Karl Wirsum (American, b.1939) "Click", 1971

Acrylic on canvas, 24" x 36"

As a child Karl Wirsum poured over comic books and wanted to become a cartoonist when he grew up. There is no doubt that his love of comic books and fascination with the ephemera of popular culture i.e. mass produced toys, objects from the carnival, circus and cartoon worlds have developed his aesthetic. Moreover, his explorations of the visual forms produced by American art have further stimulated his visual sense. Humor, verbal puns and the blues have each fueled his unique creativity.

In "Click", Wirsum portrays a symmetrical, frontally viewed figure,that he normally considers to have an iconic timeless presence, with an aura of impermanence. She is poised in mid-air with her vibrating, gyrating shape rendered in a flat, highly patterned, starkly outlined style that suggests a direct reference to the world of comics. The word 'click' composed of written characters that appear to be charged with electricity is framed by the figure's lower anatomy and by her precisely painted tiny black high-heeled tap shoes. According to the artist, this painting was inspired by the 1968 animated and live-action film spoof Tappy Toes. The film, created by artist Red Grooms starred Wirsum's wife Lorri Gunn in the role of a would-be actress about to get her big break. Even the exaggerated double ponytail hairdo in "Click" is a reference to his wife Lorri.

Chicago Imagist work was so named in part because the works contained imagery of the human figure. Over and over these artists returned to the human image casting it in numerous roles, distorting it and layering with metaphor and personal meaning. In doing so they were continuing the long held fascination with the human form.

-Suellen Rocca, CuratorĀ 

1977 photo of Karl Wirsum in his studio by Sandra Jorgensen, Elmhurst University Art Collection.

Karl Wirsum on Music, MCA, 2008

Highlights of the Elmhurst University Art Collection
  1. History of the Elmhurst University Art Collection
  2. In Memory of Suellen Rocca 1943-2020 Curator of the Art Collection and Director of Exhibitions, Elmhurst University
  3. Roger Brown ( American, 1941-1997) See Seven Cities, 1971
  4. William Conger (American, b. 1938) South Beach 1985
  5. Richard Hunt (American, b. 1935) Over Wisdom Bridge, 1986
  6. Miyoko Ito (American, 1918-1983) Chinoiserie, 1970
  7. Sandra Jorgensen (American 1934-1999) Herb's Texaco II,1983
  8. Paul LaMantia (American b. 1928) Shoe Shine, 1971
  9. Gladys Nilsson (American, b. 1940) In Vertical Shade, 1984
  10. Jim Nutt (American, born 1938) Toot-Toot Woo-Woo,1970
  11. Ed Paschke (American, 1939-2004) Cobmaster, 1975
  12. Frank Piatek (American, born 1944) Notre Dame Sheela Rite of Passage/Entry Eye of the Needle, 1969
  13. Christina Ramberg (1946-1995) Double Hesitation,1977
  14. Suellen Rocca (American, 1943-2020) Passed,1988
  15. Eleanor Spiess-Ferris (American, b. 1941) The Red Shoe, 1983
  16. Karl Wirsum (American, b.1939) "Click", 1971
  17. Ray Yoshida (1930-2009 ) Arbitrary Approach, 1983