Mr. Imagination

Mr. Imagination was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1948 and died in Atlanta, Georgia in 2012.  Although he had no formal artistic training, he was always creatively inclined.  In 1978, while in a coma after being critically wounded by a gunshot, he had visions of himself as an Egyptian pharaoh these images inspired the work that he began to create during his recovery.  He also drew on Christianity, contemporary events, and public figures as sources for his imagery, and he often incorporated African patterns and motifs into his work.  The artist worked with found objects and materials, which he carved and painted, using simple tools, often other found objects.  He thought of the process as bringing new life to objects that had lost their original usefulness.  The paintbrush portrait series grew out of his reluctance to discard the brush he had used to create his early works.  Having grown attached to it, he said, “Finally, I thought of this idea of bringing it back to life in another way.”

*Excerpted from Tools as Art: the Hechinger Collection, published by Harry N. Abrams Inc. Edited to reflect the artist’s passing