Mr. Imagination
Mr. Imagination | |
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Born | Atlanta, Georgia | March 30, 1948
Gregory Warmack, better known as Mr. Imagination (March 30, 1948 – May 30, 2012), was an American
Biography
The third child in a family of nine, Warmack grew up in the Chicago area and had no formal training as an artist, though he began making art objects in his childhood.[1] In the 1970s he made and sold art at street fairs.[2] While in Chicago in 1978, he was shot in the stomach during a mugging and lapsed into a coma.[3][4] During his hospitalization, he had a spiritual vision which he described as "very peaceful, almost as if I was traveling through history and looking at ancient civilizations."[3] The incident spurred Warmack to renew his focus on art and broaden his scope, and shortly after he began using the name Mr. Imagination.[3]
In the 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Imagination worked extensively in sculptures carved from industrial
Mr. Imagination's first solo exhibition was assembled in 1983 at the Carl Hammer Galleries in Chicago.
Works and exhibits
Mr. Imagination's works were exhibited in shows throughout the United States, in places such as the
In 2009, Mr. Imagination was commissioned to decorate city planters in Salina, Kansas, but the city council halted the project mid-completion and removed the finished exteriors with jackhammers.[13][14]
References
- ^ a b c d Artist Gregory Warmack, 'Mr. Imagination,' left his mark on Bethlehem. The Morning Call, May 31, 2012.
- Chicago Daily Herald, March 10, 2000.
- ^ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 31, 2012.
- ^ a b c d Folk artist Gregory Warmack, aka Mr. Imagination, saw art in any object. Chicago Tribune, May 31, 2012.
- ^ a b Mr. Imagination biography, Smithsonian Institution
- ^ Remembering the Greatest Bottle Cap Artist Ever. The Pour Curator, June 3, 2012.
- ^ a b c Artist creates a magical world with playful yet serious sculptures. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 14, 2002.
- ^ Chicago artist ‘Mr. Imagination,’ famed for using bottle caps, dies in Atlanta. Chicago Sun-Times, May 30, 2012.
- Dallas Morning News, July 24, 1998
- ^ Found Objects Become Art at the Halsey Gallery. The Post and Courier, September 30, 1999.
- ^ Resurrections': junk as art at the Benton Recycled art: It's all trash. Hartford Courant, January 24, 1994.
- ^ Remembering Mr. Imagination. Detour Art Travels, May 2012.
- ^ Imagine that: City (jack)hammers downtown art project Archived 2009-12-16 at the Wayback Machine. Salina Journal, June 16, 2009.
- Topeka Capital-Journal, June 18, 2009.