Untitled

Cosmo Campoli studied at SAIC beginning in 1942, finishing his degree in 1950 after serving in the military. He was involved with the artist group that in 1948 founded Exhibition Momentum, a salon held in opposition to the Art Institute’s Chicago and Vicinity exhibition, which had rejected participation by student artists. Like that of his peers, Campoli’s art grew out of the expressive qualities of his images, rather than the formal properties of his compositions. Owing to the earthy, figurative, and somewhat “primitive” aspects of this work, he and his peers were referred to as Monster Roster artists.