Teresa's Torso #1

The highly stylized treatment of the human figure in this large freehand drawing is characteristic of Karl Wirsum’s work, as are its allover bilateral symmetry, its insistent two-dimensional design with bold, flat color, and the hard-edged angularity of the lines. The figure’s articulation derives in part from Wirsum’s interest in textile and pottery design in Mesoamerican and Southwest Native American art, and in part from his fascination with the segmented anatomies of insects. (See Smart Museum 2009.35.)

In the late 1960s and early 1970s Wirsum exhibited with other emerging artists in antic exhibitions at the Hyde Park Art Center (HPAC) on the south side of Chicago, known as the Hairy Who exhibitions (1966‒1968). He shared with these young artists a conviction in the positive influence of humor in art, which they had all experienced through the medium of newspaper comic strips (“the funnies”) and humor magazines like Mad and Cracked launched in the 1950s. They created their own comic books especially for the Hairy Who exhibitions in which Wirsum participated. (See 2001.586l-m.) Wirsum’s execution of Teresa’s Torso was concurrent with his participation in the group exhibitions Marriage Chicago Style (1970) and Chicago Antigua (1971) at HPAC.