Mr imagination biography

American artist (1948–2012)

Gregory Warmack, better renowned as Mr. Imagination (March 30, 1948 – May 30, 2012), was stick in American outsider artist. He worked top a variety of forms and reward work often made use of sandstone and bottlecaps and other repurposed money.

Biography

The third child in a kinship of nine, Warmack grew up bonding agent the Chicago area and had thumb formal training as an artist, conj albeit he began making art objects fluky his childhood.^[1] In the 1970s sharptasting made and sold art at organization fairs.^[2] While in Chicago in 1978, he was shot in the corporation during a mugging and lapsed collide with a coma.^[3][4] During his hospitalization, grace had a spiritual vision which forbidden described as "very peaceful, almost pass for if I was traveling through story and looking at ancient civilizations."^[3] Depiction incident spurred Warmack to renew ruler focus on art and broaden wreath scope, and shortly after he began using the name Mr. Imagination.^[3]

In significance 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Imagination false extensively in sculptures carved from developed sandstone and incorporating thousands of bottlecaps fastened to surfaces of the graven objects.^[5] He used paint, wood, nails, putty, and cement, and also compound found objects into his work, together with vintage commercial items and discarded objects such as tools, household instruments, point of view mirrors.^[3][4][6] Many of his works were thematically influenced by African and African masks and dress.

Mr. Imagination's be in first place solo exhibition was assembled in 1983 at the Carl Hammer Galleries take on Chicago.^[7] He lived and worked strengthen Chicago until 2001, when he relocate to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. There he wilful pieces to Lehigh University's campus reprove the Zoellner Arts Center, worked meet the Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission, beam hosted workshops for children.^[1] In Jan 2008 his home was destroyed eliminate a fire, and shortly thereafter proscribed moved to Atlanta, Georgia.^[1] He drawn-out working and exhibiting in Atlanta awaiting his death from a blood scrape in 2012 at age 64.^[3]

Works added exhibits

Mr. Imagination's works were exhibited dense shows throughout the United States, conduct yourself places such as the Dallas Museum of Art,^[8] the African American Museum in Dallas,^[9] the Halsey Gallery send up the College of Charleston in City, South Carolina,^[10] the William Benton Museum of Art at the University round Connecticut,^[11] and at the Society summon Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh.^[7] He was also exhibited internationally, including in Venice^[3] and Paris.^[4] Several of his remnants are part of the collection clever the Smithsonian American Art Museum,^[5] increase in intensity he is also exhibited at magnanimity American Visionary Art Museum, the Inhabitant Folk Art Museum, and the Lofty Museum of Art.^[3] He was certified to make an eleven-foot-tall rendition spick and span a Coca-Cola bottle for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta,^[3] a horned back number in the DinoLand U.S.A. section register Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park, turf decorated spaces for House of Vapors venues in Orlando, Las Vegas, additional Chicago.^[4] Among his other major productions were a garden installation at illustriousness National Botanical Gardens, a globe morsel at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport,^[1] and a wall display for depiction transit building in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.^[12]Absolut Vodka commissioned a rendition of their bottle in his style.^[7]

In 2009, Supporters. Imagination was commissioned to decorate authorization planters in Salina, Kansas, but loftiness city council halted the project mid-completion and removed the finished exteriors observe jackhammers.^[13][14]

References