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MATTHEW MARKS GALLERY
The Collected Hairy Who Publications 1966-1969
Edited with text by Dan Nadel.
This is the first complete presentation of the artists' books, posters, prints and ephemera produced by The Hairy Who (Chicago, 1966-69), which was composed of Jim Falconer (born 1943), Art Green (born 1941), Gladys Nilsson (born 1940), Jim Nutt (born 1938), Suellen Rocca (born 1943) and Karl Wirsum (born 1939). Over the course of five exhibitions in Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC, The Hairy Who represented a de facto rebuke to the chilly ironies of Pop and forged new ways of crafting figurative painting. As likely to use Plexiglas as canvas and employing a language based on verbal confusion, visual puns and an almost ecstatic use of line and color, the members of the Hairy Who produced publications, posters and even buttons, and their exhibitions were immersive environments unequalled at the time. The Hairy Who has enjoyed a renewed popularity recently, thanks to a documentary film and multiple exhibitions by the contributing artists. This publication presents all of the printed works related to the Hairy Who exhibitions--important documents in the history of contemporary art and artists' books. Formatted like comic books, they are among the very first full-color self-published artists' books, containing work made especially for publication. Studying these works is important to an understanding of post-1960s art and artists' books.
Spread from "Hairy Who (cat-a-log)" (1969), published on the occasion of the Hairy Who exhibition at the Dupont Center, Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C., April 15-May 17, 1969, is reproduced from The Collected Hairy Who Publications 1966-1969.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Hyperallergic
Megan Liberty
What they created instead is much more interesting and, with this publication, long lasting. Playing on the common practice of full-color reproductions in traditional catalogues, each artist drew images evocative of their style and included these works instead of photographic reproductions.
Brooklyn Rail
Benjamin Gottlieb
The book's editor, Dan Nadel, has touted the artists' brilliance and influence since the early aughts, and this catalogue seems to be his most profound contribution to this effort yet.
Fanzine
Jeff Jackson
The most essential volume yet on the group... For anyone interested in the artier side of comic books and pop-ier side of visual art, The Hairy Who’s work echoes with exciting possibilities that remain unexplored.
Featured spread, from Matthew Marks Gallery's outstanding Collected Hairy Who Publications, 1966-1969, reproduces Art Green's contribution to the Chicago collective's Portable Hairy Who!, published to accompany their first group art exhibition—at the Hyde Park Art Center in 1966. As editor Dan Nadel writes, like the artworks to which these publications are linked, the Hairy Who publications "radiate presence—they won't be denied. Their mere existence is an ongoing challenge and, delightfully and mysteriously, a wonder." See more of our favorite books of 2015 >> here. continue to blog
"Chicago seems to me (with the great advantage of hindsight) a place to invent your world. A place that is far enough away so that you could misunderstand the rest of the world and a place unique enough to provide an actuality which no other place will. To use a title from a Sun Ra record, a place where angels and demons are at play, perhaps on the same team." So said Jim Falconer, founding member of the Hairy Who and author of this image, reproduced on the back cover of the group's 1969 Corcoran exhibition "catalog," produced as an exquisite corpse exercise with front cover artist Jim Nutt. The Collected Hairy Who Publications is the first complete presentation of the artists' books, posters, prints and ephemera produced by The Hairy Who during their four years together in Chicago. In addition to Falconer and Nutt, members included Art Green, Gladys Nilsson, Suellen Rocca and Karl Wirsum. For more on this group, see What Nerve! Alternative Figures in American Art, 1960 to the Present. continue to blog
In his immaculate new catalog—the first complete collection of the artists' books, posters, prints and ephemera made by the Chicago-based Hairy Who collective in the late-1960s,—Dan Nadel quotes founding member Jim Nutt: "Few people seem able to realize that one can do work because it needs to be done, the results of which don’t agree with the rest of the world, but the work’s creation had little to do with the fact that it doesn’t agree with the rest of the world… Basically we were individual artists who saw an opportunity to make an impact and have fun with what we produced by exhibiting together." Featured here is the front cover to the group's 1969 show at the Dupont Center, Corcoran Gallery with artwork by founding member Jim Nutt. (To see the back cover by co-founder Jim Falconer, continue here. Nutt explains, "Falconer and I did a modified exquisite corpse based on an image for an advertisement for men’s underwear." continue to blog
Dan Nadel begins his illuminating Collected Hairy Who Publications catalog essay, "A need for work to be done and a place in which to do it: these are the twin grounds for the existence of the Hairy Who, according to the two friends who first hatched the idea, Jim Nutt and Jim Falconer… Those two simple factors allowed for the creation of a body of work that strikes me as an ecstatic response to simply being alive and opening your eyes. It is not ironic, but neither is it solemn. It is warm but not sentimental, immaculately crafted but not cold. It is art that embraces mundane realities, wet sexuality, fantastic realities and a hard-edged spirituality. It asks for nothing from the viewer, makes no special cases, and yet it is not against or for anything." Featured image, by Karl Wirsum, is reproduced from the catalog / zine to the group's 1968 show at Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago. continue to blog
Join ARTBOOK | D.A.P. and Matthew Marks Gallery Wednesday, July 8 for the launch of The Collected Hairy Who Publications 1966-1969, published to accompany What Nerve!, on view at Matthew Marks Gallery through August 14. Curator and editor Dan Nadel will host a panel with Hairy Who members Jim Falconer, Art Green, Gladys Nilsson, Suellen Rocca and Karl Wirsum, followed by a signing. continue to blog
FORMAT: Hbk, 9 x 12 in. / 168 pgs / 145 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $50.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $67.5 GBP £45.00 ISBN: 9781880146965 PUBLISHER: Matthew Marks Gallery AVAILABLE: 9/29/2015 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Out of stock indefinitely AVAILABILITY: Not available TERRITORY: WORLD
Published by Matthew Marks Gallery. Edited with text by Dan Nadel.
This is the first complete presentation of the artists' books, posters, prints and ephemera produced by The Hairy Who (Chicago, 1966-69), which was composed of Jim Falconer (born 1943), Art Green (born 1941), Gladys Nilsson (born 1940), Jim Nutt (born 1938), Suellen Rocca (born 1943) and Karl Wirsum (born 1939).
Over the course of five exhibitions in Chicago, San Francisco and Washington, DC, The Hairy Who represented a de facto rebuke to the chilly ironies of Pop and forged new ways of crafting figurative painting. As likely to use Plexiglas as canvas and employing a language based on verbal confusion, visual puns and an almost ecstatic use of line and color, the members of the Hairy Who produced publications, posters and even buttons, and their exhibitions were immersive environments unequalled at the time.
The Hairy Who has enjoyed a renewed popularity recently, thanks to a documentary film and multiple exhibitions by the contributing artists. This publication presents all of the printed works related to the Hairy Who exhibitions--important documents in the history of contemporary art and artists' books. Formatted like comic books, they are among the very first full-color self-published artists' books, containing work made especially for publication. Studying these works is important to an understanding of post-1960s art and artists' books.
