My culture-deprived, aspirational mother dragged me once a month from our northern suburb – where the word art never came up – to the Art Institute of Chicago. I hated it. – Jerry Saltz

Its art that pushes against psychological and social expectations, that tries to transform decay into something generative, that is replicative in a baroque way, that isnt about progress, and wants to – as Walt Whitman put it – contain multitudes. – Jerry Saltz

The art gods cooked up something special for James Ensor. – Jerry Saltz