John Plucinski

I had the absolute pleasure of learning under John Plucinski at Columbia College Chicago. He was a seasoned veteran of the industry and an incredibly warm and magnetic person. JP taught my storyboarding class, and in that class I received some of the best advice and critiques on my work that I’ve received to this day. Not only was he an inspired teacher, but he also fostered relationships and helped students grow immensely both personally and professionally outside of the classroom. He was the absolute definition of a creative genius and mad scientist. He worked tirelessly on his own work, work that I greatly admire, and he was bound by no style.

I’m absolutely blown away by the work he created. He created a street art alter ego for his work, ‘WooHoo’, and mocked up ideas for brilliantly imaginative installations. He also created this amazing series of illustrations where he paired visual imagery inspired from old Japanese woodcuts with modern harajuku culture.

This coming July 4^th it will be two years since the world lost a visionary and a friend.

“John Plucinski was my cousin. We collaborated by pairing music syncronized with projection art as early as 1966. He was a dear family member and a kind genius. RIP my friend.” – Mark W Plucinski 1/11/2017

His work is reflected a time at SAIC when a group of students that he studied with became know as ‘The Chicago Imagists” or “Hairy Who”. 

If you’re inspired by his work I invite you to share it.