Tom Palazzolo's Gritty City Exibit

Tom Palazzolo with photograph of "The tattooed lady"  photo by Joseph Bryll

Tom Palazzolo’s gritty City.

My hero and dad has a show of his photos at the Ed Paschke Art Center. His talk was sold out on 2-21-16. The show is up until March 6th

http://www.edpaschkeartcenter.org/Module/Event/EventDetail/Tom_Palazzolo's_Gritty_City?id=28

Tom Palazzolo has been an experimental and documentary film maker, painter and photographer of Chicago for more than fifty years.  His subject matter has included the 1968 Democratic National Convention, where he was tear gassed; interesting people in Chicago, for example, Jerry, a 1960's deli owner who would yell at his customers; and Mary Ellen, a little person who ran a "midget bar" where little people would walk on ramps. These and so much more.

I really liked seeing several of his photographs blown up and well framed. He told funny stories about each photo around him. Jack Helbig  did a great job of interviewing him and told the story of how he first met Tom in 1980 when U. of C. students would take field trips to see his work. At one event my dad was climbing a fence and yelling to make some point. That is not a stretch of the imagination. He once climbed the side of my 3rd floor apartment in Chicago for some reason  (probably to deliver a snack); and he used to tightrope-walk the swing-set in our back yard. Many of the pictures in this show are of the people of Chicago’s “Riverview park”, which closed in 1967.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riverview_%28Chicago%29

My dad often photographed Maxwell Street too, the market that used to exist near U.I.C. and would feature things for sale and street entertainment. Once, my dad’s camera was stolen from his car and he figured out how to get it back: he told the street salesmen that he wanted to buy a camera, and piece by piece, he got it back.

That sums up my dad’s zen style. He's the sort of person who seemingly bumbles through an experience, but in the end arrives at something ingenius and funny, like Colombo.  #Daddy'sgirl

I heard new stories about several of the photos in this show, for instance the one of  the side-show act man who could pop his eyes out at will.  The circus would put a teen-aged girl in front of him for the show and have him do a combination of eye popping, one at a time, or at the same time.

Tom also told the story of the tattooed lady of Riverview Park. He also made a film about her, who wa unique in that, in the 60's, it was less common to get tattoos. The story is that she was a side show freak, a bearded lady, but her boyfriend objected to the beard, so she shaved it and got tattoos in order to stay in the circus.

It’s a different world now. Freaks in a freak show are not o.k, but now we have reality t.v. and politics. 

Here's a funny film clip by Robert Ziebell, featuring Tom in the 80's
https://vimeo.com/154384130