(b. 1940)
Nilsson is a very popular and talented American artist. She is one of the original “Hairy Who or Chicago Imagists” that was formed by students from the Art Institute of Chicago. Her paintings are a surreal mixture of fantasy and domesticity. She is married to fellow Hairy Who artist, Jim Nutt.
Gladys Nilsson is a prominent Chicago artist, whose style according to the Chicago Tribune is a ‘surreal mixture of fantasy and domesticity in a continuous parade of chaotic images’. She is known as a surrealist artist and her style includes pop culture, fantasy and even cartoons. She is one of the original Hair Who Chicago imagists, a group of representational artists from 1960’s and 70’s.
Gladys Nillson was born on May 6, 1940 to Swedish immigrant parents and grew up on the north side of Chicago. She attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she eventually met her husband, another artist, Jim Nutt.
In the 60’s both she and her husband began to teach children’s classes at the Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago. There they joined forces with James Falconer Art Green, Suellen Rocca, and Karl Wirsum to create a group show called “Hairy Who?”. They had exhibitions at the Hyde Park Art Center as well as San Francisco Art Institute and the Corcoran Gallery of Art in D.C. Later, Gladys Nilsson became the first member of the group to have a solo show of her own at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Since then she has had dozens of solo exhibitions.
Gladys Nilsson is known for her watercolors and collages. Her works are filled with lots of playful imagery and vibrant colors. Her work has been featured in collections of major museums around the world from the the Lost Angeles County Museum of Art on the west coast to The Smithsonian and Yale University Art Gallery on the East coast and many in between.
1031 Waukegan Rd, Glenview, IL 60025
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