I had the pleasure of playing music with Jason Brammer for years, but thank goodness he quit the band to pursue his art full-time.

Jason is based in Chicago and over the last half-decade has developed such a beautiful and unique style, namely in the construction and painting of pieces he calls Time Machines: rustic, ancient-looking works that seem sent from the future, or found in some alien antique store. His current exhibition, Futura Obscura, can be seen at Chicago’s Jackson Junge Gallery until July 3.

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Messed up art from Chicago-artist, Jim Nutt. This piece, called Miss T. Garmint (she pants a lot), is from 1967 and is a great example of how his last name exemplifies his wonderfully crazy art. An exhibition of his work entitled Jim Nutt: Coming Into Character runs until May 29 at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.

After selling some 3,000 pieces out of the 4,000 or so that he has produced in the past decade, Chicago artist Derek Erdman is getting out of dodge. Moving westward has not stopped him from putting together one final show at High Concept Laboratories. Without Wax will feature over 1,000 paintings and drawings of this poignant Ohio-born, Chicago-bred genius.

As if that’s not enough, there will be hot dogs with fortunes inside, and over twenty pounds of gummi bears. Odd Obsession Djs will be treating peoples ears to rare Jamaican tunes, whilst this carnival of full circle Erdman ensues. All things considered, this is the most important opening in Chicago this summer.

Really digging the grotesque, zombie-like sculptures and images of Chicago-based artist Rachel Niffeneggar. The materiality of Niffeneggar’s work is as vital to the interpretation of each piece as the aggregate images, bringing up high-concept ideas that transcend mere horror movie worship.

I don’t even know where to begin describing the work of Chicago artist Matthew Woodward. Maybe it’s my deep-seated love for all things historical and sturdy, useful antiques. Maybe Woodward created these drawings especially for me (maybe?). Using graphite to create ghost-like, mysterious images of elements like finials, gates and augers (go look up old fashioned tools), there is something utterly mysterious and compelling about his work. They remind me of old photographs with their far away magic.

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Busy, colorful and expressive, I am head over heels for the paintings of Chicago artist Isak Applin. His work is so loose and busy that picking out particular elements can feel a bit like a game of ‘where’s Waldo’. But that’s what I love about his stuff.