For those who like their art to fall into a particular context within the nebulous art-historical (and admittedly mostly Western) cannon, here is an antidote.
Works from members of the Hairy Who and Chicago Imagists schools are opening at Russell Bowman Art Advisory. These categories generally encompass prints, paintings and drawings that have been described as psychadelic, cartoonish and plain old silly. It's great fun,
especially for those who enjoy Robert Crumb-style cartooning.
Hairy Who originated as a series of exhibitions held at the Hyde Park Art Center in the late 1960s. School of the Art Institute of Chicago faculty Don Baum and six grads including Jim Nutt and Karl Wirsum dubbed themselves the Hairy Who. Their nutty, zig-zaggy figures were a stark contrast to Minimalist art that was so revered at the time.
Essentially, the artists in Intense were responsible for injecting the pleasures found in a poppy/perverse and comical sensibility to the fine art of their time. H.C. Westermann's expressive works have been linked to not only the Imagists but Pop Art. His work, like other works in this show, ultimately transcends categories and holds a humorous and yet humanistic quality.
Research obtained from the Art Institute of Chicago web site, www.artic.edu/aic
GALLERY: Russell Bowman Art Advisory, 311 W. Superior St., 115
EXHIBITION: Intense: Roger Brown, Ray Johnson, Elizabeth Murray, Jim Nutt, Ed Paschke, Marc Quinn, David Salle, H.C. Westermann, Karl Wirsum
Filed under: Uncategorized
