WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI MAGAZINE
Spring 2017

Shock Art

Wade Hampton illustrations

WADE HAMPTON: Selected Marginalia illustrations, The Shocker, 2000-2016

For some 16 years, Wichita-based artist, graphic designer, photographer and filmmaker Wade Hampton fs ’91 illustrated The Shocker’s Marginalia entries. This issue would have been the first magazine in ages to be without a Hampton illustration between its covers. That wouldn’t have been right. So here at The Shocker offices, we paged through some of our past issues and put together this mini-retrospective of his work for us.

Through the years, Hampton has illustrated just about every subject there is that can possibly be illustrated. As a student at Wichita State in the early 1990s, he studied graphic design and had his first experiences drawing and painting. In 1993, he was one of nine artists who came together to form the collective called Famous Dead Artists.

Many of them, as Hampton was, were either WSU graduates or former students (fs). Today, Hampton explores making art of all kinds, with a good deal of his creative energy going into the production of videos, and he continues to paint and work as a graphic designer.

For many Shockers, his most familiar design work is the athletic department’s WuShock logo, which has undergone only a minor modification or two since Hampton created it. Although we will miss his work in future issues, we’re Shocker proud to have had this exceptional artist as a contributor for so long. All the very best on your future pursuits, Wade!

— Connie Kachel White


three women walking

three women go walking two passing
Grace and noting Botero believes
it will rain in the distance they find
more grace the grace of a Hand and
LOVE on a grassy knoll

the women come and go
talking of Joan Miro

the third woman turns south
sees Renoir who hid in a television
station for years ’til he tired of the
technology Sodbuster tells her she
missed harvest despite Botero’s
forecast she moves toward Millie
hoping for a ride

Memorial ’70 is there to keep us grounded
to remind us travel is never just a trip

MW Rishell
June 2017

 

Atop Henrion

summer was spent sleeping wading
shameful shag carpet at the SigEp
House lounging at the Shocker Pool
listening to The Cure while
swim and sun washed away
the night before and now another nap

The Flicker and Miller High Life
showed us the way to knock on the door
asking the Ahlbergs if they’d like a late
night bite from McDonalds soon a rush
to the pond splitting the fairway harvesting
golf balls we’d never need and finally

falling asleep atop Henrion
watching stars lead us away

MW Rishell
June 2017

 

MW Rishell, known as Mike by most, is a 1986 WSU grad. He also holds an MFA from Oklahoma City University, an M.Ed from Vanderbilt University, and a PhD from Michigan State. In Wichita, he’s known as the Bard of 27th and Richmond. He now lives in Mesa, Ariz.