The Figure and the Chicago Imagists: Selections from the Elmhurst College Art Collection

Exhibitions

  • Elmhurst College
  • Elmhurst Art Museum

September 8, 2018–January 20, 2019

Barbara Rossi, Shep Step II, 1973. Acrylic on Plexiglas, 29 x 23 inches. Elmhurst College Art Collection.

Over and over the Chicago Imagists cast the figure in numerous roles, distorting it and layering it with metaphor and personal meaning. Outrageous, irreverent, and humorous and inspired by popular culture, these works reflect highly original expressions of the human form.

This exhibition features the Elmhurst College Art Collection focusing on artists working in Chicago between about 1950 and the present. The exhibition is curated by Suellen Rocca, one of the original members of the Hairy Who and Curator and Director of Exhibitions at Elmhurst College.