Events at Portage Theater, Chicago, 1920 -2013...Depp, Dave McKean, Elegance of Masculine Beauty photographs, Flapper Dance, etc

¯"I read the news today, oh boy. The Portage Theater has just closed it's doors" ¯ to paraphrase The Beatles "A Day in the Life." The Portage was built in 1920 and received preliminary landmark status in 2012. Chaplin's The Great Dictator was deemed too controversial, thus premiered at only 2 theaters in Chicago, the Music Box and Portage in 1940. In 2008, a scene from Public Enemies (released 2009) with Johnny Depp was filmed here in lieu of the Biograph Theater (Depp played gangster John Dillenger who was gunned down after watching Manhattan Melodrama 1934). 

My feet with original tile floors from 1920

Magnificent Portage Grande Cinema Organ

The Portage was almost sold to a mega church (summer 2012) but to grassroots activism in the community saved it! This video of surrealist Time Lord flapper dance was to celebrate the fact that the Portage wasn't sold back then. Now, sadly, it is under new ownership which has shut it's doors and gives no public statement as to what it plans to do with the building.

Dave McKean, illustrator for Neil Gaiman's Sandman and numerous other graphic novels, came to the Portage Theater to screen his short films and his full length film Mirrormask, written by Gaiman. Also on exhibit were McKean's paintings inspired by German expressionistic films from the Weimar Republic (1919 - 1933) produced by the Ufa film company in Berlin. 

Dave McKean painting inspired by M (dir Fritz Lang, 1931)

Dave McKean signing his books

Cabinet of Dr Caligari by Dave McKean

 Inpromtu flapper dance film (below) filmed by Chicago Surrealist Group member, DainaSurrealism & actor/model, Jacob. Portage Theater, built 1920. View VIRAL Chaplin dance w/ my band, "Hypnagogic Telegram." http://youtu.be/wtLGzLsvhiI (Georges Melies film "Trip to the Moon" 1902) backdrop. Electronica inspired by Dreams, fleeting aspects of time, Lewis Carroll,  Dr Who (Trock), & Fortean Phenomena. This was filmed after screening of "The Artist" when film's theme song played on loop (Chicago). Any excuse for a surrealist to play dress-up

(Song: The Artist Theme Song - George Valentin ( Ludovic Bource )Film "The Artist" by Michel Hazanavicius, French director of Lithuanian origin (Lietuvis). Lietuvaite soka kaip Flapper! Vasario 16 Gimnazija studente Cikagoje. Lithuanian surreal artist. Labas!)

I took the first location shots for my Elegance of Masculine Beauty project.

Silent and classic film is a major inspiration for my project. See picks of beautiful men from the history of Hollywood in my Elegance of Masculine Beauty: Hollywood Inspiration (Valentino, James Dean, Roger Moore, Depp, Cumberbatch, et al) 

Rudolph Valentino

James Dean

Roger Moore as The Saint

Johnny Depp

Benedict Cumberbatch

A propo silent film, the Portage held an annual Silent Film Fest Chicago every summer. That has now moved to Pickwick Theatre in Park Ridge, IL.

The Black Pirate (1926)

Sunday, April 28, 7:30 p.m.
Pickwick Theatre
5 South Prospect Ave, Park Ridge, IL

Other Portage Theater events will have new venues. Find updates on these sites.

Northwest Chicago Film Society

Terror in the Aisles  

Portage Monster Shows

Expressionist film posters (Cocaine, Totentanz, Marmorhaus, Opium)

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STRANGE INTERLUDE: My Vaudeville, Time-Travel inspired band, "Hypnagogic Telegram" is going VIRAL on Youtube. I play a literal personification of a Time Ghost (Zeitgeist) that inhabits the wardrobe closet of the TARDIS. I come out in costumes from various eras to dance & sing in styles from those eras. Film in background is Georges Milies' Trip to the Moon (1902) silent classic. If Doctor Who would have a band, it might sound like this. 

<---- br="" here.="" video="" view="" youtube="">On FACEBOOK @ HYPNAGOGIC TELEGRAM

The Elegance of Masculine Beauty: Hollywood Inspiration for My Photography/Illustration Project

My new art project, The Elegance of Masculine Beauty, focuses on photographing and illustrating elegant masculine figures. My inspiration comes from the Silent Era, Golden Age of Hollywood, and the history of menswear design which focuses the unique characteristics of the masculine physique, all contribute to my vision of the beauty of the masculine form.

Let's start with sex symbol, Rudolph Valentino. He was known as the "Latin Lover" of early film. His features are smooth features and sultry looks all wonderfully captured in these black and white photographs.

Sultry publicity shot for "Son of the Sheik" (1926). Pre-code Hollywood.

This facial angle would repeat itself for male actors throughout the 20th century and beyond; it utilizes the male brow ridge in order to emphasize shading of the eyes, thus creating a trompe l'oeil of deeper eyes. Quite a dramatic effect. See below for pics of Johnny Depp, River Pheonix, DiCaprio, and others.

Rudoph Valentino (1895 - 1926)

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James Dean 

I want to go back in time and have James Dean be my artist model. Look at this exquisite poses! The distinctive blond hair, the slender and elegant figure, the dramatic angles. An artist's dream to get such character in a pose.

Rare James Dean Footage (including pool game & car racing)

Below: lounging on a sofa, first in color, then in b/w. One of my favourite pics of Dean; such a beautiful pose. What visual artist could resist sketching these?

Little known fact, James Dean left us plenty of his work on TV (theatrical dramas and commercials), and is best remembered for his three films. 

Rebel Without a Cause as Jim Stark

East of Eden as Cal Trask

Giant as Jett Rink

(1931 - 1955)

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Roger Moore

 

Roger Moore as Sherlock Holmes...classic!

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Johnny Depp

 

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Ryan Matthew and Benedict Cumberbatch look alike from certain angles

Please vote on my Cumberbhair Survey. It's anonymous, and you get to see statistics when you're done! 

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STRANGE INTERLUDE: My Dream, Time-Travel inspired band, "Hypnagogic Telegram" is going VIRAL on Youtube. I play a literal personification of a Time Ghost (Zeitgeist) that inhabits the wardrobe closet in the TARDIS. I come out in costumes from various eras to dance & sing in styles from those eras. If Doctor Who would have a band, it might sound like this. 

<---- View YOUTUBE VIDEO here.
On FACEBOOK @ HYPNAGOGIC TELEGRAM