(photo or left by Anthony Parker, and photo on right by Doug Haight)
If the walls at Curt’s Café could talk
. . . but wait: they can, and they do. Since the café opened a little more than
two years ago, nearly 30 exhibits by local and regional photographers have been
telling tales of nature, animals, cityscapes and national heroes, to name just a
few subjects.
Howard Frank of Skokie has shown his landscapes
and nature images twice at Curt’s. That’s allowed, and besides, he’s the
curator at the friendly coffeehouse. Frank, the man behind Howie’s Images
(howiesimages.com) uses the latest digital techniques on familiar scenes to
give his photos either a surreal or painterly look.
Anthony Parker, whose striking photos of
Muhammad Ali and JFK currently grace the walls at Curt’s, also takes artistic
license with his images. The Evanston resident, who also teaches art and is a
certified art therapist, sketches famous photos, then does an overlay using
pastel colored pencils and charcoal to create images with a heightened reality
– still lifes with life, if you will. Other images feature gray tones on black
paper, or faces partially outlined in vivid color that give the works geometric
zing. Look for more of Parker’s work in his one-man show at Curt’s in the fall.
The “living room” – the large, second room
at Curt’s -- comes alive with vibrantly hued images of Cuba, taken by Evanston
photographer Doug Haight, who traveled with a photography group to the island
that was off-limits to Americans until recently.
Haight captures Cuba’s “lost in time”
aspect – vintage cars, guys playing dominoes in the street, a driver pedaling a
bike taxi. “Cubans tend to live a lot of their lives in the streets,” Haight
says. “There’s a tremendous sense of community."
All the artwork at Curt’s is for sale,
with a percentage going to the not-for-profit coffeehouse. They’re reasonably
priced, says Howard Frank, and they appeal to Curt’s eclectic clientele. “Something
for everyone,” he says.
