Born in Chicago in 1940, Gladys Nilsson is best known for her watercolors of long-limbed figures engaged in everyday micro-dramas. As a member of Chicago’s Hairy Who in the 1960s, Nilsson made watercolors that earned her a reputation as the most “feminine” member of the group—a characterization that she has challenged and spoofed throughout her career. Nilsson’s self-reflexive approach has guided her experimental practice, which includes Plexiglas paintings, largescale diptychs, embroidery-hoop paintings, black-on-silver drawings, prints, and mixed-media collages.
Gladys Nilsson: Gleefully Askew, 1963 – 2026
Gladys Nilsson, Small Ape Place, 1973. Acrylic on canvas, 30 x 36 in
Gladys Nilsson, Spark, 2023. Watercolor, gouache, graphite, colored pencil, ink and crayon on paper, 40 ¼ × 60 ¼ in.
Gladys Nilsson, Ladies Dance, 1975. Watercolor on paper, 14 x 11 ½ in.
Gladys Nilsson, Waterplay, 2023. Colored pencil, watercolor, gouache, graphite and crayon on paper, 30 x 22 ½ in.
Gladys Nilsson, Jump Rope, 1996. Watercolor on paper, 13 7/8 x 9 7/8 in.
Gladys Nilsson, Winterlude, 1996. Watercolor and gouache on paper, 10 1/8 x 8 in.
“The terrific range of project proposals we receive each year speaks to the mobile and porous disciplinary boundaries of contemporary art practice, and to the rich and inventive ways writers approach art today. They are alert to the urgent need to expand the conventions of art history and criticism with ideas from other discourses, such as black studies, transnational and diaspora studies, gender and women’s studies, and LGBT studies. The work of lesser known and overlooked artists and art communities continues to be mined, with writers articulating new ways to counter the striking imbalances of race, class and gender that continue to affect the arts and the culture industry.”