28-Aug-21 – Masterpieces, “accumulated in the course of what was a very weird year,” is how Emmy-winning television host John Oliver describes, um, artwork that will be exhibited in River North in October.

The Museum of Broadcast Communications is one of only five museums in the nation selected by HBO’s news satire show Last Week Tonight to host the art. It was selected from more than 1,000 organizations that applied.

Works include a painting of TV host Wendy Williams eating a lambchop, a painting of a “sad tie” by Judith Kudrow, wife of Larry Kudrow, director of the National Economic Council during the Trump Administration, and a work the show describes as “rat erotica.”

(Left) Oliver and artwork that will be included in the Chicago exhibit. (Click on image to view larger version.)

In addition to the honor of hosting the exhibit, the museum and its charity partner, Greater Chicago Food Depository, will each receive $10,000.

A compelling letter and a humorous video helped land the exhibit, according to Susy Schultz, executive director of the museum.

“Our team went all out in our video entry,” said Schultz, calling the video “our sometimes silly and very compelling case...for why the museum deserves this honor.”

The 90-second video features Schultz in costume as Bozo, wearing a President Nixon mask (in front of a large photo of the real Nixon at a 1960 debate with President Kennedy), dressed as a pickle, and dressed as the late-night TV character Svengoolie, along with an appearance by the real Svengoolie, portrayed by actor Rich Koz.

A spokesperson for the museum says they are a “perfect fit” to host the television-inspired collection, as they are an institution that “explores the effects of media on our lives.”

The exhibit will open on October 2 and run through October 26.

Also selected were the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, William V. Banks Broadcast Museum & Media Center in Detroit, and the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco.