Speed of Life

by Gregg Chadwick Gregg Chadwick Under the El 30"x20" oil on linen 2012 Chicago is a city of pulse and rhythm.  The city itself is a song. It clangs and roars by day and whispers laments at night.  Standing under the El on a hot August day, listening to the hum of traffic echoing off of steel, concrete and flesh inspired my first painting of 2012. Chicago seemed to soak up the light last summer, lending the streets a shimmering presence much like the wet Parisian boulevards in Gustave Caillebotte's  Paris Street, Rainy Day.  Caillebotte's masterpiece hangs in the Art Institute of Chicago , just blocks from the El.  Standing in front of the painting last summer, after coming in from the heat, I felt my heart beating -providing an audible rhythm to Caillebotte's figures stilled in the silent air. Gustave Caillebotte Paris Street, Rainy Day (Detail) 83.5"x108.75" oil on canvas 1876-77 The Art Institute of Chicago photo b...

TO: Sunday Show Producers FR: David Axelrod, Senior Strategist Public polling released this week makes clear that Americans strongly agree with the President’s plan to create jobs and provide economic security for the middle class and believe that leaders in both parties should move quickly to pass the American Jobs Act. Members of the media have focused on the President’s approval ratings as if they existed in a black box. Following the intransigence of the Republicans during the debt debate, the approval rating of the GOP brand dropped to a historic low. The approval rating of Congress dropped to a near historic low. Americans are still dealing with the impact of the financial crisis and recession and the long-term economic trends that have seen wages stagnate for many, and that is manifested in their anger towards Washington. There’s no doubt that Americans are calling on leaders in Washington to take immediate action to address their economic challenges -- exactly what the ...