Label Type
DidacticLabel
Theo Wujcik (1936–2014)
World Harmony, 2013
acrylic on canvas
90 x 78 in.
HCC Permanent Art Collection, gift of Susan Johnson, 2025.5.1
Wujcik’s Blue Chip series, created in the last two years of his life, reflects on globalization, art world celebrity and the intersection of cultural and financial value. Building on his earlier Asian Invasion paintings, the series draws its name from “blue chip” stocks—symbols of market prestige—and returns to portraiture, the genre central to his early career. Featuring prominent artists such as James Rosenquist, Zhang Huan and Damien Hirst, the compositions are inspired by movie posters and the DJ cards he often collected around Ybor City, highlighting how contemporary artists navigate fame and commodification within a globalized art market. The fragmentation of the background also suggests deterioration, similar to the discarded ephemera Wujcik collected, calling to mind the idiom “here today, gone tomorrow.”