Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
The work of Gladys Nilsson captures the distinct style of the Chicago Imagists and the Hairy Who while remaining incredibly unique and individual. The Chicago Imagists were a talented group of artists who worked throughout the 60s and early 70s in a very fantastical and surreal style, separate from the New York and global trends. Nilsson was one of these unconventional artists, for she created a style that is both whimsical and disturbing. The bold colors, distorted figures, and expressionistic quality of her pieces set her apart from the other Imagists and allowed her to create chaotic and surreal worlds. Big Kitty is an excellent representation of her style with its cartoon quality, expressive/distorted features, and its bold color palette. This work, along with many other works by Nilsson, explore female sexuality and fantasies of male adoration. The figure within the piece, the titular Big Kitty, carries a picture of a man close to her chest, which is clearly bare, while giving a wide smile with deep red lips that match the red of her nails. Everything from her skirt to her long eyelashes to the aura of pink and orange coming off her body is both sexually suggestive and comical in execution. The main figure is confident in her body and erotic presence as she smiles coyly while looking directly out at the audience, meeting their gaze. The anchor tattoo, worn primarily by tough sailors, and her apron/skirt, worn primarily by feminine women, show that Big Kitty is proud of her femininity and grit. This self and sexually confident woman depicted by Nilsson is comical in style, yet the dynamic visuals create an aggressively progressive, conceptually valuable, and wholly original artwork.