Hallooo! My darling dearies, it’s me again, the bringer of picks and the peddler of shows. Again, I’m not actually going to be around this weekend (this and next I’m in Cali, weekend after that Kentucky, then New Your the following weekend, if all works correctly). I will think of you all as I drink a 40 on Potrero Hill and watch the sun set over San Francisco Friday night. I’ll be thinking of you, and ALL THE ART YOU ARE OUT SEEING IN MY ABSENCE! No getting lazy just ‘cus the crawler’s out of town. Get your ass out there and support your community. Got it? Good! All right, here you go…

Where did #1 go? To the land of Outdated Press Releases, that’s where. Continue on to #2.

2. Waiting Room at Spoke

Waiting Room, a piece presented by Stephanie Nadeau, involves, you guessed it, waiting. I know Stephanie from out time at the ‘Tute, and have admired her work for as long as I’ve known her. For this work, ya’ll who show up will be invited, and I quote, “to come spend your time. Our mission is to allow you to contribute your time comfortably and productively while remaining completely idle. Wait for as little or as long as you like, it’s entirely up to you. Stop by anytime for your free timecard and we’ll get you started on a rewarding and enjoyable waiting experience.” Come wait with us.

Spoke is located at 119 N. Peoria. Waiting Room is open Saturday from 12-8pm.

3. Radical Semantics at Pentagon

Here is another prime opportunity to sit and wait. Well, perhaps not wait. Held alongside Music From Big Pink, Radical Semantics features 16mm films by Eric Stewart, Alex Lake, Ross McFessell, Adam Neese and Randy Sterling Hunter. And I quote, “Radical Semantics is a survey of 16mm films by film-makers whose methods stand in opposition to the algorithmic and computer assisted processes that define many contemporary media works. Often working with home-made optics and developing their film in sinks and buckets, these filmmakers create short works that emphasize the expressive and opt for complexity rather than reproducibility and homogeneity.”

Pentagon is located at 961 W. 19th St., 1F. Screening is Saturday from 8:10-10:10pm.

4. Grand Opening of the New OpShop

Round two of Laura Shaeffer’s marvelous project, the OpShop. And I quote, “The Op Shop v.2 is thrilled to announce the grand opening of Adhocity: an ongoing, evolving where-it’s-atmosphere of dialogue and opportunities for the exchange of ideas, objects and histories inspired by the principles of adhocism.” Oh, and be sure to head downstairs to THE CREEPIEST BASEMENT EVER! Hooray!

The OpShop is located at 1613 E. 55th St. Reception is Saturday from 5-9pm.

5. Up For the Downstroke at 65 Grand

65Grand is awesome, and this work is awesome. What more can you ask for? Work by David Leggett.

65Grand is located at 1378 W Grand Ave. Reception is Friday from 7-10pm.

Oh, may darling lovelies, I will miss you all this weekend. I must leave you to travel north for the weekend. Friday night will find me sitting in a cabin on the edge of a lake, drinking rum and trying to figure out how to not loose at poker. It will be good, and I so dearly need it. But, I am not leaving you with nothing. Though I’ve been looking forward to this trip for a while now, I am bummed about the line-up I’m going to be missing this weekend, for it is a good one. Before I go on to the list, I did want to mention one thing. My friend Laura Shaeffer (of Home Gallery) is running the second iteration of the Op-Shop down in Hyde Park and is looking for proposals for the space. It is an old Hollywood Video with, I shit you not, the CREEPIEST FUCKING BASEMENT in the whole of time. Want to make some crazy site specific art ASAP? Proposals are due by Saturday! And now, for the list…

1. WTF 1.0 at Kunz, Vis, Gonzalez

And I quote, “KVG cordially invites you to attend the opening of WTF 1.0 curated by Rosalinda March 19th 2010 from 6-10pm at 2324 Montana Chicago, IL. WTF is a Kunz, Vis, González exhibition series introducing the viewer to contemporary ideas on the cult of  ‘new and youth.’  WTF uses humor and the absurd in visual art to delight the viewer and create a reflexive lens in which to view radical shifts in cultural perspectives.” Can’t argue with anyone who calls an art show WTF. Perhaps my next show will be called FUBAR, or possibly BOHICA.

Kunz, Vis, González is located at 2324 W. Montana St., in the garage. The reception is Friday from 6-10pm.

2. Irena Knezevic: Gesture Guild at Threewalls

And I quote, “The League of Dark Departments have joined forces in the Gesture Guild, a bureau for the recovery and acquisition of lost gestures. The Gesture Guild aims to return and reinforce the primordial anxieties responsible for head-bending weight and other liquid spiraling disasters, topical and tropical.” Oh and I love the editors note: Sailor attire is strongly encouraged, those who do not arrive as sailors will be made into sailors.

Threewalls is located at 119 N. Peoria St, #2C. The reception is Friday from 6-9pm, performance begins at 7pm.

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Good morning to all of you out there in TV land. I hope you are feeling bloated and a little ashamed, now that the national day of gluttony is done. I wish I could say I have an exciting lineup of shows to get you out into the streets, crawlin’ off those extra calories, but alas, there are but three shows opening this weekend, all tonight. Now, I’m not putting all three on my picks, if you want to know the other two you can find them on my Gallery Crawl. No, dearies, I’m giving you my one pick, from three: The Op Shop.

1. The Op Shop at, well, The Op Shop -

So, I’m not exactly sure what the story is here. It has something to do with Laura Shaeffer over at Home Gallery, and includes a lot of artists she’s shown: Anders Nilsen, Katrin Asbury, Rachel Tredon, and Albert Stabler, among others. As far as I can tell, it is a new idea for a roaming space, called the Op(portunity) Shop, derived from the Australian term for thrift shops, apparently. Not sure where it’s going next, if anywhere, but hey, if you happen to be in the vicinity of Hyde Park, why not stop by?

The Op Shop is located at 1613 E. 55th. Reception tonight, 6-10pm.