Emmett Wilson, “QuestiveInk,” 2022, 36 inches x 36 inches
Emmett Kyoshi Wilson invents words for emotions. There’s “sactifice”—love with happy tears. “Questus”—energetic and peaceful. “Squinto” is emotion overflowing. “Stituistic”—love and energy when you engage with another person.
Then there’s “explendid.” Emmett, who has Down Syndrome and sometimes has trouble speaking, couldn’t say during a recent interview what this word means. But it suggests something big, colorful and exploding with energy. Like his art.
Emmett Kyoshi Wilson’s house, full of his paintings/Photo: Mary Wisniewski
Emmett Kyoshi’s artwork fills the Glenview ranch house where he lives with his parents, Paul Wilson and Kathy Menighan. They’re stacked against the fireplace, on the walls, along the baseboards, in his basement studio, and in the garage. More are displayed at his father’s West Loop hair salon, Art and Science. He has done about 200 works since he started painting at the age of four. The large, abstract expressionistic canvases vibrate with life.
“There are no preconceived notions,” says Paul Wilson, also an artist. “He’ll literally just walk to the canvas and start going. It’s all emotion. He starts laying paint and it’s a perfect representation of how he thinks.”
Emmett Kyoshi Wilson with his dad, Paul Wilson and his mom, Kathy Menighan/Photo: Mary Wisniewski
A handsome boy with brown hair, hazel eyes and an engaging smile, Emmett turned eighteen on May 9. On the same day, his parents obtained guardianship for him to make sure he’ll be cared for throughout his life. They are also setting up a foundation through which his paintings and merchandise, like fanny packs and T-shirts, can be sold. Money earned will support Emmett and other neurologically divergent artists, Wilson says.
“It will create a vehicle for him to work under, to give back to others and support him going forward,” Menighan says. “He wants peace and love in the world. He has a mission, and he’s going to do it.”
Emmett’s parents found out he had Down Syndrome a few days after he was born. At first, they agonized. Wilson called his father and said, “I have bad news.”
“My dad said, ‘That’s not bad news. Just not the news we expected. You have a beautiful baby boy.’”
Emmett Kyoshi Wilson with his mom, Kathy Menighan/Photo: Mary Wisniewski
Kathy says they then went to work, learning all they could about taking care of a child with Down Syndrome. Paul is half-Japanese, and he and Kathy had planned to give Emmett the middle name of Takeshi, which is Paul’s middle name and means warrior. But they decided to make it Kyoshi instead, which means teacher.
“We pray every day he’ll learn something new and teach us something new,” says Menighan. They insisted on his going to regular public schools, making sure he was integrated with other children, pulling him out of a school that didn’t cooperate. Next fall, he’ll be a senior at Glenbrook South High School.
Emmett started painting because Menighan couldn’t get him to hold a pencil. She gave him sponge brushes, and they had a little dance party, to encourage him to hold and paint. His parents began displaying his paintings, and visiting friends wondered where they’d gotten all the art.
Emmett had his first show in 2017, and has had three since, each called “My Paint,” along with two online auctions during the pandemic. Many paintings have been donated or auctioned for charity—he has so far made $90,000 in contributions to causes including the Greater Chicago Food Depository. One of his commissioned paintings—an abstract depiction of the U.S. flag—hung for three years in the U.S. Embassy in Zagreb, Croatia, along with flags painted by other artists. He received the “Soaring Spirit Award” from Looking Beyond LA, a non-profit dedicated to promoting awareness of disability, and has been featured on local television.
Emmett learned other types of painting in art class—realistic, pop art, cubism—though abstract is where his main interest lies. He loves the Art Institute of Chicago, which he finds “magnificent,” and is drawn to the moderns, like Jasper Johns, as well as Japanese artists.
Emmett Wilson, “Clementine,” 11 inches x 14 inches
Chicago artist Anna Kunz, who has watched Emmett’s work evolve over the years, says it is “full of magic.”
“There is a reciprocity between both his expression, the material of paint, and the pure, direct gestures he is inspired to make for his viewers,” Kunz says in an email. “He creates wandering, intuitive and imaginary spaces on canvas full of impulse and wonder. They are delightful for him to make, and delightful for us to experience. They transfer energy to us viewers.”
The work is difficult to describe—it has to be seen to be believed, Kunz says. “It is said that impulse is the great life force of painting. Emmett’s works are full of life.”
Emmett paints to music—favorites include Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson, the Beach Boys, Sammy Davis Jr., Etta James, Justin Timberlake and Coldplay. He’ll dance and sing, sometimes having one of his family of puppets sing along. Ventriloquist Terry Fator is a friend who will always take Emmett’s calls.
Emmett often sketches first, before adding layers of paint. He has gone through different periods, including a black-and-white phase and a phase when pale colors dominated, but with highlights of purple and red. He gives his work poetic names like “Sunset Raindrops Over Moonlight.”
Emmett Wilson, “Shadows In The Dark”
There’s a stereotype that people with Down Syndrome are always happy, but this is not true. While Emmett is usually loving, generous and enthusiastic, he can also get frustrated, sad and anxious, particularly while going through the hormonal changes of adolescence. He once spent two nights in his studio creating an almost black, thickly painted canvas called “Shadows in the Dark,” Paul Wilson says.
“Sometimes he needs to get things off his chest,” Wilson says.
“You or I might go for a run,” Menighan says. “He paints.”
Emmett with his paintings and his puppet Howd/Photo: Mary Wisniewski
Emmett is droll and a bit of a ham—he likes to have his picture taken, striking dramatic poses and making comic faces. During an interview, his parents ask him, “What do you want for life?”
“What do I want for lunch?” Emmett teases, pretending not to understand. He raises an eyebrow, like John Belushi.
“What do you want for your life?” his mother insists.
“To help the community,” Emmett says. Then he dances and sings to “Hey, Jude,” helping his clown-puppet Howd to sing along.
Color as Metaphor: A Review of “Suburban” by Jimmy DeSana at Document Document mounts a breathtaking exhibition featuring photographs by Jimmy DeSana, a significant figure in the histories of photography, New York City, and LGBTQ+ artists. The color is powerful, almost garish. Scenes from dreams or nightmares stay in your mind long after you leave the gallery.
