Selected Series: A Retrospective of Photographs by Jack Wilgus opened on Thursday, October 15 in the Pinkard Gallery of the Bunting Center (1401 W. Mount Royal Ave.). Before retirement, Jack taught photography at MICA for 40 years and was the chair of the department for 30. He gave a gallery talk on the afternoon of his opening to a packed space of MICA students and faculty alike. Jack and his wife, Beverly, plan to move to Texas before the end of the year, so many were drawn to see Jack speak before he leaves. He’s an extremely animated and engaging speaker, often drawing many stories from his own life’s experiences and providing tons of detail.
Here, Jack was talking about his and Beverly’s now world-famous daguerreotype of Phineas Gage. The couple have an huge collection of photographs, daguerreotypes, cameras, and just about anything else you can think of relating to photography. This daguerreotype in particular was just another one in their collection until they found out it was the only image ever recorded of the famous patient, Phineas Gage. To see this interesting full story, go here.
That evening was the opening reception for the show, where once again MICA students and faculty as well as old friends of Jack’s gathered to congratulate the retired professor. Above, Justin Williams and Zev Schmitz standing in front of Jack’s early infrared work.
* Posted by Jess Kemp for Bmore Art.
