never existed. Perhaps adding some grotesques and gargoyles would help.

Support System

We all need some sort of support system to succeed in life. However, it is important not to loose one’s sense of self while being part of someone else’s support system.

Safety First

Before busses and L trains were air conditioned, they had windows that opened. Of course, the passengers had to be warned not to "put head or arms out of window."

Several times during the life of the vehicles, the interiors were repainted. This was always done by brush. As an economic measure, they painted around the warning stickers.

This one has been vandalized in a demonstration of creativity that was very common by the mid-seventies. During the sixties and early seventies, it was very rare to see vandalism in and on Chicago Transit Authority vehicles. However, as the 1970s progressed the thickly padded seats in the busses and trains were getting slashed at an alarming rate, leading to the hard, uncomfortable fiberglass seats of today.

Norton

The crankcase cover of a Norton has an interesting shape that lends itself to exploring the abrstract reflections.

Lotto Cigs

Who needs shopping malls? Investment opportunities, indulgences, groceries, gifts and more are all at the urban general store!

Here's a buck. Get me a Quick Pick while you're in there. Thanks.

A Long Night

I’m not sure if a long night starts or ends in a place like this, but I’m sure tomorrow’s going to be rough.

Used Tires

Frequently overlooked in the “Green” movement is the concept of reuse. This is especially true in the automotive sector, where recycling materials is king. With recycling, there is more energy spent and some of the material to be recycled is wasted.

A major example of this was the Cash for Clunkers program. Perfectly good vehicles were sent to the crusher that could have been put to use where vehicles are needed. Folks that need to travel to distant low-paying jobs could have used them. They could have traded cars that were on their last legs for more road-worthy Cash for Clunker trade-ins. Their original junks could have then been recycled.

It is in that spirit that used tire shops can be thought of as supporting the Green movement. We still increasingly throw away what is broken and replace it with new.

Lounge Entertainment

It’s got glass blocks, a little window with a neon sign and art moderne trim. What more do you want? Oh yeah, some lounge entertainment.

I remember a couple of kids in grade school, that when they needed permission or money from their moms, they knew they would find them in a bar like this. In one case the family owned the joint and lived in the apartment upstairs.

Open Till 4

Just like it says.

No Parking

Just don’t park in front of the garage, please. Thank you.

First City

This is a painting of an old billboard promoting Chicago as a First City.  No doubt, they are playing off of Chicago's reputation as a second city.  I changed the text to reflect Chicago's inferiority complex that its art scene has. It has been languishing for a couple of decades now, yet there are those that say it is second to none.

Herby's Red Hot's

This is a hot dog stand in a former gas station from the 1920s. It’s open late and like every other hot dog stand, has the best hot dogs.

Forty Two

As I continue to explore the vanishing urban infrastructure that is being replaced by a sort of “suburbanization,” I turn the corner and find myself in a more seedy area. Before the internet, adult book stores used to dot the city landscape. This is one such place. They were close to downtown where the unhappily married man could stop off on the way home or at lunch for some attention. Many were open 24 hours so the lonely and desparate could, well, whatever.


Because there were so many of these places, there must have been a need and since pornography makes up about half of all of the internet traffic and resources, that need must still exist. I was always fascinated by their carnival sideshow appearance. I’m sure there were many freaks inside.

32 Lanes

The bowling alley is typical of a large bowling alley one would find in the middle of the city. Often times, the alley was upstairs and covered the entire upper floors of the building. The first floor contained stores, bars and maybe a restaurant.

A few of these places survived and are somewhat cherished as something important from another era. As time moves on, some things are replaced. Some are remembered with reverence. Some are forgotten. As long as there are survivors that are taken care of, that’s a good thing and those that are destroyed, something of value takes its place.

Except for the few that remain, the ones that disappeared were replaced by parking lots (like the one I based this painting on), condos or were burned down.

The car is a 1955 Hudson Hornet. It was the first year for Hudson after the merger with Nash on May 4, 1954 to form American Motors Corporation. These Hudsons were basically Nashes with Hudson engines. Hudson fans generally refer to these automobiles as Hashes. By 1958, though, American Motors reinvented itself behind the Rambler Marque and in 1970 under its own name. It lives on today as some of the DNA in Chrysler and in AM General. Yes, the HUMVEE that is used in defending Freedom was brought to us by the same people that gave us the Pacer.

Means of Support

A detail study of an elevated railway structure.

Cocktails

As the city is being rebuilt into a safe-haven of trendy bar and grills and condominims, joints like this are disappearing. As you pass by, the smoke pouring out* and the loud muffled music is threatening. It’s a scary place, but for some reason you want to go inside. The glass block windows and the single door in the hole suggests you may become trapped. What’s going on in there? Is it safe?

Blue Cornice

Just what it says.

SEPTA

Some of Chicago's 6000 series L cars were sold to Philadelphia's SEPTA system for their Norristown line.  They were a temporary replacement for the Bullets which were being junked a few years before their permanent replacements were ready.

Maxwell

This is in tribute to the areas of the city that have been destroyed in the homoganization of the urban environment.

Live Music

On any given night, you can find someone performing live music in a club in just about any city or town anywhere in the world. This is one such place. I'm not talking about karaoke here. If you want to sing along, fine. However, performing on the stage is best left to the professional musicians.

Jack's Corner

This is Jack’s Corner.

Why is it Jack’s Corner?

How the fuck should I know? Ask the people in Jack’s Corner Tap Room. They’ll tell you.

Plug

This is an examination of the form of a fire plug, or more accurately, the crotch of the fire plug.

The building is an older two-story store/apartment combination. I believe it harkens back to when sole proprierters ran a business downstairs and lived upstairs.

There used to be another building next door. A strip of roofing from the demolished structure is stuck to the wall. I guess it was torn down a while ago because there is a cable TV box on our building.

There is also grafitti on painted-over grafitti. It’s just one of many little scenes one may find while wandering the city at night.

Electroliner 801-802

The North Shore Line, an interurban railroad that connected Chicago’s L system with Milwaukee and the towns in between, had two streamlined articulated trains. They were called Electroliners and were the ultimate in interurban travel. This is one of those trains.

I was thinking about the silhouettes of the factories just north of Chicago’s Loop that created canyons for the elevated line that the North Shore Line used to share. These buildings are long gone and have been replaced by rows of bland homes. You do get a nice view of downtown from the L, though, that you didn’t before.

As I am less familiar with Milwaukee, perhaps this train is going through a warehouse district in that great city. I don’t know.

Printers Row

This is a walk through the Printers Row area of Chicago at night, of course. I believe it’s the first part of the city for condo conversions. As printing companies consolidated, moved there production off-shore and into modern one-story facilities (like most manufacturing), these great fortress-like buildings were left behind. It’s proximity to Chicago’s Loop seemed a natural location for upscale housing. The rail yards behind Dearborn Street Station (the clock tower in the painting) had already been converted into a neighborhood of townhomes. I wouldn’t mind living there.

6th Street Apartment

This one is 6th Street Apartment, originally a digital pastel on digital charcoal paper drawing. It has been made into a painting at the request of a collector. Who am I to say not? It was a great opportunity to explore something more abstract. Somehow this may inspire later work.

A top-floor unit in a five-story walk up, it is viewable from Mc Sorley’s Old Ale House in New York. Mc Sorley’s is hallowed ground to me so, so living in that apartment wouldn’t be a bad thing.

El Vocho

In Mexico, VW Sedans are lovingly referred to as “Vochos” This is a Mexico City cab on the streets of Rogers Park, Chicago. While I've never seen a Mexican cab in the U.S., I have seen quite a few Mexican VWs here. In order to bring a vehicle into this country, it has to meet certain crash and emission standards. It is generally prohibitively expensive to upgrade cars, especially those that were essentially built to early ’70s U.S. standards.

I love seeing old VWs, so I’m not complaining. I think it is silly to force the independent owner to update his car. As far as I’m concerned, it’s no different driving one of these on U.S. roads than an antique automobile. It’s impact on the environment and safety is minimal.

Back in the ’60s, there were many Volkswagens in Rogers Park, as it was and is, a neighborhood that attracts the “counterculture.” My dad had a ’68. Included in the VW population, was the occasional smuggled 1600 Sedan, a notchback version of the Squareback and Fastback. It was available in Latin America and Puerto Rico.

¡Viva el Vocho!

Got Him a Ride

The title is from a Drive-By Truckers song. The line goes “Got him a ride in a new Crown Vic.” It refers to the brother of the singer getting arrested. My thought is that this is a police car. Most of them are grey, but this one is maroon. Although, it doesn't really matter what this car is used for. I’m only concerned about the visuals and not the full story. There are hundreds of stories going on around us at any moment in the city. We only see bits and pieces. We either fill in what is missing or we don’t. Whether we care about the stories or not, the action and setting for each play is visually interesting.

Manufacturing Concern

This is inspired by the many manufacturing concerns on Carroll Street. Some are operational while others are defunct. I’m not sure about this one, though. Despite all of the activity in the Kinzie Street Industrial Corridor, the area is rather peaceful most of the time.

Eldo

That’s an early ’80s Cadillac Eldorado with 22" spinners and a somewhat obscene hood ornament. It takes place somewhere along Fulton Market, a collection of meat packing plants, smokehouses, art galleries, nightclubs and upscale loft condos. The area usually smells like sausages, except for the ocassional fish odor.

Several years ago there was an effort to shut down the market. It seems that the new condo owners decided that they didn't want trucks idling outside their buildings at two in the morning.

It’s funny how that happens. People want to live in the dirty urban areas like they see in the movies and on TV, but after a while they want suburban quiet at night. There are many areas where there were night clubs and restaurants that attract condo development. Eventually parking is restricted to keep club goers out, precincts are voted dry, etc.

Metropolitan West Side

This painting is a departure from some of my work, although compositionally, it remains in the family. It’s an area of the city that has always had small and medium-sized industry. The bridge is from the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad. It was the first electrified rapid transit line in the world and took a circuitous route into Chicago’s Loop. When the Dearborn Street subway opened in 1951, part of the original L structure was torn down. The the skeleton of this bridge over the busy railway along Hubbard Street remains today as a signal bridge. I put it back into service with a modern L car. While the route of the Dearborn Street subway makes more sense, it would be cool if this part of the elevated still existed. A couple of blocks from here was Lake Transfer, where the Met crossed the Lake Street Elevated. One could transfer between the two lines at this point and the view from the Metropolitan must have been spectacular and a little scary as it would have been almost twice as high as a normal L station.

Free Fries

This piece was inspired by a trip to the industrial west side. It originally was a home to late 19th century and early 20th century light industry. Today, some of it is abandoned, but most of it is being reused by early 21st century small business, industry and art. There are some great factories and warehouses that will find there way into future paintings. This one, however is a lone 3-flat. There are a few old apartment buildings and new ones being built on some of the vacant lots. It’s really inspiring, because it seems that the each company is going about its business quietly, including the artists. Despite the machinery and trucks, it’s a peaceful place. I could see having a studio down there at some point.

Red Cab

This is a red Ford pick-up from the eighties. It has a bunch of junk in the back, so it must belong to a scavenger.

Scrap metal collectors ply the alleys and streets of Chicago. They stack all sorts of cumbersome bulk garbage in the beds of their dilapidated pick-up trucks.


It’s really amazing how well they can pile up the refuse. No matter how precarious their loads become, I have never seen one spill into the street. These guys know what they are doing. Perhaps they should hold some sort of competition.

While somewhat unsightly, they seem to have become a part of the urban fabric of the last 5 years or so. They do provide a good service.

Blue Caprice

The urban landscape is dotted with old Caprice Classics. Many of them are used taxi cabs. Some are used squad cars. What is odd is that most are the square-top variety that were built from 1977 — 1990. The bathtub Caprices from ’91 — ’96 are pretty scarce. Whether this car is used by a cab driver as his personal ride or a getaway car by a stickup crew, I don’t know. What I do know is that these cars are known the world over as something that can last a million miles. Until the Gulf War, these were popular in Iraq. I believe an entire plant shut down as the war started as most of its production was to supply the Persian Gulf region with Chevys.


I once had the pleasure of touring the factory that stamped out the quarter panels for these machines. It took seven presses to create them. I don’t remember how heavy each one was, but they extended two floors below the room and dropped their die from two floors up. Whole railroad cars were down below to catch the scrap.

Cordoba

The car is a 1980s Chrysler Cordoba. The bar’s sign is the Cordoba’s crest and can be found in the hood ornament and other details. I don’t know if the Mayan-looking bird was based on anything real or if an artist at Chrysler cooked it up. This car is associated with “fine Corinthian leather,” a meaningless term that a copywriter invented, so anything is possible. A Google search turned up nothing on the matter.

Bittersweet Mist

This is part of a series of paintings based on 1970s car colors. The featured color is Bittersweet Mist, a burnt orange that was sprayed onto some Buicks in 1971. In this case, it is a Skylark that is ironically in front of the Skylark Lounge, a cool old bar at Cermak and Halsted on Chicago’s South Side.

Unfortunately it is in an area that is poised to get swallowed up by the gentrification that is starting to infect the city south of the Loop. In fact, not only has the Maxwell Street neighborhood to the North, been overly gentrified, but the old place was completely leveled. There are new suburban psuedo-downtowns that have more of an urban feel than what you would find at University PlaceTM, just a mile or so to the north of the Skylark.

Wild Plum

The car is a 1972 Javelin. The color is “Wild Plum.” The building is based on an abandoned structure somewhere west of McCormick place. It looks out of place because all of the other buildings around it were torn down during the urban removal of the ’60s. That’s how the area appears anyway, with a lot of vacant lots and a few scattered high-density apartment buildings ca. 1965.