Karl Wirsum

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Karl Wirsum

Geezer Gazing Geyser
2018
acrylic on cut panel
40 x 18 inches (Geyser), 41 x 32 inches (Geezer)

Karl Wirsum

Armageddon
2018
acrylic on cut panel
18 x 38 1/2 inches

Karl Wirsum

Steam Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
2018
acrylic on cut panel
44 x 24 inches

Karl Wirsum

Smoke Gets in Your Lies
2018
acrylic on panel
40 x 30 1/2 inches

Karl Wirsum

Give a Hand for Applause Claws
2018
acrylic on panel
40 x 27 inches

Karl Wirsum

Points De Leon on the Point of a Boulder Discovers a Way to Never Get Older
2018
acrylic on cut panel
22 3/4 x 12 inches (small figure), 40 x 29 inches (cliff)

Karl Wirsum

Blue Nightingale
2014
acrylic on panel
30 1/2 x 27 1/2 inches

Karl Wirsum

Sigh Clip Pity Clops
2014
acrylic on panel
35 1/2 x 26 inches

Karl Wirsum

No Dogs Aloud
1965
acrylic on plexiglas
23 3/4 x 18 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
March 31, 1965
ball-point pen and colored pencil on paper
14 x 11 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
March 31, 1965
ball-point pen and colored pencil on paper
14 x 11 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
April 20, 1965
graphite and colored pencil on paper
14 x 11 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
April 20, 1965
graphite and colored pencil on paper
14 x 11 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
1964
colored pencil on paper
13 x 10 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
1965
graphite, colored pencil and ball-point pen on paper
14 x 11 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
1964
colored pencil on paper
13 x 10 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
August 24, 1965
ball-point pen and colored pencil on paper
14 x 11 inches

Karl Wirsum

Count Fasco’s Mouse Piece Whitey Jr. #2
1983
acrylic on canvas
30 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled (Study for the painting Sputter in the Niche of Time, 2009)
2009
colored pencil on paper
24 x 17 7/8 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled (Study for the painting Throw a Wait Line Proof of Purse Chase, 2007)
2007
colored pencil on paper
24 x 18 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled (Study for the painting Craned Mutiny at the Cantilever Cannery, 2004)
2004
colored pencil on paper
29 7/8 x 22 1/4 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
n.d.
colored pencil and pencil on paper
23 3/8 x 18 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
c. 1982
colored pencil on orange paper
35 x 23 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
c. 1982
colored pencil on orange paper
35 x 23 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled I (Bunnies)
c. early 1980's
colored pencil on paper
35 x 23 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled II (Bunnies)
c. early 1980's
colored pencil on paper
35 x 23 inches

Karl Wirsum

Park Alot
1975
acrylic on board
20 x 32 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
1974
wax pencil, graphite, and marker on notebook paper
13 1/2 x 17 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
1974
pen and ink on notebook paper
17 x 13 1/2 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
1973
ball point pen, wax pencil, and ink on notebook paper
17 x 13 1/2 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
1970s
acrylic and aluminum foil on paper board with grommets
31 1/4 x 14 1/2 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
1969
ball point pen on notebook paper
13 1/2 x 17 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
1969
ball point pen and colored pencil on notebook paper
17 x 13 1/2 inches

Karl Wirsum

Gesundheit - Cure for the Common Cold -Strawberry Root Systemsf
1969
acrylic and glitter on canvas with painted frame
26 1/2 x 21 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
c.1968
ball point pen and colored pencil on notebook paper
17 x 14 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
1968
ball point pen and colored pencil on notebook paper
17 x 14 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
1968
ball point pen and colored pencil on notebook paper
17 x 14 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
1968
ball point pen and colored pencil on notebook paper
17 x 14 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
1968
ball point pen, colored pencil, and printed paper collage on notebook paper
17 x 14 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled
c.1968
ball point pen and colored pencil on notebook paper
17 x 14 inches

Karl Wirsum

Boxer
1968
acrylic on papier-mâché
13 1/2 H x 7 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches

Karl Wirsum

Untitled (Dionne Warwick)
1966
pen and marker on paper
13 3/4 x 10 1/2 inches

Karl Wirsum

Cough
c.1962-63
oil on canvas
20 x 20 inches

BIO

b. 1939 - d. 2021, Chicago, IL

Lived and worked in Chicago.

Born and raised in Chicago, Karl Wirsum (1939 – 2021), enrolled at the School of the Art Institute in 1957 and went on to be one of the institution’s most influential painting and drawing instructors, encouraging successive generations of students. Wirsum began exhibiting in Chicago during the early 1960s at which point he had established a personal style, with high key colors, an interest in patterns and near symmetrical forms, stylization of the human form related to comic book caricature, uproarious imagery, and an enduring love of visual and verbal puns. He coaxed images into existence through dozens of drawings, often marvels in their own right, in richly detailed sketch books. Wirsum’s great love of blues and R&B music, which he enjoyed at various Chicago haunts including Maxwell Street Market, is echoed in some of his paintings, including his portraits of Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Wells, and Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. In 1966, the curator Don Baum included Wirsum in an exhibition by a group calling itself the Hairy Who (a name that derived from a comment made by Wirsum), alongside Jim Nutt, Gladys Nilsson, Art Green, Suellen Rocca, and Jim Falconer. This inaugural show by a cadre of artists who would eventually be known as the Imagists included Wirsum front and center, and his enduring legacy has been tied to that milieu ever since, including the Art Institute’s landmark 2018 exhibition Hairy Who?, which reassembled work from the original Hairy Who exhibitions at the Hyde Park Art Center and beyond.

Curriculum Vitae

PDF - Karl Wirsum CV

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