From risk to safe

one artist's journey from the north side to the South Loop

09/25/2011 7:04 PM

By Bonnie McGrath

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"Death Before Dishonor" by Erik DeBat, at Art Hall, Blackstone Hotel (photo by Bonnie McGrath)

Erik DeBat's show in Art Hall at the Blackstone Hotel on South Michigan Avenue has been up since April, and I'm ashamed to say I haven't gotten around to spreading the word. And now it's about to close--the hotel couldn't give me an exact date, but it could be down as early as October 3. All I can tell you is this: go see colors like you've never seen, subjects that you've never thought about, style that you didn't know existed. All against the backdrop of one of the hotel's historic spaces.


I remember Erik--at one time known as a north side tagger named "Risk"--when he was a little boy. His dad is my friend, Don DeBat, a newspaperman whose claim to fame was editing the Sun-Times real estate section. His fellow newspapermen used to say, "no one can lay out a color cover page like DeBat."

The elder DeBat must have passed along some artistic genes. If not that, then he at least passed along determination and character. He certainly helped his son grow from a talented, energetic and courageous graffiti artist--often in trouble--into an established multi-media artist who has great appeal. Instead of cutting him off when the police would come calling because Risk was spray-painting the city, he encouraged his son to get involved with interior decorators to help them get new and creative art into people's homes.

Don did the right thing. As did Erik.

Twenty-plus years ago I wrote a story about Erik for the Chicago Reader, in which I talked about his life as a youngster, hip-hopping and rapping and tagging. But how, at 19--in December of 1990--he was having his first really big show, which happened to be in a West Loop gallery. After all these years, Erik still lists the story in his burgeoning CV--and I'm proud to say I wrote about him back then, in spite of nasty letters to the editor accusing me of glorifying a criminal. Now he's 40, married and a great artist. And in the South Loop for at least a few more days!


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