One of the world's most remarkable outdoor art treasures lies hidden in plain sight along Chicago’s Lake Michigan waterfront: Thousands of magnificent vernacular rock carvings in the quarry-stone revetments that line much of the lakeshore. Many of them are spectacular, most are by anonymous creators, and almost none of them are noticed. Together they represent a collective work of art and a spontaneous monument to good times by the lake.
Including carvings made over the course of nearly a century and ranging in size from a few inches to several feet, this 22-mile-long monument to summer fun is unique in the world. But like most art environments, it is under constant threat from the weather, neglect, and unsympathetic government projects.
William Swislow has spent decades documenting this flowering of popular creativity, and Lakefront Anonymous tells the story of the carvings, their makers, and the lakefront where the carvers left behind their rich visual legacy. It includes more than 200 photographs of this important artwork and will open a new perspective on the lakefront for anyone interested in Chicago and its most glorious amenity. It also raises a pressing new preservation issue for the shoreline’s historic character, and it will reveal the carvings -- art made mostly by people who did not consider themselves artists -- to the growing worldwide audience interested in graffiti and in outsider, folk, and vernacular art.
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