Karl Wirsum, Unshackled Bayou, 2017
Silkscreen.
19 x 24 in.
A.P. of Edition of 25

As an original member of the Hairy Who in the early 1960s, Wirsum was a major figure in what is referred to as Chicago Imagism. He developed a signature style that melded a graphic sensibility-vivid, flat colors, cartoon-like figures-with a quirky sense of humor. Existing somewhere between the real and the imaginary, his satirical work speaks to the political and social flaws, violence, and whimsy of contemporary life. Inspired largely by comic book figures and popular icons, Wirsum's high-energy paintings typically feature a central, remarkably stylized figure, such as this print and the painting Screaming Jay Hawkins in the Art Institute's permanent collection. The frenetic lines, electric colors, and exaggerated features in this painting demonstrate Wirsum's long-held interest in activating the abstract underpinnings of his figurative work.

Karl Wirsum lives and works in Chicago. He is an Adjunct Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Wirsum participated in the landmark "Hairy Who" exhibitions at the Hyde Park Art Center with a vibrant generation of young Chicago artists in the 1960s. In 2007, the Chicago Cultural Center organized Winsome Works(Some): Career Retrospective, which traveled to the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art and Herron School of Art and Design, Indianapolis. He has participated in group exhibitions at the Art Institute of Chicago; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago; Milwaukee Art Museum; Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City; Renaissance Society, Chicago; Camden Arts Centre, London; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; and many others.