The Ed Paschke Art Center, together with the Hall Art Foundation, is pleased to present Ed Paschke: Visionary from Chicago, 1968 – 2004.

Presented in the gallery normally devoted to the Art Center’s permanent collection, the exhibition will include approximately 20 paintings from the Hall Collection that span Paschke’s career from 1968 - 2004.

Part of a group of artists known as the Chicago Imagists who emerged in the 1960s, Paschke (1939–2004) was strongly influenced by media imagery and popular culture – newspapers, magazines, advertisements, film and television. In works like Hilda (1973) and Mannish Boy (1970), Paschke’s brilliantly colored, provocative and surreal paintings of circus freaks, tattooed ladies, transvestites, wrestlers and hairy wingtip shoes, explore the underbelly of urban life and a dark side of Pop Art. While his later works such as Voulez-Vous Danser? (Would You Like to Dance?) (1989) depict cultural icons like the Mona Lisa, his layered, mask-like abstraction of the face, use of electronic colors and neon-bright static lines, differs drastically from the treatment of similar subjects by his New York contemporaries, Andy Warhol, James Rosenquist and Robert Rauschenberg.

Ed Paschke: Visionary from Chicago, 1968 – 2004 originated at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford, England, where it was curated by Sir Norman Rosenthal, and is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue that includes an essay by Rosenthal alongside a transcribed conversation between Rosenthal and Jeff Koons, who studied with Paschke and was hired as his studio assistant in 1974. Rosenthal called Ed Paschke “one of Chicago’s most significant artists.”

The Ed Paschke Art Center is thrilled to collaborate with the Hall Art Foundation to bring this remarkable exhibition to Ed Paschke’s hometown of Chicago. Visitors will have the opportunity to view rarely seen Paschke paintings for an extended period of time. “We are incredibly excited that the Hall Art Foundation generously worked with us to bring such a significant piece of Chicago’s history back to Chicago for the public to view for free”, said Vesna K. Stelcer, Director, Ed Paschke Art Center.

About the Ed Paschke Art Center
The Mission of the Ed Paschke Art Center is to preserve and provide public access to the work of the legendary Ed Paschke; to serve as an educational resource for youth, adults, artists and academics; and to function as an accessible platform for artists to showcase their work. The Ed Paschke Art Center hours of operation are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Mondays through Sundays; admission is free. For more information about the Ed Paschke Art Center call 312.533.4911 or visit edpaschkeartcenter.org. The Center has been funded through the generous support of The Rabb Family Foundation and Bank of America and includes partnerships with the 3M Company and the School of the Art Institute.

Ed Paschke Art Center

5415 W. Higgins Avenue
Chicago IL 60630

Media Contacts
Vesna K. Stelcer
Director, Ed Paschke Art Center
director@edpaschkeartcenter.org