August 2022 trip to Chicago

Personal story

2022-08-26 2 min read Personnel, Art

I went to Chicago to participate at a GrafanaLive event as a subject matter expert for the Ask an Expert booth; I posted about it on LinkedIn. I took this opportunity to visit the city for two days, and here I want to share my favourite experiences and pictures!

When I saw the John Hancock building and the Willis tower in person for the first time, it brought me back to when I was playing Flight Simulator 98; I was so passionate about aviation and computers back then! Chicago was one of the most popular and detailed maps in the game.

At the Museum of Contemporary Art, I saw the fascinating Nick Cave exhibit. Nick Cave is a contemporary artist working with shiny objects and materials, repeated thousands of times, which produce fascinating sounds and visual effects. He has a very kind and sensitive way of telling stories of racism against people of colour, and cultural violence. It was a sensory pleasure to be immersed in his work, with occasional surprises and shocks.

At the Art Institute of Chicago, I went to the Paul Cézanne exhibit. Cézanne was a French impressionist who worked in the shadows of the art scene his whole life. He was rejected many times from the Art Academy and the Salon exhibit. However, he was an admired influence for other more successful impressionists, such as Monet. I like the materialistic brush strokes and “unfinished” exposed canvas on his paintings. I also spent time studying his watercolours, which with very minimal color applications convey such sensitivity and fullness.

As I walked the city, I noticed the many styles of architecture. There are so many gorgeous art deco buildings, I wanted to learn more. The Chicago Architecture Center River Cruise was entirely worth it. It was a 1.5 hour cruise along the Chicago river, with educating commentary on the city’s architecture and history, and great viewpoints to admire the cityscape and buildings.