3/12-5/1 Mac Blackout / Street Dreams & Towering Seers

Published on March 8, 2026 Closed
May
1
5:00 pm

Mac Blackout: Street Dreams and Towering Seers
Opening Reception: Saturday March 21st, 5-7 pm
Show runs: March 12th to May 1st, daily 12-6 pm
Featuring Mac Blackout

Quimby’s Bookstore is honored to exhibit Chicago artist Mac Blackout’s next solo show of 10 new paintings and and past favorites.

Quimby’s Ink – our new publishing division – is also super excited to publish our first Print “Fifteen Faces”  to correspond with the exhibition. This three color offset print is a collab between Mac and Quimby’s partner Eric “Manny” Von Haynes. 11×17, 3-Color Offset Print, Edition of 80, Signed and Numbered.

All new work is for sale! Prints $20, Paintings $300, Drawings $400,
Contact Peter Miles at Quimby’s to inquire.

2026 / Mac Blackout / 15 Faces / 11×17 3-color offset print / $20

2026 / Mac Blackout / Many Face painting 1 / 12×12 pen and ink on paper / $300

2026 / Mac Blackout / Many Face painting 2 / 11×14 pen and ink on paper / $300

2026 / Mac Blackout / Many Face painting 3 / 11×14 pen and ink on paper / $300

2026 / Mac Blackout / Many Face painting 4 / 12×12 pen and ink on paper / $300

2026 / Mac Blackout / Many Face painting 5 / 12×12 pen and ink on paper / $300

2026 / Mac Blackout / Many Face painting 6 / 11×14 pen and ink on paper / $300

2026 / Mac Blackout / Many Face painting 7 / 11×14 pen and ink on paper / $300

2026 / Mac Blackout / Many Face painting 8 / 12×12 pen and ink on paper / $300

2026 / Mac Blackout / Many Face painting 9 / 12×12 pen and ink on paper / $300

 

 

2026 / Mac Blackout / Many Face painting 10 / 11×14 pen and ink on paper / $300

 

2026 / Mac Blackout / Many Face drawing 1 / 9×9 pen and ink on paper / $400

 

2026 / Mac Blackout / Many Face drawing 2 / 9×12 pen and ink on paper / $400

 

Mac Blackout (born Mark Dunihue McKenzie on June 17, 1977) is an American visual artist and musician based in Chicago.

Mac was born in Bedford, Indiana, later attending college at the Herron School of Art in Indianapolis, Indiana where he graduated with a BFA in 1999. During his high school and college years he became a well known street artist in the midwest underground. In 1999 he moved to Chicago, Illinois channeling his creative energies into music and the music related art of posters and album covers. From 2000 to present day he has formed several bands releasing more than 10 full length albums as well as a slew of singles. He continues to create music with multiple avant-garde and improvisational musicians and recently released “Revelation On The Beach”, his first solo album in five years on Torn Light/Fire Love Records. Mac is currently a muralist and multimedia artist creating large scale public works with a studio focus in painting, drawing, sculpture and mixed media art.

 

2/23 Sketch/Book: Salon

Published on February 16, 2026 Closed
Feb
23
6:00 pm

Sketch / Book: a Wicker Park Reading and Drawing Salon
A collaboration between LMN Wedge Studio and Quimby’s
Monday, February 23rd, 2026 –  6:00-8:30pm
Meet in-person at Quimby’s Bookstore: 1854 W. North Ave, Chicago IL: 60622
At 6:30 walk 2 blocks to LMN Wedge Studio 1579 N Milwaukee Ave Suite 206, Chicago, IL 60622

Save the eventbrite fee by sending $40 to @quimbysbookstore with “Sketch Book” in the note, or dm @lmn_wedge_art on Instagram to reserve a spot and pay at Quimby’s register. See below for a link.

Guests begin at 6pm by stopping at Quimby’s for a free zine of their choosing (of $15 value or less). 

Around 6:30, the group will head a few doors down to the Flatiron Arts Building to LMN Wedge Studio and Gallery. 

This is an opportunity to read a book or other material of your choosing, practice sketching the people and setting from observation, or simply journal and/or mark-make in your sketchbook within a social, supportive setting*. Bring your own reading and/or sketchbook materials. 

At LMN Wedge, we’ll have some good instrumental tunes on, tea and water on offer, and the eclectic and comfy surroundings. We will savor a good stretch of semi-focused reading and/or sketching, then a shorter time near the close of our session for round-robin sharing. 

Complimentary tea and a Quimby’s zine (of ? $15 value) are included with the $40 admission. BYOB, if you have a taste for adult beverage.

(*Also, if you like doing a little knitting, or something else like that, no one will raise an eyebrow 😉

Register for the event on eventbrite

OR:

Register via a $40 donation to Venmo: @quimbysbookstore
Please include “Sketch Book and your name” in the note!

2/26 After Hours: Lover’s Eye Press

Published on February 14, 2026 Closed
Feb
26
6:30 pm

After Hours with Lover’s Eye Press Th. 2/26 6:30
Readings by: E. Hughes, Angelica Julia Dávila, Tori Rego, Natalie Staples
Quimby’s Bookstore, 1854 W. North Ave, Chicago

Register for the Event

Lover’s Eye Press a journal of fixation. Our purpose is to provide a space for artists and writers to communicate the inescapable themes, experiences, and people that arise prominently in their work or linger in the background, winking a secret message. 

E. Hughes is the author of Ankle-Deep in Pacific Water, which was longlisted for the 2025 Maya Angelou Book Award (Haymarket Books 2024). They received their MFA in poetry and MA in English Literature from the Litowitz Creative Writing Program at Northwestern University. Currently, Hughes is a PhD candidate in Philosophy at Emory University.

Angelica Julia Dávila is the author of the poetry chapbook Bilingual Bitch (Abode Press, 2015). Angelica received her doctorate at the Program for Writers at University of Illinois at Chicago and currently teaches in the English Department at Oakton Community College. Angelica’s work is an exploration of the bilingual Latine identity, autistic self-expression, and mental borderlands. 

Tori Rego is a writer from Charleston, South Carolina. She currently lives in Chicago where she hosts the monthly reading series Written on a Napkin. Her poetry chapbook, “Briefly, Gently” was recognized as a finalist for the Chicago Reader’s Best New Poetry Book by a Chicagoan in 2024. This Spring she is buying too much of the rhubarb at the supermarket and no one can stop her.

Natalie Staples holds a B.A. from Kenyon College and an M.F.A. from the University of Oregon. Her work has appeared on National Public Radio and in The American Poetry Review, Literary Matters, Birmingham Poetry Review, Able Muse, Mezzo Cammin, Terrain.org, and SWWIM Every Day and others. 

After Hours is a production of Taylor Thornburg and Quimby’s Bookstore

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Pay what you can afford in person or via Venmo.
Suggested: $10
Venmo: @quimbysbookstore
Please include “After Hours” in the note!

Your generous donation directly supports artist honorariums and ensures the continuation of this program. We are so grateful for your support of local creators, Quimby’s Bookstore, and DIY culture—we truly couldn’t do it without you!

Your generous donation directly supports artist honorariums and ensures the continuation of this program. We are so grateful for your support of local authors, publishers, creators, Quimby’s Bookstore, and DIY culture—we truly couldn’t do it without you!

2/21 Show & Tell: Dorian Sylvain | Artist Talk 6:30 pm

Published on February 10, 2026 Closed
Feb
21
6:30 pm

Saturday, February 21, 6:30-8 pm
Featuring Dorian Sylvain

Quimby’s is excited to host acclaimed painter, muralist, educator, and cultural organizer Dorian Sylvain for a special Show & Tell session focused on her artistic practice and the book that accompanies her exhibition, Raised In It!

During this conversation, Sylvain will discuss her diverse work in murals, scenic design, mixed media, and education, as well as her ongoing dedication to collaboration, community empowerment, and the preservation of cultural memory. She will discuss the creative process behind Raised In It!, her solo exhibition and the related publication, which includes essays, archival materials, and reflections on lineage, mentorship, and creative resistance.

Hear directly from Sylvain about how her work integrates storytelling, public art, and intergenerational knowledge into her community-focused practices. Her approach considers history as an ongoing influence that actively shapes the present. This Show & Tell explores how art serves as a remembrance, a site of resistance, and a collective imagination.

Register for the event

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Pay what you can afford in person or via Venmo.


Suggested: $10
Venmo: @quimbysbookstore
Please include “Raised In It!” in the note!

Your generous donation directly supports artist honoraria and helps ensure the program’s continued success. We are so grateful for your support of local creators, Quimby’s Bookstore, and DIY culture—we truly couldn’t do it without you!

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Quimby’s Bookstore
Books Zines Comics
~ ~ Since 1991 ~ ~
1854 W. North Ch-IL
Open every day 12-6

2/8 Closing Reception Blonde Bombastic by Frankie Lyne

Published on January 31, 2026 Closed
Feb
8
5:00 pm

Closing Reception
Blonde Bombastic by Frankie Lyne
Sunday, February 8th, 2026 – 5:00-7:00 PM

in-person at Quimby’s Bookstore 1854 W. North Ave Chicago, IL 60622

Blonde Bombastic features the work of Frankie Lyne [ they/them ] centered around Marie a 50’s does 70’s heroine who’s incredible outfits, glamorous looks, and bad news boyfriend Simon keep her just ahead of the dire consequences of her full on sex-and-drugs rock and roll lifestyle.

Featuring a full wall of plush cheetah print, blow ups of the original art, process work, Risograph prints, and bejeweled safety pin bound risograph zines, Blonde Bombastic will be closing with a reception and celebration of Frankie’s work on Sunday February 8th.

Frankie Lyne [ they/them ] is a recent School of the Art Institute Chicago graduate, comics creator, and musician. Their comics and zines include Supercvnt, Simon and Marie, Death of Marie, Devout, Vive La Vie MoonStride, Alter Ego, and Starr Ramone.

Frankie sells comics and zines at Quimby’s Bookstore, Chicago Comics, and Howling Pages. They are also published in SAIC’s Mouth Magazine and have run Starr Ramone in F News since 2021.