Jean Albano Gallery :: Gladys Nilsson

Gladys Nilsson has been painting her distinctive watercolors since the 1960s when she emerged onto the national art scene with fellow Chicago Imagist and Hairy Who members. She creates humorous narratives by placing her characters in whimsical social and domestic situations. Often they are self-referential, depicting scenes from the daily life of a painter. Her figures are depicted in Nilsson’s highly recognizable style, exaggerated with elongated limbs and rubbery stances. Nilsson currently lives in Chicago and teaches at the School of the Art Institute.

BORN 1940 Chicago, IL RESIDES Chicago, IL
EDUCATION
1962	Graduated from School of the Art Institute of Chicago
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2012	Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
2010	“Gladys Nilsson: Works from 1966-2010,” Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL
2009	Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
2008	Luise Ross Gallery, New York, NY
2007	25 Years of Watercolors, Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
2006	Rockford College Art Museum, Rockford, IL
2006	Tarble Art Center, Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, IL
2005	Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL University Art Gallery, Saginaw Valley State University, University Center, MI
2004	Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
2003	Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL Adrian College, Adrian, MI (with catalogue)
2002	Fleisher/Olman Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2001	Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
2000	Rosemont College, Rosemont, PA Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
1998	A Print Survey, Printworks Gallery, Chicago, IL Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
1997	Fleisher/Ollman Gallery, Philadelphia, PA John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, CA
1996	University Club of Chicago, Chicago, IL Braunsten/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1994	Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL Ovsey Gallery, La Brea, CA Dean Jensen Gallery, Milwaukee, WI
1993	Dine Museum, BIG CAT Press, Chicago, IL
1991-93	Janet Fleisher Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
1992	Ovsey Gallery, La Brea, CA 1992 Xochipilli Gallery, Birmingham, MI
1991	Braunstein/Quay Gallery, San Francisco, CA Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL
1987	Phyllis Kind Gallery, New York, NY Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL
1985	Galerie Bonnier, Geneva Switzerland
1984	Gladys Nilsson: Greatest Hits from Chicago, Randolph Street Gallery, Chicago, IL
1983	Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL
1981	Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL
1979-80	Survey of Works on Paper 1967-1979, Wake Forest Fine Arts Gallery, Winston-Salem, NC; Corpus Christi State University, TX; Western Museum of Fine Art, Racine, WI
1979	Portland Visual Arts Center, OR
1978	Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL
1977	Susan B. Anthony Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL
1974	Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL
1973	Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1971-73	Candy Store Gallery, Folsom, CA
1971	Chico State College Gallery, Chico, CA
1970	Phyllis Kind Gallery, Chicago, IL
1969	San Francisco Art Institute, Clay Street Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1966	Marjorie Dell Gallery, Chicago, IL Kendall College, Evanston, IL
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2012	Narrative Impulse: Works of Gladys Nilsson, Eleanor Spiess-Ferris and John Pitman Weber, Christopher Art Gallery, Prarie State College, Chicago Heights, IL
2012	Objets Extraordinaire, Highland Park Art Center, Highland Park, IL
2011	: Hypercolon :, SMART Project Space, Amsterdam Chicago Imagists, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI 40/40, Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, Chicago, IL The Paper Show, Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL The Art of Collecting, the Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI
2010	“185th Annual: An Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Art,” National Academy Museum, New York, NY
2010	“Chicago Imagism(s),” Natalie and James Thompson Art Gallery, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA
2009	Collaborative Vision: The Poetic Dialogue Project, Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago, IL Modern and Contemporary Works on Paper, Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL Cool! Cool! Cool! Cool!, Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
2008	The Baseball Show, Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
2007	The Art of Collecting, Flint Institute of Art, Flint, MI P.R.I.N.T. Looking Back, Pressing Forward, University of North Texas Art Gallery, Denton, TX Rare Birds, Luise Ross Gallery, New York, NY Ahzad Bogosian, Gladys Nilsson, & Fred Stonehouse, Tory Folliard Gallery, Milwaukee, WI Chicago Collage, Russell Bowman Gallery, Chicago, IL Bold Saboteurs: Collage & Construction in Chicago, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL 15th Anniversary Exhibition, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL
2006	Drawn into the World: Drawings from the MCA Collection, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL Couples Discourse, Palmer Museum of Art, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA Art in Chicago: Resisting Regionalism, Transforming Modernism, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, PA Full Frontal: the Dirty, Lewd, Erotic Show, Corbett vs. Dempsey, Chicago, IL #510 If the Shoe Fits, Betty Rymer Gallery, The Art Institute of Chicago, IL Artful Jesters, The Painting Center, New York, NY and Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, Brattleboro, VT
2005	25^th Anniversary Show, Block Museum, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
2004-05	“Painting the Town Red,” Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
2004	Faculty Sabbatical Exhibition, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL The 179th Annual: An Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary American Art, National Academy Museum, New York, NY Rocks, Paper, Scissors, Suburban Fine Arts Center, Highland Park, IL
2003	The Ganzfeld (unbound), Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, NY January White Sale, Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
2002	Art Chicago 2002, Navy Pier, Chicago, IL
2001	Reflections: 15th Anniversary Show, Jean Albano Gallery, Chicago, IL
2000	Biennial, Ft. Wayne Museum of Art, Ft. Wayne, IN Whitney Museum of American Art. Stanford, CT D.C. Moore Gallery, New York, NY
1999-00	Illinois Women Artists: The New Millenium, Illinois Committee for the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, DC
1999	Jim Nutt/Gladys Nilsson, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI
1998	Making Marks, Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI
1997	Gladys Nilsson and Jim Nutt – Works on Paper, Butler Institute of American Art,Youngstown, OH Trends in Postwar Chicago Art, Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, IL Humor Us, Nevada Institute of Contemporary Art, Las Vegas, NV Chicago Imagists, Then and Now, Selby Gallery, Ringling School of Art and Design, Sarasota, FL Chicago: Selections from the Permanent Collection, Milwaukee Art Museum, WI Art and Provocation: Images from Rebels, Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, CO Serieserieseries, Rockford College Art Gallery, Rockford, IL
1996	Deep Water! Watercolor Stretching the Envelope, Sarasota Visual Art Center, FL Watercolor USA, Springfield Art museum, Springfield, IL 1968 Betty Rymer Gallery, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL Domestique: Gladys Nilsson and Claudia DeMonte, Leedy Voulkos Gallery, Kansas City, MO Gladys Nilsson and Jim Nutt, University Art Gallery, Staller Center for the Arts, State University of New York at Stony Brook Art in Chicago: 1945-1995, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL Second Sight: Modern Printmaking in Chicago, Mary & Leigh Block Gallery, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
1995	Bring Your Own Barbie Party, The World Financial Center Arts & Events Program, NY, NY Four Artisans in Monotype: Nick Dematties, Gladys Nilsson, Italo Scanga, and Jim Waid, Quartet, Pensacola, FL Transparent and Opaque: Watercolors from the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, NE Phyllis Kind Gallery Revisited, The Foster Gallery, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire,
1994	Small Details: Intimate Images through Artists’ Eyes, curated by John Heintzman, Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences The Aesthetics of Athletics: Artists View Games, Sports, and Exercise, Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Art
1993	International Critics’ Choice, Mitchell Museum, Mt. Vernon, IL BIG CAT Presents, Bridgewater/Custbeng Gallery, New York, NY Bout Bicycles, American Bicycle and Cycling Museum, Sacramento, CA in collaboration with the Institute for Design and Experimental Art (IDEA)
1992-93	Parallel Vision: Modern Artists and Outsider Art, Los Angeles County Museum (trav.exh.)
1991-93	Spirited Visions: Portraits of Chicago Artists by Patty Carroll, The State of Illinois Art Gallery, Chicago and traveling exhibition
1991	Artists and the American Yard, Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
1990-91	Works on Paper, Weatherspoon Art Gallery, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
1990	Watercolor Alternatives: Four Chicago Artists/Gaines, Meyer, Nilsson, and Tenuta, South Bend Art Center, South Bend, IN Exhibition by Artists of Chicago and Vicinity, The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL For the Birds, Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
1989	Just Like a Woman, Greenville County Museum of Art, Greenville, SC
1987	The Chicago Imagist Print, David and Alfred Smart Gallery, The University of Chicago, IL Of New Account: The Chicago Imagists, The School Art Gallery, Bowling Green State University, Ohio Drawings of the Chicago Imagists, The Renaissance Society, Chicago, IL The Years of Passage: 1969-1975, Fresno Arts Center and Museum, Fresno, CA
1986	Recent Drawing Acquisitions, The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY
1984	Nilsson, Nutt, Paschke, Rocca, Wirsum, Galerie Bonnier, Geneva, Switzerland Contemporary Images in Watercolor: 1983, Priebe Art Gallery, University of Wisconsin, Osh Kosh Contemporary Chicago Imagists, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL Invitational Exhibit for the Benefit of the Hyde Park Art Center, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
1983	Two Hundred Years of American Painting from Private Chicago Collections, Terra Museum of American Art, Chicago, IL
1982-83	Selected Women Painters, The Castle Gallery, College of New Rochelle, NY
1982	Chicago Imagists, Kansas City Art Institute, MO; Saginaw Art Museum, MI
1980-82	Who Chicago” An Exhibition of Chicago Imagists, Sunderland Arts Centre, Ceolfrith Gallery, England; and traveling to Camden Arts Centre, London; Third Eye Centre, Glasgow, Scotland; The Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh; The Welsh Arts Council, Glynvivian Gallery, Swansea, Wales; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston, MA; Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, LA
1981	Alternative Realities in Contemporary Painting, Katherine E. North Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN A Woman’s Place, John Michael Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI
1980	Six Artists From Chicago, James Mayor Gallery, London, England Renderings of the Modern Woman, The Joseloff Gallery of the University of Hartford, CT Some Recent Art From Chicago, Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Contemporary Drawings and Watercolors, Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, NY
1979	The Koffler Foundation:Chicago Currents, National Collection of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
1976-77	The Chicago Connection, E.B. Crocker Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA travelling
1974-73	XII Bienal de Sao Paulo, Sau Paulo, Brazil traveling throughout South America (Enlarged exhibit titled Made in Chicago was installed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C. and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL)
1971	Poetic Fantasy, San Francisco Museum of Art, San Francisco, CA
1970-69	Human Concerns/ Personal Torment, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; University of California at Berkely, Berkely, CA
1969	Spirit of Comics, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA Don Baum Sez “Chicago Needs Famous Artists”, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL da Hairy Who”, Dupont Center, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
1968	Whitney Annual, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York The Hairy Who, San Francisco Art Institute, San Francisco, CA
1968-66	The Hairy Who, Hyde Park Art Center, Chicago, IL
	SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth Art Institute of Chicago, IL Brauer Museum of Art, Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN Continental Bank. Chicago, IL First National Bank of Chicago, IL Flint Institute of Arts, Flint, MI Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI Kendall Gallery, Ferris State University, Grand Rapids, MI Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State University, Lansing, MI Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Madison, WI Memorial Art Gallery, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY Midwest Museum of American Art, Elkhart, IN. Milwaukee Art Museum, Milwaukee, WI Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY Museum Modern Kunst, Vienna, Austria National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C. New Orleans Museum of Art Owens-Corning Fiberglass, Toledo, OH Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA Phoenix Art Museum Phoenix, AZ State of Illinois Collection, Chicago, IL Weatherspoon Art Gallery, UNC, Greensboro, NC Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY