Condo 2020 hosting Corbett vs. Dempsey

As part of Condo 2020, Corbett vs. Dempsey is delighted to present vintage drawings by three artists associated with Chicago Imagism: Robert Lostutter, Barbara Rossi, and Karl Wirsum. The exhibition explores the approach to portraiture taken by each of these artists, presenting work from the 1960s and early 1970s, when the Imagists were busy proposing an alternative status for figuration in contemporary art. Karl Wirsum was a member of the legendary Hairy Who exhibition group, together with Jim Nutt, Gladys Nilsson, Suellen Rocca, Art Green, and Jim Falconer; his robotic figures draw on a deep fascination with vernacular objects including tin toys and B-movie poster designs. Originally a Catholic nun, Barbara Rossi was the last artist to join the Imagists, showing with the Marriage Chicago Style and Chicago Antigua exhibitions in 1970-71; her meticulously constructed pencil drawings are marvels of organic invention, abstracting the figure's head to the point of joyous oblivion. Robert Lostutter's early watercolours ensnare the figure within an alien architectural space—a snooker table reconfigured as torture chamber.