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Dmitry Samarov on Muck Rack

Dmitry Samarov

Chicago
As seen in: Bandcamp Daily, Chicago Tribune, Hyperallergic, Chicago Reader, Crain's Chicago Business, Frieze, The Rumpus, Aquarium Drunkard, Belt Magazine, South Side Weekly and
Covers:  art, movies, theater, books, culture.

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Dmitry Samarov’s Biography

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Dmitry Samarov was born in Moscow, USSR in 1970. He immigrated to the US with his family in 1978. He got in trouble in 1st grade for doodling on his Lenin Red Star pin and hasn't stopped doodling since. After a false start at Parsons School of Design in New York, he graduated with a BFA in painting and printmaking from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1993.

Upon graduation he promptly began driving a cab—first in Boston, then after a time, in Chicago— which eventually led to the pu…

Dmitry Samarov’s Journalist Portfolio

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Why I quit social media cold turkey in 2015

Why I quit social media cold turkey in 2015

There was an ad that ran during the 90s that really creeped me out. It was from AT&T or some other remnant of…

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Inside Christian TeBordo's Uncanny Fictions

Inside Christian TeBordo's Uncanny Fictions

I met Christian TeBordo years ago at the Rainbo Club. He’s a regular. His spot is by the door, facing west. T…

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Catching Up With Peter Prescott : Aquarium Drunkard

Catching Up With Peter Prescott : Aquarium Drunkard

I met Peter Prescott in the late 80s, while working at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, Massachusett…

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Roseland's transformation captured in 1970 student film

Roseland's transformation captured in 1970 student film

There's fastback Mustangs, there's tight pants, there's Afros, there's ancient Dutch farmers walking along wi…

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Brian Wells has quietly spent decades documenting the south side in oil paintings

Brian Wells has quietly spent decades documenting the south side in oil paintings

I sat next to Brian Wells at the Rainbo Club for many years before I knew he was a painter. Wells is quiet an…

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The Vivian Mire

The Vivian Mire

Vivian Maier died 5 years ago. Her obituary was likely written by the grown Gensberg brothers, who she used t…

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Articles

The School of Memory explores the Spanish Civil War through one family’s shifting POV

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By Dmitry Samarov
| Chicago Reader Verified
Héctor Álvarez presents the Chicago premiere of a multimedia meditation that centers on his family’s involvement in the Spanish Civil War but often pans out to encompass global themes of complicity, regret, and forgetting. Álvarez’s is an intense, tightly wound presence around and through which the lives of three generations of ancestors pass, oftentimes leaving visible marks in their wake.
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The Top 27 Events in Chicago This Week: July 6-July 12, 2026

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By Annette LePique, Dmitry Samarov, Farouk Kannout
EverOut The Stranger Portland Mercury Chicago Reader Bold Type Tickets Log In Don't miss out! Let EverOut remind you about your favorite events. Sign up or log in now.
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Two Out of Three Falls is a cunning look at kayfabe

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By Dmitry Samarov
| Chicago Reader Verified
In pro wrestling the term “kayfabe” means an agreement between all participants that a storyline is fact rather than fiction—a tacit suspension of disbelief. Bill Daniel’s play was inspired by the real-life 1988 murder of Bruiser Brody, but is more concerned with the impact the death of a larger-than-life character might have on those who survive him. Johanna (Brittany Ellis) is an aspiring wrestler struggling to get out from her father’s shadow.
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Interview

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Have you ever used a typewriter?

Still do but mostly for art and design. My website is full of typewritten words: www.dmitrysamarov.com/.

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