Michael Weinstein
1942 – 2015
Michael Weinstien, April, 2008 by Charmane Eastman
On Saturday, January 23rd from 5:00 to 8:00 PM we will celebrate and honor the life of Michael Weinstein, a man who was very dear to the gallery and to the Chicago arts community.
Mike's wife, Deena, will be present. All are welcome.
We’re On Our Own
The above refrain from “God Won’t Bless America Again” keeps playing addictively in my head. Michael Weinstein, the wiry provocateur with the electric grin, profound intellect, rapier wit, caustic observations and truly humanist heart has left the building. I have lost a dear friend. We have lost a man who made a difference. We have lost a man who I believe lived without fear. We have lost a man who was totally at ease with life and its absurd contradictions even while he raged (in his sixties) as a serious punk rock musician against hypocrisy and the New Gilded Age. Michael could make you bend over, laughing helplessly along with him when nothing that he was saying was in itself funny; he was simply speaking truth to power in his inimitable fashion. In a conversation, the professor (he taught political philosophy at Purdue) would often cut to the chase (in the style of European intellectuals) and then widen that chase, referencing disparate and seemingly exotic ideas, only to bring them convincingly and rewardingly around in support of his original stream of argument. Thought and discourse as art, as theater. Michael Weinstein was unique. His erudition combined with a suspicion of authority led him to make a career of pulling back the curtain in order to give us all a glimpse of the Matrix. He was both Morpheus and Neo offering the red pill. And Michael loved people. He was generous in conversation and welcoming of any sincere observations or ideas. He needed nothing except his beloved soulmate Deena Weinstein and to live every moment in full. Anyone who knew Michael Weinstein is a bit more alive for having crossed his path. And for those of us in the art community, specifically the Chicago fine art photography community, we have lost our true champion; Michael was our critic, philosopher, interpreter and cheerleader. There is no other like him. We’re on our own.
Thank you Michael and Goodbye.
— Paul Berlanga