Beak preview

Seeing pieces from local artists adorning the walls of your neighborhood restaurant is nothing extraordinary. That is, unless your neighborhood is the West Loop and the restaurant is Blackbird, the minimalist spot renowned for chef Paul Kahan’s market-fresh seasonal menu and too-cool-for-school vibe.

In Blackbird’s Salon Series—occasional gatherings held in the restaurant’s 48-seat upstairs dining room—the work of a local artist is showcased and accompanied by a five-course dinner and wine pairing inspired by the pieces. The work remains hanging for about a month, until it’s replaced with pieces by the next featured artist. The idea behind the series is to bring people together in a special setting to appreciate and discuss different types of art, much the way the famous Algonquin Round Table in New York City lured writers and artists from different mediums for daily lunches in the early 20th century.

The artists invited by Blackbird join in the dinner event, mingling with guests and discussing the inspiration behind their work. “So often you see art hanging at restaurants, but you have no idea what’s behind it, what it means,” says Blackbird’s co-owner Donnie Madia. “At these dinners, you get to find out what, and who, is behind the work.”

And you also find out who is behind the dinner. Kahan, who attends each event, creates special menus for the gatherings, inspired by his meetings with the artists and what he sees in their work. Artist alumni of previous dinners include architect and designer Jordan Mozer and sculptor D’nell Larson. When Kahan teamed with farmland landscape artist Emmett Kerrigan at one of the first Salon Series dinners, the menu was bright with the colors of spring vegetables that matched the hues in Kerrigan’s bold paintings.

The next dinner features the work of James Jankowiak, an artist born and raised in the Back of the Yards neighborhood who originally made a name for himself as a graffiti artist using the moniker Casper. Jankowiak’s work is slower and more methodical these days—his abstract paintings on acrylic and Masonite are inspired by his fascination with evolution. “I think about what the bottom of the ocean looked like 5 billion years ago, how life was formed and created,” he says. “I use a lot of small elements in my work to make a whole, and I try to use space as a place for presentation, not unlike the way [Kahan] does. I think the most exciting part of this collaboration will rest with the visuals.”

This event, Jankowiak’s first solo show, represents something of a coming-out party for the artist, who stopped making art for a time to rethink his creative process and focus on a new type of work using his given name instead of his graffiti tag.

“Every artist has a different vocabulary, and we want to be inspired by that,” says Madia, who had gallery lighting installed upstairs to highlight the art at these dinners. “The restaurant doesn’t give them guidelines about what they can and cannot do in the space. We invite them to challenge themselves.”—Judy Sutton Taylor

The Salon Series dinner is Wednesday 9 at Blackbird (619 W Randolph St)  and costs $125. For reservations, call 312-715-0708.