Ed Paschke
Born: 1939 (Chicago, IL, United States)
Died: 2004 (Chicago, IL, United States)
Ed Paschke was born in Chicago where he spent most of his life as an important painter. He was initially associated in the late 1960s with the second generation of Chicago Imagists who called themselves The Hairy Who. He received his B.F.A. from the School of The Art Institute of Chicago in 1961 and his M.F.A. in 1970. Between degrees he lived for a time in New York where he easily came under the influence of Pop art, in part, because of his interests as a child in animation and cartoons. His fascination with the print media of popular culture led to a portrait-based art of cultural icons. Paschke used the celebrity figure, real or imagined, as a vehicle for explorations of personal and public identity with social and political implications.
Although his style is representational, with a loose affiliation to Photorealism, Paschke’s art plays heavily upon expressionist distortion and abstract form. The often grotesque cast to his paintings suggests an affiliation in spirit with Surrealism, a modern art movement that has historically interested Chicago artists and collectors. In the 1970s, his figures, now presented primarily as headshots in extreme close-ups, began to wear masks and unusual headgear. Colors became electric; forms were increasingly distorted by video-like disturbances; facial features of mouth, eyes, and nose were hollowed out or veiled with aggressive color shapes. These features became standard elements of Paschke’s disquieting and compelling art.
Artworks
Tudor
1976
La Chanteuse
1981
Kontato
1984
Kontata
1984
Fem-Rouge
1987
Fem-Verde
1987
Smooch III
1995
Libertad
2001
Bondo
2004
Pachuco
1982
Prothesian
1982
Suture
1985
Untitled
1970
Glove
1971
Floating Gloves
1971
Bill
1974
Klaus
1976
Stunted Stardom
1969
Tommy
1975
Comedia
1984