Gleefully Askew

A long-overdue monograph: this book brings together the iconic works of Gladys Nilsson: watercolours, paintings, drawings, and prints from critical moments in her 60-year career. The lavishly illustrated publication includes new scholarship that highlights Nilsson’s contributions to postwar and contemporary art.

Well known for watercolours of long-limbed figures engaged in everyday micro-dramas, Nilsson’s works earned her a reputation as the most “feminine” member of Chicago’s Hairy Who group in the 1960s—a characterization she has challenged and spoofed. Nilsson’s self-reflexive and often humorous approach has guided her experimental practice, which also includes Plexiglas paintings, mixed-media collage, and embroidery hoop paintings, all of which are reproduced in this comprehensive retrospective catalogue.