Current Exhibition
Joseph Yoakum: Line and Landscape
September 8, 2009 – May 2, 2010 | Joel and Carole Bernstein Gallery for Works on Paper
During the last decade of his life, self-taught artist and South Side resident Joseph Yoakum (1890–1972) began drawing almost full time. He produced several thousand works in this short period, mostly of highly stylized landscapes. Although he titled his drawings after specific locations from around the globe, Yoakum was less concerned with their likeness to the physical sites than with the feelings they evoked—a process he referred to as “spiritual unfoldment.” This compelling exhibition features works from the Smart Museum’s permanent collection, and is paired with a related presentation of works by the Chicago Imagists, many of whom were Yoakum’s friends and profoundly inspired by his art.
Curator: Jessica Moss, Smart Museum Assistant Curator of Contemporary Art.
Image: Joseph Yoakum, Mt. Fuji Near Yokohama Japan, 4 March 1968, Colored pencil, ball-point pen, and ink on wove paper. Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago, Gift of Dennis Adrian in honor of Ray Yoshida.