Mr. Imagination

Art Brokerage: Mr. Imagination American Artist: b. 1948-2012. Gregory Warmack, better known as Mr. Imagination was an American outsider artist. He worked in a variety of forms and his work often made use of sandstone and bottlecaps.The third child in a family of nine, Warmack grew up in the Chicago area and had no formal training as an artist, though he began making art objects in his childhood. In the 1970s he made and sold art at street fairs. While in Chicago in 1978, he was shot in the stomach during a mugging and lapsed into a coma. During his hospitalization, he had a spiritual vision which he described as "very peaceful, almost as if I was traveling through history and looking at ancient civilizations." The incident spurred Warmack to renew his focus on art and broaden his scope, and shortly after he began using the name Mr. Imagination. In the 1970s and 1980s, Mr. Imagination worked extensively in sculptures carved from industrial sandstone and incorporating thousands of bottlecaps fastened to surfaces of the sculpted objects. He used paint, wood, nails, putty, and cement, and also incorporated found objects into his work, including vintage commercial items and discarded objects such as tools, household instruments, and mirrors. Many of his works were thematically influenced by African and Egyptian masks and dress. Mr. Imagination's first solo exhibition was assembled in 1983 at the Carl Hammer Galleries in Chicago. He lived and worked in Chicago until 2001, when he relocated to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. There he contributed pieces to Lehigh University's campus and the Zoellner Arts Center, worked with the Bethlehem Fine Arts Commission, and hosted workshops for children. In January 2008 his home was destroyed in a fire, and shortly thereafter he moved to Atlanta, Georgia. He continued working and exhibiting in Atlanta until his death from a blood infection in 2012 at age 64. His works have been exhibited in shows throughout the United States and internationally, including Venice and Paris. Several of his pieces are part of the collection of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and he is also exhibited at the American Visionary Art Museum, the American Folk Art Museum, and the High Museum of Art. Listings wanted.