Page 37 - Studio International - November 1973

Chicago artists. Both their predilection for became a decisive force in Chicago only towards They adopted humour as their weapon and
painful subjects and their enthusiasm for the middle of the 1960s, when it came to the made fun of the ideals of their elders. They
finding content and artistic values in places and attention of the future 'Hairy Who' James Nutt. regarded manifestoes as poor taste, aesthetics
objects usually considered unartistic may be came into close contact with Westermann's as cant, and art history as beside the point.
traced to Dubuffet who believed that . . . the work while assisting in the Frumkin Gallery in They were playful and extravagant in dress,
function of the artist is to enlarge the conquest 1965-66, the year before the first 'Hairy Who' paying pennies at the local Salvation Army
and annexation of worlds hostile to man.' exhibition, and was immediately struck by its stores for outrageous garments.
All three generations of Chicago artists are particular blend of elements — its mixture of The young artists found a godfather and
represented in the São Paulo show, although the fantasy and earthy humour, its low pop sources; culture hero in Cliff Westermann. Just as
emphasis is overwhelmingly on the third. and its craftsmanlike approach. important they found a mentor and impresario
H. C. Westermann is the only artist going to Kerig Pope and Ray Yoshida represent the in Don Baum, then Director of Exhibitions at
São Paulo who belongs chronologically with the second post-war generation — a much more the Hyde Park Art Centre, a small store front
first post-war generation — a group that also amorphous grouping than the first and third. gallery and school on Chicago's south side.
included Leon Golub, Cosmo Campoli and Influenced by the more painterly forms of In a sense 'Made in Chicago' is a Hyde Park
George Cohen. (It was primarily these four Surrealism, Pope paints gentle, landscape- Art Centre show not only becaues Baum is
who were collectively dubbed 'The Monster based fantasies such as his Two Infants curator, but because the majority of the artists
School' for their tormented depictions of man observing Nature, and Garden of Exhausted made their debut there and their style is
in the 'New Images of Man' exhibition curated Fireworks in the São Paulo show, drawing from closely associated with the Centre. It was Baum,
by Peter Selz in 1959 for the Museum of such diverse sources as Edwardian children's the contemporary of Cohen, Golub, Campoli
Modern Art.) An enigmatic and independent illustrations, pre-war comics and Chinese and Westermann, who saw the connection
personality, Westermann combines an affection landscape paintings. Yoshida paints strangely between the old and new Chicago styles and who
for middle and lower class Americana, past and textured interiors such as Green Thumpin. gave encouragement and weight to the young
present with a cheerfully sardonic view of the Aside from his painting he has been a teacher at artists' efforts to break out on their own. And
mysteries of life, death and procreation. In the Art Institute for many years; and his one suspects that it was Baum who first saw in
his case one feels that the prevailing Chicago influence on students has been a vital factor in the young artists a latter-day manifestation of
currents of Surrealism were a liberating force keeping the current Chicago aesthetic alive Dubuffet's exploring spirit.
which gave him the confidence to use his gifts as among younger artists of the city. In the first 'Hairy Who' show in 1966, which
a craftsman in the service of his imagination. The rest of 'Made in Chicago' is given over introduced the work of Karl Wirsum, James
For example, his 1957 Mad House (included in to 'Hairy Who 'and post-'Hairy Who' artists. Nutt, Gladys Nilsson and three others, the
the show) binds together the most diverse About ten years ago a new spirit began to seeds sown by Westermann came to fruition.
elements in a tour-de-force of woodworking, manifest itself among students at the Art Wirsum's and Nutt's paintings had the
reminiscent of early American cottage craft Institute. When the artists of the 'monster supersmooth paint surface and careful textures of
cabinetry. school' had been profoundly serious about the the naive artist; the loose and unsettling
Although Westermann's work received condition of man and the second generation graphic style of graffiti and the hard-edged
almost immediate recognition in Chicago for its paid at least lip service to the ideal of sado-masochism of Dick Tracy. Add to this
originality and expressive power, his style universalism. the new generation went camp. mix, verbal and visual puns, a strong sense of

Karl Wirsum
Mane and Hairdress 1969
Acrylic on canvas.
Lent by J. Faulkner and John Jones, Chicago
Roger Brown
Criss Cross Country Groves and Show 1973
Oil on canvas, 136.9 X 179.3 cm.
Lent by Mr Albert Buildner

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