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.