Karl Wirsum, Hairy Who Artist with Eccentric Style, Has Died at 81

Karl Wirsum, a member of Chicago’s Hairy Who group of the 1960s whose art envisioned a madcap universe unto itself, has died at 81. Dealer Derek Eller, whose New York gallery represents Wirsum alongside Chicago’s Corbett vs. Dempsey, said that he died of cardiac arrest.
“It has been an enormous privilege to work with such a talented, important, and influential artist,” the gallery wrote in a statement posted to Instagram.
Wirsum was part of a crop of Chicago artists that