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  • The Paris Review

    Karl Wirsum’s Casting Call

    by Nicole Rudick Sep 13, 2017 2 minutes

    Karl Wirsum, Mr. Dry Iced “T”, 1987, acrylic on canvas, 38 1/2″ x 56 1/2″.

    In the margin of the drawing Study for Looking at a Curve Ball in Cuernavaca are notes written by the artist, Karl Wirsum:

    Batter up
    9 at Bats
    Last Bats
    Lost Summer
    Robert Catcher
    Umbrella
    Umpiro
    Manic
    Sword Fight Thrust Position

    He seems to be trying out titles, and given Wirsum’s other titling efforts (for instance,), I wonder if he wasn’t considering something along the lines of “Umbrella Umpiro Manic Sword Fight Thrust Position.” Wirsum’s titles don’t give many hints, if any, about what’s going on in the paintings, but in their agglomerations of words and punning (), they, like the works they represent, suggest the potential for ample and adventurous meaning. 

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