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
“Sometimes the little things you don’t think are anything while they’re happening turn out to be what marks a whole period of your life.”
The Philosophy of Andy Warhol (From A to B & Back Again)