Slow Look: Wesley Willis

Join us over Chicago Exhibition Week for this opportunity to engage more closely with the work of Wesley Willis and learn more about his life and art. This event is hosted in collaboration with Intuit Art Museum and will be facilitated by Joshua Willis, Lead Museum Educator.

A Slow Look is an invitation to pause with us and experience what happens when we stay with one image long enough for it to speak back.

Together, we spend 45 minutes with a single work of art in the gallery. We begin by grounding ourselves in the space and stepping away from the pace of everyday life. We may notice materials, techniques, ideas or emotions. We may sit in silence, share observations, ask questions or explore together. You do not need to be an expert. Just come ready to be present.

A Slow Look is time spent with art and with each other, a shared moment of attention and a chance to return to the simple act of looking together.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
I Am A Rock I Am A Roll explores the intersections of punk, DIY, and self-taught art through the work of two American and two German artists: Naomi Shintani Deibel, Jonas Müller-Ahlheim, Betsy Odom, and Wesley Willis. Part of Alle gegen Alles. Punk@50, a transatlantic, multi-city initiative marking the 50-year anniversary of punk taking place at Goethe-Instituts across North America in fall 2026, ‘I Am A Rock I Am A Roll’ is a collaboration between KIOSK and the Goethe-Institut Chicago and will feature film screenings, a zine workshop, a conversation on Chicago's punk history, and other programs at both locations.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Wesley Willis (b. 1963 in Chicago, IL; d. 2003 in Skokie, IL) was a Chicago artist and musician whose singular practice drew from the city’s streets, buses, music venues, and everyday encounters. Beginning as a street musician accompanying himself on a Technics keyboard, Willis developed a distinctive style of blunt, three-chord songs that transformed ordinary observations, popular culture, and personal experiences into music that was simultaneously hilarious, unsettling, and deeply original. Willis lived with schizophrenia, and for him writing, performing, and recording helped quiet the voices in his head. Alongside his prolific recording career—he wrote more than 1,000 songs and released more than 50 albums—Willis created detailed ballpoint and felt-tip drawings of Chicago and its landmarks. His work earned a devoted following and connected him with figures across the underground music scene, including Steve Albini, the Beastie Boys’ Mike D., and Jello Biafra, and his performances and recordings established him as a beloved Chicago cult figure. Willis passed away in 2003 at the age of 40, leaving behind an extraordinary body of music and drawings that continues to capture his unmistakable, idiosyncratic vision of the world.