Tony Lewis: The Long and Short of It

Preview: written before the show opened

Gregg shorthand was made so a stenographer could keep up with speech, turning each sound into a quick, fluid stroke. Tony Lewis learned it and has used it as a starting point for drawing for more than a decade. This is his first solo museum show in Chicago, where he has worked since 2009.

New drawings hang with works made since 2013, in three modes: monochrome graphite, denser sheets with colored pencil added, and labor-intensive wall works at far larger scale. Before you look at any of them, read the full title, shared with a book still to come. It runs to 28 words, which is a lot for a show about shorthand. The museum says the faux academic tone is a hint: there is humor here.

Under the play, Lewis is working on how language gets tied up with power and race. Entry is free, no ticket, on Cobb Hall's fourth floor. Lewis gives an artist talk at the opening on 12 December, 4 to 7pm.