R.I.P. artist/educator Art Green, 1941-2025

Sadly, visual artist and educator Art Green, a member of Chicago's Hairy Who, has passed away. He'll be greatly missed.

From the University of Waterloo's Department of Fine Arts...

It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Art Green who was part of the Fine Arts faculty from 1977 until his retirement in 2006. Anyone who had Art as an instructor will remember his kindness, quirky sense of humour, and bad (or arguably, very good) puns.

Art passed away on April 14th after a brief illness. A celebration of his life will be held in summer 2025. Since ice cream cones often appeared in Art's work (see below), his family ask that, in the meantime, please enjoy an ice cream cone in his honour.

Art Green Obituary

With heavy hearts we announce the passing of our beloved father, Arthur “Art” Nelson Green, on April 14th, 2025, after a brief illness. Art was born on May 13th, 1941 in Frankfurt, Indiana to Mabel Austelle and Edward Green. He attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), earning his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1965. Soon after graduation, he joined forces with five others recent SAIC graduates to form the “Hairy Who,” an artist collective who would leave an indelible mark on the art landscape of Chicago. Watch a few Hairy Who related clips below. 

He immigrated to Canada in 1969 with his wife, Natalie, spending time in Nova Scotia, British Columbia, and Toronto before making Stratford, Ontario their home in 1979. He taught at the University of Waterloo in the Fine Arts Department for almost 30 years, serving twice as chair (1988- 1991 and 2000-2002) and receiving a distinguished Teacher Award in 1990 and emeritus status in 2006. In recognition of his achievements, in 2016, Art received an honorary doctorate of Fine Arts from The Art Institute of Chicago. He has had many solo exhibitions and his paintings are featured in the collections of major museums around the world, including the Art Institute of Chicago, National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.), Smithsonian American Art Museum (Washington, D.C.), and Museum Moderner Kunst (Vienna, Austria). He is represented by the Garth Greenan Gallery in New York City, NY.

Art was beloved by his family, his friends, and his many students. Beyond his artistic achievements, he was known for his unique storytelling abilities, his witty sense of humor, and his kind and gentle heart. He is survived by his children Catherine Gardner (Mark) and Nicholas Green (Clodagh), his beloved granddaughters Sophia Gardner, Feodora and Fionnuala Green; his partner Bonnie Steinman and her family; his brother Don Green (Charlotte); his sisters-in-law Nadia Leininger, Nina Minett (Charles), Karen Green, and his nieces and nephews; Ben Green (Tara), Jesse Green (Kelly), Heather Backs, Adam Green (Lisa), Stephanie Leininger Wilson, Andrea Champredonde (Serge), Charles Minett (Nicole), Arthur Minett, George Minett (Jessica), Elizabeth Minett, and their children: Imogen Green, Anodyne, Phineas, Desmond and Emmett Green, Vivian, Elliot, and Oliver Backs, Emerson and Mckinley Green, Alice, Maya, and Adelia Wilson; Sophia, Charles, Harrison and Freyja Minett; Autumn, Gabriel and William Minett; and Lyon Herzstock. He is predeceased by his wife of over 50 years, Natalie Novotny Green, his brother, Larry Green, and his parents Edward and Mabel Green.

Art was beloved by all who knew him. He was an extraordinarily wise, generous and exemplary human being as well as a truly great artist and teacher. His absence will be felt deeply - his legacy extends beyond his artistic creations to the countless ways he inspired and uplifted others, as teacher, colleague, father, and friend. Memorial donations may be made to the Gallery Stratford and the University of Waterloo Fine Arts Department. A celebration of his life will be held in summer 2025. For more information, contact the WG Young Funeral Home right here. You can view his page at the University of Waterloo Fine Arts site right here. Art Green is represented by New York's Garth Greenan Gallery and you can see more of his work on their site. Watch a few Hairy Who related clips below. 

Hairy Who? 1966-1969 @ Art Institute of Chicago to January 6

The Hairy Who's Karl Wirsum, Art Green, Gladys Nilsson, Suellen Rocca and Jim Nutt were Chicago's best and brightest of the late 60s. 

Here's the scoop:

Karl Wirsum's Screamin' Jay Hawkins (1968).

Neither a movement nor a style, Hairy Who was simply the name six Chicago artists chose when they decided to join forces and exhibit together in the mid-1960s.

As the Hairy Who, Jim Falconer, Art Green, Gladys Nilsson, Jim Nutt, Suellen Rocca, and Karl Wirsum—all recent graduates of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago—began mounting unconventional displays of bright, bold graphic work at the Hyde Park Art Center on the city’s South Side. Over a period of four years, they transformed the art landscape of Chicago, injecting their new and unique voices into the city’s rising national and international profile. The Art Institute is proud to organize this first-ever major survey exhibition dedicated solely to the groundbreaking exhibition group.

Like all Americans of their generation, the young Chicagoans of the Hairy Who came of age during a period of national upheaval that witnessed the escalation of the war in Vietnam, assassinations of political figures, student protests, a rising counterculture, tumultuous racial and gender relations, and the expansion of a capitalist consumer economy.

Their work—vividly unbridled yet also formally refined—embodied irreverence and youthful fearlessness. Between 1966 and 1969, they staged six uninhibited and informal exhibitions—three in Chicago and one each in San Francisco, New York, and Washington, DC.

Although the Hairy Who chose to exhibit together, they were six individuals with their own personal, chiefly figurative vocabularies. They each radically manipulated source material collected from everyday life—including advertisements, comics, posters, and sales catalogs—with technical virtuosity. Their sense of humor embraced idiosyncrasy and spontaneity with wordplay, puns, and inside jokes that often belied the transgressiveness of their subject matter. Ambiguous, provocative, but also strategic, their work transmitted progressive ideas that challenged prevailing notions of gender and sexuality, social mores and standards of beauty, and nostalgia and obsolescence.

This comprehensive exhibition and accompanying publication—presented on the 50th anniversary of the group’s final Chicago show—features approximately 225 works assembled from public and private collections, together with key works drawn from the Art Institute’s collection, and includes large-scale paintings, sculpture, and works on paper as well as archival ephemera that contextualize the artists’ creative processes and working methods.

Hairy Who? 1966-1969 continues at the Art Institute of Chicago (111 South Michigan Ave) through January 6, 2019. Open daily 10:30-5:00 and Thursdays to 8:00pm. Watch the exhibition promo clip below and a panel discussion about The Collected Hairy Who Publications 1966-69 right here.