Welcome to the world of Mr. Imagination: Gregory Warmack
Gregory Warmack in a photo by Link Harper
Welcome to the World of Mr. Imagination, a retrospective of the work of Gregory Warmack, at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art, 756 N. Milwaukee Ave., will continue through May 25. To accommodate demand, Intuit is now open on Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.
A native of the Chicago area, Warmack, 1948-2012, was a renowned visionary artist with work in the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, the Halle Sainte Pierre in Paris, and Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art in Chicago, as well as installations at House of Blues locations in Chicago, Las Vegas and Orlando.
While he did not follow the urgings of his family to become a traditional minister, his work is said to have a sense of spirituality.
"Mr. Imagination in the Grotto," photo by Ron Gordon (1995)
His first works were sandstone relief sculptures that resembled African tribal masks or Egyptian kings.
He named himself "Mr. Imagination" after a near-death experience in the late 1970s. Having been shot during a mugging, he awoke from a coma with new artistic and spiritual goals. He began encompassing almost any object he found into his work. There were bottle caps, garden rakes, stiff paint brushes, pieces of metal. They were all given a new life.
After the death of his brother in 2001, "Mr. I" moved to Bethlehem, Pa., where he established a community arts center in his studio.
Carl Hammer, who was the first to show his work in the mid-1980s, said, "I think he did that out of a feeling that there were too many things haunting him here," Hammer said.
"Mr. Imagination in his Studio," Cheri Eisenberg (1983)
Eight years later, while Warmack was working on a commission in Florida, his home, gallery and studio were consumed by fire along with his collections. He moved to northwest Atlanta, GA.
In his new home, as a way to heal, he began incorporating burnt remains from his former home into his work.
Though Gregory Warmack passed away in May of 2012, you can get a sense of his spirit at Intuit through May 25.
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Thursday 11 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.; and Sunday noon to 5 p.m. Admission: $5, Intuit Members and children under 12: Free