Microcosms: The Imagined Realities of Art

MILWAUKEE, WI (November 8, 2016) — From November 18 through December 9, the UWM Union Art Gallery will present an exhibition featuring locally and nationally recognized artists whose work deals with perceptions of what is ‘real’ and ‘unreal’. Microcosms: The Imagined Realities of Art is a group exhibition that features the work of four artists that explore the use of art as a medium to create imagined worlds. The exhibition opens on Friday, November 18 with an opening reception from 5-8pm. As a part of the reception, there will be an artist talk with Corbett Toomsen starting at 7pm. All events are free and open to the public.

Art has the profound ability to create worlds that are both real and imagined. Microcosms: The Imagined Realities of Art is an exploration of that idea. The artists featured each contribute work that borders on the intersection of art and science, a unique place in which they are able to create miniature worlds and realities that are at the same time both fiction and reality.

Featuring work from artists Jerry Gretzinger, Beauvais Lyons, Lori Nix, and Corbett Toomsen. Gretzinger will show Jerry’s Map, a map of an imagined place, comprised of 3200 panels, created over 20+ years. Lyons, Director of the Hokes Archives at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, will exhibit from his series Envisioned Worlds: Lithographs from the Hokes Archives. Nix will include a series of photographs entitled Unnatural History, of imagined and strange museum dioramas. Toomsen, who received his MFA from UWM and who teaches at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, uses mass media imagery and builds environments in his studio to construct a fictitious journey through the American West.

Union Art Gallery hours are Monday thru Friday 12-5pm and Thursday 12-7pm. If you are interested in bringing your school or group, call or email at least a week ahead of time to set-up a viewing. The Gallery is located in the UWM Student Union, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd, on the Campus Level of the Union in room W199.

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Union Art Gallery (UAG) is an art space dedicated to the exhibition of diverse, contemporary art. The UAG presents a broad range of visual art by exhibiting work in all mediums by local, regional, and national emerging and established artists. In addition, the Union Art Gallery prides itself on being an accessible space for UWM student artists to exhibit and learn.
For more information, visit us online at unionartgallery.uwm.edu.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.