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Mid American

A work made of oil on canvas.
© 1969 Ed Paschke

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  • A work made of oil on canvas.

Date:

1969

Artist:

Ed Paschke
American, 1939-2004

About this artwork

Ed Paschke was a member of the late-1960s Chicago Imagist movement, a group of artists whose expressive style of figurative painting was rooted in outsider art, popular culture, and Surrealism. Their art added heat to Pop Art’s cool aesthetic. Mid American, an early painting that Paschke reworked several times, exemplifies the artist’s characteristic style, which utilized luminous, electric colors and fantastic imagery, yet remained rooted in a gritty realism. The confrontational, satin-robed athlete appears playfully otherworldly, with enlarged wing-tipped spats—a significant precursor to Paschke’s later shoe paintings—that emerge like butterfly wings behind his shoulders. The inscription on his shorts, Our Cover—like the tattoo on his chest, the mask on his face, the baseball mitts that float next to him, and his athletic attire—suggests the social markings used to conceal, protect, and layer a middleclass, middle-American identity.

Status

Currently Off View

Department

Contemporary Art

Artist

Ed Paschke

Title

Mid American

Place

United States (Artist's nationality:)

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.

1969

Medium

Oil on canvas

Dimensions

114.3 × 152.4 cm (45 × 60 in.)

Credit Line

Gift of Society for Contemporary Art

Reference Number

1970.415

Copyright

© 1969 Ed Paschke

Extended information about this artwork

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.

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