“Neither a movement nor a style, Hairy Who was simply the name six Chicago artists chose when they decided that the best way to find success as individuals was to join forces and exhibit together.
“In 1966, Jim Falconer, Art Green, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Suellen Rocca, and Karl Wirsum—all recent graduates of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago—began mounting, as the Hairy Who, unconventional displays of bright, bold graphic work at the Hyde Park Art Center. Over a period of four years, they transformed the art landscape of Chicago, injecting their new and unique voices into the city’s rising national and international profile.”*
The first comprehensive Hairy Who exhibition is now on view at the Art Institute.
Through January 6.
Art Institute, 111 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago.
From top:
Gladys Nilsson, The Trogens, 1967, Art Institute of Chicago, © Gladys Nilsson.
Art Green, Consider the Options, Examine the Facts, Apply the Logic (originally titled The Undeniable Logician), 1965, Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, © Art Green.
Dan Nadel, The Collected Hairy Who Publications, 1966–1969 (New York: Matthew Marks, 2015); image credit: Matthew Marks.
Below: Suellen Rocca, Bare Shouldered Beauty and the Pink Creature (detail), 1965, Art Institute of Chicago © Suellen Rocca.
