You wouldn’t expect Chicago’s best dive bar, as named by Time Out in 2007, to feature a storied art collection on its walls. But that’s just the thing– the Old Town Ale House prides itself on being one of those “we don’t give a f**k” relics that time and neighborhood gentrification have forgotten. Here, anything goes. The bar does not serve food, only snacks. So if you want food, you can bring your own or have it delivered.  All works are painted by “artist-genius in residence”, Bruce Elliot. Wall Art is not for sale except as poster replicas and printed on t-shirts.  via

Did you know that our famous candidate Sarah Palin has a Nude Painting and it became a big hit? In fact, the Chicago artist who drew the portrait of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is now drawing crowds to his bar in the buff.

This artist is none other than Bruce Elliott. According to the Windy Citizen reports, Elliot revealed the 4-foot-tall portrait at the Old Town Ale House on Chicago’s North Side. At the portrait, the governor is in her trademark hairdo, plus she was holding an automatic rifle while standing naked on a polar-bear skin rug.

What grabbed one of the viewer’s attentions is the typical Palin’s inimitable hairdo plus her outsized glasses, not her nude painting. Can you imagine Peggy Hill from “King of the Hill” naked? If you can, then you have got to see this guy’s painting.

At first, one viewer said that his initial impression on the painting is that it is the sexist to trivialize and objectify an important female by painting her in the nude. Would you want a nude painting of John McCain or Joe Biden? Ask Bruce Elliott to do that!

It can be remembered that Palin became John McCain’s running mate.

If you want to view a lot more images and paintings of celebrities, the Ole Town Ale House is open for you. Palin’s nude painting can also be viewed in the said gallery. You might also find one in an abstract art gallery. Who would not think that her crazy do, unique glasses, and beauty queen looks would qualify her as a celebrity?

Nude painting is indeed a contemporary painting that is very interesting to view together with other gallery paintings. Would you not agree?

For those seeking art and beauty, Chicago is full of richness in sights, textures, and sounds.  The Art Institute of Chicago and a boat or walking tour of downtown to experience the epoc of early twentieth century architecture are highly recommended.  And or course, there is good blues music almost everywhere.

And once you’ve taken that in…well, there’s the Old Town Ale House, where Bruce Elliot intends to hang the second portrait in his Nude Governor Series, “The Cavity Search” (featuring Rod Blogojavich) as soon as he finishes it.  He’s already completed a full length Sarah Palin, complete with red heels and an automatic rifle as attributes.  In the article by the Chicago Trib, he compares himself to some of the artists featured now in the AIC: “I guess I fit right in with van Gogh and those guys…who were not appreciated in their lifetime.  I can live with that. I never sell pictures.”  Elliot is supported by his wife, who owns the bar where his artwork hangs, and they do sell poster prints of some of his paintings. You can see the photos included in the Chicago Tribune articles below, or click on the links for the complete stories with video interview.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-sarah-palin-nude-0930,0,273867.story

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/arts/chi-talk-ale-artdec19,0,5136319.story

For other things to do while you’re in Chicago, see THIS LIST. It’s a pretty good starting point if you don’t have any ideas of your own.

Amidst the clinking of beer mugs and the ping-ping of pinball machines is a proud Palin wearing her stylish specs, strappy red heels and not a lick more. She poses on a polar bear pelt and clutches a loaded rifle.  A spooked moose hides beyond Sarah Palin’s bare behind, hoping to disappear into the Alaskan landscape.  

Pervs for Palin -- just not for VP

The portrait of Palin, which hangs in The Old Town Ale House on Chicago’s North side,  is more Moona Lisa than Mona Lisa.  It only makes sense since Sarah Palin doesn’t have the intelligent gaze of Da Vinci’s masterpiece. Surely, Mona would’ve been able to get her BA in one clean shot. The only thing Palin can get in one clean shot is a moose and those suckers are huge!

Bruce Elliot put brush to canvas after developing a political crush. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Elliot was only attracted to Palin’s physical ass(ets) and not her politics. Elliot told the Chicago Tribune, “I had never heard of her before, like everyone else. I find her bizarrely fascinating, even though I pretty much despise everything she stands for.”

Now, thanks to Elliot’s artistic vision & bizarre fascination, Nudie Palin is gawked at by the drunken masses.  Twit au natural gets lots of attention despite having to compete with Elliot’s other off-color paintings & star-f*#Ker portraits (numbered in the hundreds.)

It might be a good time for Bruce Elliot to request some sexual favors from his wife, the bar’s owner. Maybe she could put her hair up, take a trip to Lenscrafters, practice her beauty-queen smile in the mirror, ’cause this fellow deserves a little bedroom role playing. After all, his painting of the skyclad VP Nom is bringing new faces into his lady’s (Re)pub — where they are probably downing countless pints of ale to drown their fears, mumbling beer-breath prayers. Please please don’t let this rifle-toting moose-snatch bitch be the future of our country. 

Alphabetfiend is Dia VanGunten — a writer & wanna-be circus freak living in Austin, Texas.