MMoCA Winter 2020 newsletter

EXHIBITIONS
UNCOMMON ACCUMULATION
The Mark & Judy Bednar Collection of Chicago Imagism
Main Galleries • Mar 14–July 19
MMoCA Opening • Friday, Mar 13 • 6–9 PM
To celebrate the extraordinary collection of Chicago Imagist works gifted by Mark and Judy Bednar of Chicago, MMoCA
will exhibit a selection of works from their collection in the museum’s main galleries. Their generous contribution,
totaling nearly 100 works of art, complements the museum’s existing collection of Chicago Imagism through inclusion
of works produced early in the careers of several of the artists. Formative works by Roger Brown, Robert Lostutter,
Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Ed Paschke, Christina Ramberg, Barbara Rossi, Karl Wirsum, and Ray Yoshida from the
1960s and 70s—a period when some of the Imagists were still in graduate school at the School of the Art Institute of
Chicago and would soon be gaining national attention—are part of this major gift to the museum.
One work, Duck Troops, by Gladys Nilsson was exhibited at the inaugural Hairy Who exhibition at the Hyde Park Art
Center in 1966 and was recently loaned to the Art Institute of Chicago for the first-ever major survey of the Hairy Who.
In Nilsson’s watercolor, a festive and colorful group of ducks wearing full dress uniform—the formal garb worn by
military and service personnel for public events—gather for what appears to be a parade or official procession. Amidst
the waving flags and tooting horns, viewers can imagine the cacophonous quacks, honks, and chatter of the assembled
ducks. Gladys Nilsson describes the scene as “a lot of folderol.” Humorously depicting the lavish ornamentation and
decorative, yet impractical, uniforms, replete with berets and ribbons, Nilsson uses vibrant pinks, polka dots, and
aqueous washes of color to playfully parody this manner of dress.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a publication that focuses on the individual artists and their distinct approaches
through object-focused essays that include details gathered from interviews with the artists. In the spirit of their mentor
and fellow Imagist, Ray Yoshida—who urged his students to really look at an object in order to reimagine and reinvent
its form—the book closely examines several Imagist works in order to provide new narratives, while highlighting the
unconventional sources that inspired them. The MMoCA Opening event on Friday, March 13, will feature a conversation
in the lecture hall between two of the artists, Gladys Nilsson and Robert Lostutter, which will highlight their methods
and influences throughout their artistic careers.
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Uncommon Accumulation has been made possible by the Gabriele Haberland Permanent Collection Fund; a grant
from the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin and the National Endowment for the Arts; and
MMoCA Volunteers.