For many years the most elaborate yard show in Chicago was this small house in Pilsen.
The fence and walls of the house are decorated with brightly painted wall plaques and thrift-store collectible kitsch.
The artist is obviously inspired by circles and wheels! They make a dynamic and engaging motif around the property.
These large concrete medallions seem to commemorate events and people close to the artist. They were completed in 2003-2005.
Perhaps this commemorates the mixing of cultures of the New World: Spanish, African, English & Native American?
Most of the yard show is more artful than this mannequin one-liner, but it isn't too out of place amid the chaos.
An homage to Mexican country life: fighting cocks and the noble horse running free on a rising sun.
The sunken backyard garden is crowded with artifacts. On the back of the house there is a raised deck accessible by two tight spiral staircases leading in different directions. From the porch a catwalk leads across the yard to a covered wagon raised on pillars which becomes the roof of a shaded picnic area.
Sadly, in 2009, the house burned, and the decorated fence was hauled to the dump along with the rest of the burned wreckage. There were rumors of a divorce, and dispute of ownership of the house, but the passerby is left with little to speculate upon, just as it is unclear what private meaning the fence and house decorations had for the inhabitants.
