Karl Wirsum — Steam Cabinet of Dr. Caligari II
Karl Wirsum — Steam Cabinet of Dr. Caligari II
18-color Hand-Pulled Screen Print on Mohawk Superfine UltraWhite, 160 lb cover. Deckled, numbered and signed by the artist. Printed by POP!NK Editions.
30h x 22w in
Edition of 25
PLEASE NOTE
The Buyer accepts all terms of sale and agrees that the edition will not be resold for a minimum of one year from the purchase date. The no-resale agreement is valid for the entire term specified regardless if a work is gifted to another Buyer.
Copyright of the artwork is non-transferable and remains the property of the artist.
Details
Louis Buhl & Co. is pleased to present Steam Cabinet of Dr. Caligari II (2019) by the late artist Karl Wirsum. The edition was produced in 2019, prior to the artist’s recent passing at the age of 81. A founding member of the small but influential group known as the Hairy Who, Wirsum built his art on a highly original synthesis of multiple sources. His paintings and drawings combine a graphic sensibility—vivid, flat colors and simplified cartoon-like figures—with a sense of humor evident in the works themselves and also in titles that second guess and play with words.
Wirsum’s practice derives from a number of sources including mass media, pop culture, and non-Western art, and relies on a fusion of organic and geometric forms. In Steam Cabinet of Dr. Caligari II, an overheated male figure is encased in a metallic steambox, combining a kinetic exuberance with something more sinister as characterized by the figure’s grimace. An impressive and defining factor of Wirsum’s work is his focus on precision while still maintaining a strong element of abstraction.
