Mr. Imagination

Gregory Warmack, better known as Mr. Imagination (March 30, 1948 – May 30, 2012), was an American outsider artist. He worked in a variety of forms and his work often made use of sandstone and bottlecaps and other repurposed materials.

Biography 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." 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. the African American Museum in Dallas, the Halsey Gallery at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina, the William Benton Museum of Art at the University of Connecticut, and at the Society for Contemporary Craft in Pittsburgh. Absolut Vodka commissioned a rendition of their bottle in his style.