Tuesday Art ATTACK- Gladys Nilsson “Presense”

Gladys Nilsson is a Chicago Imagist and part of the Harry Who? group. Gladys Nilsson was educated at the Art Institute of Chicago. The Chicago Imagist were a group of Chicago based artists the focused on surreal fantasy based artwork. The Chicago Imagist movement started in the late 1960s. The Harry Who? group were artists Gladys Nilsson, Art Green, James Falconer, Jim Nutt, Suellen Rocca, and Karl Wirsum. The group got their start when Nilsson and her husband, fellow artist Jim Nutt, were teaching at the Hyde Park Art Center. They put on a art show named Hairy Who? at the center, that was very successful. The group had an exhibition each year from 1966-1969. Gladys Nilsson great colorful works are mainly done in watercolor and gouache. She switched painting from oil when she was pregnant, because turpentine used during painting is dangerous to developing bodies. Turpentine is a paint thinner used when oil painting. This work is titled Presense and is a watercolor. It measures 30 x 22 1/4 inches. Gladys Nilsson is still working and lives today in Wilmette, Illinois.