After graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1961, Karl Wirsum, a pioneer of the Hairy Who, a small group that exhibited together in the mid-to late 1960s, quickly went on to develop his signature style, which combines a graphic sensibility—vivid, flat colors; bold outlines; and simplified, cartoonlike figures—with a quirky sense of humor. Inspired largely by comic book figures and popular icons, Wirsum’s high-energy paintings typically feature a central, remarkably stylized figure. This painting portrays Screaming Jay Hawkins, one of the most eccentric performers in the history of rock and roll. Anticipating the later theatrics of Alice Cooper and David Bowie, Hawkins fashioned himself as the High Priest of Voodoo Rock with his elaborate costumes and macabre performances. The frenetic lines, electric colors, and exaggerated features in this painting demonstrate Wirsum’s long-held interest in activating the abstract underpinnings of his figurative work.
Date
Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.
Dennis Adrian, “Form in Chicago,” Art Scene, 2, no. 7 (April, 1969): 15 (ill.).
Charles C. Cunningham, 72nd Annual Exhibition by Artists of Chicago & Vicinity, exh. cat (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1969), 6, 26 (ill.), cat. 100.
Franz Schulze, Fantastic Images: Chicago Art since 1945 (Chicago: Pollett Pub. Co., 1972), 181 (color ill.).
Franz Schulze, Chicago Imagist Art, exh cat. (Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art, 1972), n.p. (color ill.).
Dennis Adrian, Russell Bowman, Tony Knipe, Who Chicago?: An Exhibition of Contemporary Imagists, exh. cat. (Sunderland, England: Ceolfrith Gallery, Sunderland Arts Centre, 1980), 164 (ill.), 202, as Screamin’ J. Hawkins.
Paul Krainak, “Art Comes to Marketplace Rock” Aquarian Weekly, Apr. 25, 1984, n.p. (ill.).
David A. Lauer, Design Basics, 3rd ed. (Ft. Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College Publishers, 1990), 61 (ill).
Dennis Adrian, Karl Wirsum: A Retrospective Exhibition, exh. cat. (Urbana-Champaign, Ill: Krannert Art Museum, 1991) 7 (ill.), 39, as Screamin’ J. Hawkins.
Lynne Warren and Jeff Abell, Art in Chicago, 1945-1995, exh. cat. (New York, N.Y: Thames and Hudson, 1996), 25, 134, 181 (color ill.), 303.
Lanny Silverman and John Hallmark Neff, Karl Wirsum: Winsome Works (Some), exh. cat. (Chicago: Department of Cultural Affairs, 2007), 11, 12, 28, n.p. (color ill.), as Screamin’ J. Hawkins.
Dominic Molon and Diedrich Diederichsen, Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll since 1967, exh. cat (Chicago: Museum of Contemporary Art, 2007), 215, 222, 223 (color ill.), 252 (color ill.).
Germano Celant, Sue Ann Kendall, Famous Artists from Chicago, exh. cat. (Milan, Fondazione Prada, 2017), 24 (color ill.), 28.
Thea Liberty Nichols, Mark Pascale, and Ann Goldstein, eds., Hairy Who? 1966-1969, exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 2018), 2 (color ill.), 196, 229, 241, 252.
The Art Institute of Chicago, 72nd Annual Exhibition by Artists of Chicago & Vicinity, Mar. 22–Apr. 20, 1969, cat. 100.
Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago Imagist Art, May 13–June 25, 1972, no cat. no; New York City, Cultural Center, July 21–Aug. 27. 1972.
London, Camden Arts Centre, Who Chicago?: An Exhibition of Contemporary Imagists, Dec. 10, 1980–Jan. 25, 1981, cat. 54 (as Screamin’ J. Hawkins); Sunderland, England, Ceolfrith Gallery, Sunderland Arts Centre, Feb. 16–Mar. 14, 1981; Glasgow, Third Eye Centre, Mar. 21–April 30, 1981 (closed Apr. 18); Edinburgh, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, May 16–June 28, 1981; Swansea, Wales, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, July 11–Aug. 8, 1981; Boston, Institute of Contemporary Art, Nov. 10, 1981-Jan. 3, 1982; New Orleans, Contemporary Arts Center, Jan. 15, 1982-Mar. 1, 1982.
Champaign, IL, Krannert Art Museum at University of Illinois, Karl Wirsum Retrospective, Jan. 12–Feb. 17, 1991, no cat. no. (as Screamin’ J. Hawkins).
Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Art in Chicago, 1945–1995, Nov. 16, 1996–Mar. 23, 1997, cat. 64.
Chicago, Chicago Cultural Center, Karl Wirsum: Winsome Works (Some), Apr. 14, 2007–June 24, 2007, cat. 18 (as Screamin’ J. Hawkins).
Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967, Sept. 29, 2007–Jan. 6, 2008, no cat. no; Miami, Museum of Contemporary Art, May 31, 2008–Sept. 8, 2008; Montréal, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, Oct. 8, 2008–Jan. 11, 2009.
Milan, Fondazione Prada, Famous Artists from Chicago, Oct. 20, 2017–Jan. 15, 2018, cat. 84.
The Art Institute of Chicago, Hairy Who? 1966–1969, Sept. 26, 2018–Jan. 6, 2019, cat. 212.
The artist; sold to the Art Institute of Chicago, June 16, 1969.
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.