Karl Wirsum Film Poster

Catch the digitally restored (by Pentimenti in 2016) Suzanne Simpson's documentary, Karl Wirsum. The short film "peeks into the sun-dappled California studio of a young artist as he embarks on an extraordinary career. Wirsum's psychedelic marionette sculptures still dazzle today, while his narration and a mind-bending soundtrack draw viewers into his process and personality." We couldn't agree more.
Artist Wayne White once said in an awesome talk at Google's headquarters, if you make art long enough, you will have to walk through Picasso-land and will have to answer to this person. We feel that is similarly true for making art in Chicago. If you do it long enough, you will have to answer to the awesome work of the Chicago Imagists. It's a walk we've been dreaming to have, a call we are ready to answer, a foundation we are fond of living around! It's such a gratification to see this screening come to life in context with Wirsum's body of work. His vision for figuration and how that manifests in the picture plane has proven to be ultimately modern, as the visuals and relevancy of those images have remained timeless. His work can easily be shown next to a Picasso or a Yoshitomo Nara. The work holds its ground. Kerry James Marshall said eloquently in the film The Hairy Who and the Chicago Imagists—"good work will out itself". Wirsum's work has done that over decades repeatedly. Any chance you get to see it, do it! His body of work is a great gift to art lovers, but also to image makers!