Phyllis Kind opened her gallery in Chicago in 1967, initially exhibiting master prints and drawings. At that time a group of young artists was emerging in Chicago who, beginning with the "Hairy Who", were making personal, complex, narrative statements at a time when critical attention in New York addressed itself, for the most part, to "mainstream art" (including "minimalism", "color-field", "pop", and impersonal art). It was this very exciting, ground-breaking phenomenon in Chicago that prompted Ms. Kind to become involved with living artists. By 1970, she had established a stable of artists there, some of whom later became known as the Chicago Imagists. In addition to those artists, for the first few years her midwest gallery also supplemented its exhibitions with consigned shows of artists of national reputation from galleries on both the East and West coasts.
By the time Phyllis Kind opened her gallery in New York in 1975, her stable had become finely honed and had also expanded to include artists from throughout the United States. These artists, along with the Chicago stable, were to some extent out of step with the prevailing attitudes in New York. A number of them have since gained international reputations. |