Karl Wirsum
1939–2021
Introduction
Wirsum was one of a group of 1960s Chicago artists that produced work influenced by mass media, including comics, and non-Western art. Known as the Chicago Imagists, they relied on figuration at a time when abstract painting was still considered to the most important mode for art-making in the U.S. In 1966, a group known as the Hairy Who formed as the result of an exhibition of their work at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago o rganized by Don Baum. The show included Jim Falconer, Art Green, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, and Suellen Rocca; Wirsum wasn’t a part of the collective until he appeared in the show. Wirsum lent the group its name.
Country of birth
United States
Roles
Artist, painter, sculptor
ULAN identifier
500015267
Information from the Getty Research Institute's Union List of Artist Names ® (ULAN), made available under the ODC Attribution License. Accessed December 20, 2025.
