Homeroom Chicago presents “School Night” on Tuesday, December 15, 6 pm in the MCA Café. The evening’s class is Self-Portrait in a Kanye Mirror, a multimedia info show with artists and educators who assemble to reflect on the art and life of Kanye West through the lens of their own personal Yeezus. Topics include career arc, creativity, excellence, insecurity, messiness, self-love, and the quest for beauty, truth, and awesomeness. Special guests are Krista Franklin, Allison Glenn, Lisa Yun Lee with Kevin Coval, J. Johari Palacio, and Anthony Stepter with cohosts Fred Sasaki and Seth Vanek.

Your homework assignment is . . .

Yes, in order to better understand . . .

OK, we know. This show is not meant to be a comprehensive analysis of Kanye West, but a reflection of our own personal thoughts, feelings, and artwork in relation to . . .

Alright, we agree.

We think so too. So we’ve prepared a list . . .

1. He’s produced hundreds of songs for other artists, some that have become their most well-known work.
2. He produced a short film that was shot in Qatar and premiered in a custom built pyramid-like building featuring seven screens.)
3. In 2008, he launched a short lived travel website called Kanye Travel Ventures.
4. He started a creative agency named after his mother Donda that has consulted on everything from books to movie trailers to ad campaigns.
5. His label G.O.O.D. Music stands for “Getting out our dreams.”
6. He lived in China for a year when he was 10 while his mother was a visiting scholar at Nanjing University.
7. His father, Ray West, was an accomplished photojournalist.
8. He designed an erotic video game when he was 12.
9. He invested in two Chicago-area Fatburgers in 2008.
10. He performed at a memorial for Gil Scott Heron, whose poetry he sampled on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
11. He visited an Occupy Wall Street protest in 2011.
12. He is a big fan of Fiona Apple (the feeling, apparently, is mutual).
13. He was arrested on theft charges in 2000, in a case of mistaken identity.
14. He debuted his album Yeezus with a series of guerrilla video projections in 66 locations around the world.
15. In 2008, he did an six-month internship at the Italian fashion brand Fendi.

Anything else?

THANK YOU.

And so are we 🙂