East Side Apartment Proposal Held by Committee
New Land Enterprises was before the committee requesting a change in zoning to construct a 5-story apartment building to be located on North Farwell Avenue and East Kenilworth.
Nov 21st, 2008 by Dave Reid
Stella’s 2008 Awards for Best & Worst Sculpture
Best: Milwaukee has hunks of stuff that pass for “art,” but the east lobby of the historic Shorecrest Hotel shelters a bronze worth considering. “Fisherboy Dancing the Tarantella” (Francisque Joseph Duret) is allegedly the only true copy of the original 1832 beauty enshrined in the Louvre. With his six-pack abs, earrings and elegant torso defining a dance derived from the bite of the tarantula, the smiling chap is (perhaps) considering what art isn’t. Worst: The year was 1989. The National Association of Letter Carriers dedicated a memorial to those who carry forth through rain, sleet and snow. Installed on a small plot at Plankington & Wells, convenient to those out dodging traffic while dog walking, once per year someone stops by to clean the motley trio of figures. No one seems to know who gave us this miserable three, but the budget must have been miniscule. The result is a clutch of pint-sized carriers intent on dashing off in different directions.
Nov 21st, 2008 by Stella Cretek
Hit by an Opgenorth?
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. An asteroid? No, it’s a piece of art by Harvey Opgenorth. In my office is a hanging light fixture designed by Harvey. Fashioned from an upside down Eames fiberglass chair, it rocks. The light not the chair. So does Harvey. About this sculpture. It will be part of the Armoury Gallery exhibit showcasing Milwaukee’s Own, and Harvey is certainly one of those. A 1999 MIAD grad, he’s part of an event including three other MIAD grads, Kathryn E. Martin (a part time faculty member at both UW-Mil & MIAD), Mary DiBiasio, and lastly but not leastly, Colin Dickson. The grads who stick together seem also to play together. I hope they don’t try to one-up each other. I’ve seen this happen and it isn’t a pretty sight. The show opens at the mighty Fortress on Friday, December 5th (6 – 10pm). The address is 1718 N. 1st St., 3N3. If you’ve never been there, pack a bag lunch. 3N3 isn’t the easiest space to locate. As I re-read the Armoury’s press release, it seems that the aforementioned Harvey sculpture is a “gold” nugget. Okay, so expect a cave by Dickson, clouds of Styrofoam by Martin, and nuggets by Harvey. DiBiasio will check in with “the figure in contour.” For more info go to www.thearmourygallery.com. The press release does not mention the closing date. I don’t know why young gallerists often don’t include closing date info. It drives me bonkers.
Nov 21st, 2008 by Stella Cretek
Friday Photos Friday, 21. November 2008
Convent Hill Demolition Convent Hill Demolition Convent Hill Demolition Convent Hill Demolition
Nov 21st, 2008 by Dave Reid
Outing a Bully
It’s a truth many of us learned on the playgrounds of our youth: nobody reacts to criticism worse than a bully. So it’s no surprise that conservative talk show host Charlie Sykes responded to a negative article in the December issue of Milwaukee Magazine with a longwinded, sniveling diatribe that leaves the reader wondering why a guy who makes a living attacking people is so damn thin-skinned. To anyone who listens to the Sykes show on WTMJ-AM, or any of the formulaic right wing radio talk shows, much of the criticism outlined by the station’s former news director seems fairly obvious. Sykes, Mark Belling on WISN-AM and their ilk carefully select topics designed to stir up anger in their predominantly conservative audiences. They seek stories that confirm their world views and look for people to vilify. These could be public officials, bureaucrats, parents, school administrators and run-of-the-mill average citizens. Anyone, really, who provides them with the opportunity to demonize government and show how our hard-earned tax dollars are wasted. And, as Dan Shelley says in the article, Sykes is obviously very bright and very good at what he does. Sometimes Sykes can be very entertaining. He engages in a kind of verbal ju-jitsu that takes the inert energy from the many absurd stories generated by newspapers and elsewhere and builds it into an inflammatory narrative designed to entertain and anger his listeners. I get it and I can actually enjoy listening to it, in small doses, as I do Lewis Black and Dave Chappelle. But what bothers me is how manipulative he can be when dealing with listeners who call in. Those who agree with him are treated with kid gloves; they are thoughtful, insightful, clever. Callers who disagree with him are broken down in two categories. The inarticulate or weak ones are dangled as useful foils who give him the opportunity to throw the sarcastic jabs and belittling blows to diminish the caller. The brighter, more effective and persuasive callers with contrary opinions are quickly dispatched with a “thank you for your call.” It’s a cowardly tactic quite typical of the playground bully. Belling engages in a different tactic that accomplishes the same result; he raises his voice at callers and belittles them to the point you wonder why anyone would ever listen to this jerk. In fairness, it must be pointed out that Belling seems to yell at everyone but in the world of talk radio there are significant gradations to screaming. It’s also revealing (and disturbing) that Sykes is given his platform by Journal Communications Inc., which owns the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, WTMJ-TV and WTMJ-AM. Sykes regularly attacks the newspaper as a part of the liberal media though the same company pays his salary and profits from his success. Sykes is also given a platform on television every Sunday morning through a show that purports to be public affairs programming. He surrounds himself with mostly like-minded fellow travelers from conservative media as well as a token, usually […]
Nov 20th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
A Poem As Lovely As A Tree
The economic crash has hit the world big time, and the world of art is no exception. I found quite a bit of comfort at Dean Jensen Gallery where Joan Backes’ work is on display until November 22. Stroll to the back of the long narrow space and stand in front of her video, “Oak Tree, One Year (2008).” It’s eleven minutes of heaven, as if you were on her property in Massachusetts observing the seasonal changes of a magnificent oak The oak is the state tree of Iowa from whence I hail and there are far fewer now than when I was a kid and sat beneath their leafy confines. For $1,000 the eleven minutes could be mine to take home, just in case the dreaded wilt wipes away the last of the greats. This filmmaking is art at its finest. It marks time, puts the world in perspective, and for delicious moments, made this viewer forget all else. If you are a “tree hugger type,” don’t go to the gallery with expectations of great and grand environmental statements. Her work is subtle; it suggests rather than insists. A trio of trees from 2008 (each referencing New England), are painted on panels, but they are slices of trunks, minutely detailed, and up close the details become wonderful miniature landscapes. Rising 8’ skyward and varying in width, they define the gallery’s entrance and introduce further depictions of trees, including one from this state, “Tree, Wisconsin (2004).” Fifteen photographs make it clear that Backes is multi-talented and determined to explore trees in all their glory. The concept is anything but ordinary. Paper, the by-product of trees, carries her point home, or rather to the “Newspaper House,” a cube for entering. Constructed of diverse folded squares of global newspapers, it is the center piece of the exhibition and is an inside/outside experience, every child-adult’s dream of a magical place perfect for the ultimate escape. I found myself reading the snippets of folded squares (obsessively) plastering the exterior: “the stock market took a beating last week,” “stand-up comedy in America is not, for the most part….,” and (gruesomely), “the deeper sores may have…” The house wears a skin of words (too many to absorb), but inside the sanctum waits another world of tiny dioramas, not unlike those in natural history museums. ”Elm” (light, vellum, laser and hand cut paper 2008), memorializes the elms that were struck down by disease in the 50s & 60s, not only in Milwaukee, but across our nation. They’ve all disappeared in my hometown, but I remember those lofty citadels that shaded our streets, sheltered the birds, and gave substance to each and every day. When they died, time didn’t stop, but it sure did change. The leaves will be gone or clogging our gutters when Jensen Gallery launches their answer to the economic downturn. “Big, Big Bangs/Small, Small Bucks” opens December 5 thru January 24 in the year 2009. Nothing will be priced over $750, and (at this […]
Nov 20th, 2008 by Stella Cretek
Cheese or Pepperoni?
Just kidding. The former pizza joint on 15th & Farwell (east side of street) will reopen in mid-January ’09, not as another pizza or tattoo parlor, but as Green Gallery East, brought to you steaming hot by gallerist/artist Riepenhoff who knows how to serve up a satisfying slice of art. The debut event will feature the work of David Robbins, described online as “international,” and a former laborer at the Andy Warhol Factory. He’s more than that, so I’m looking forward to his show. The modest modernist structure Green is re-doing had slipped into severe disrepair, so hey, on the street that developer Boris Gokhman (New Land Enterprises) is holding hostage, an art gallery sure trumps a tanning spa and yet another soaring condo. Across Farwell is the Pasta Tree, and to the north, the fab Maharaja eatery, the Beehive Beauty Salon, and well, a few blocks north of that is Brady Street itself, and even further north, the invova/Kenilworth art mecca. Did I mention “Mr. Shoe?” He’s a neighbor of Green East too. I’m hard pressed to think of a better location for an art adventure. Stroll out my front door, round the corner and there it is, in all of its one-story glory. Because it’s a former drive-up place, the parking should be adequate. This is after all, the eastside where tempers rise during the on-going battle of who gets what. Hoof it, bus it, bike it. We’ll be in a new year with a new president when the gallery opens. Suddenly 2009 seems downright hopeful. Galleries come and go, but Riepenhoff & his youthful crew have devoted fans. It will be interesting to see who actually visits the space, set in a diverse area of the well-heeled and down-in-the-heels, and all points in between. Imagining that uber-condo types will experience it, is a bit of a stretch, but perhaps they’ll stretch their minds and consider something other than boring pretty pictures for their walls, put in place by interior designers who don’t have a clue what art is. One Riepenhoff idea that I hope doesn’t go away, is his “Riepenhoff experience,” a wonderful tree-house style small installation. Climbing up the ladder and peering in, is, in a word, sensational.
Nov 20th, 2008 by Stella Cretek
Here Pussy, Pussy
Gene Evans made the AV section of the Onion’s August 21-27 edition. You may recall he’s the co-proprietor of Luckystar Studio, formerly of Vliet St. Bridget Griffith Evans, the far nicer and more talented of the two, is moving with her grouchy spouse to a new location on Mitchell St., where they will concentrate on their respective careers. In the Q&A Onion interview, Evans says “They (i.e., artists he has to deal with) can be such pussies,” and goes on to grouse that “they can be prima donnas,” and then adds the words “demanding,” and other snippets indicating he hates being in an art kitchen populated with pussies. Well, this is hardly news. Evans is known for his complaints, though at times, he and Mike Brenner seem to be wrestling for media coverage. That said, Brenner takes the hot cakes when it comes to who sez what, besides which, he’s currently working on his MBA at UWM. After getting lots of media space by claiming they’ll never ever run another gallery, Gene & Bridget were open for October Gallery Night @ their Mitchell St. digs. These two have been around town, that’s for sure. Look for their work to pop up almost anywhere.
Nov 19th, 2008 by Stella Cretek
‘Memba This?
Possibly the last remaining Art Muscle t-shirt in M’waukee? Born at 9th & National in the days when we had a great big beautiful art publication, this shirt is from “Fruit Of The Loom.” At one time, AM’s shirt inventory included long-sleeved versions. Art Muscle also sold pocket protectors, buttons and coffee mugs, and oh yeah, the shirt was available in black with white letters, or white with black letters. Just so you know. Wearing one of these t’s meant you were with it, hip & hot. A fellow blogger wrote that he’d personally order four, if only they were currently available. Actually he bought the last remaining t-shirt before AM closed their doors. “I’d have driven 50 miles to get one,” he admits, though it’s unclear if he still has his. If anyone out there still has an ART MUSCLE shirt, write Stella Cretek pleeze. In the meantime, you might want to consider a Vital Source t. To wear one is to be hip & hot.
Nov 19th, 2008 by Stella Cretek
UWM Dorm Building and Site Designs
This was the last of four meetings held to discuss UWM's most recent dorm proposal. Jim Shields, the project architect, presented his design for the building and how it fits on the 3.2 acre lot. He referred to the site as "an edge site", indicating how it sits on the "edge" of two drastically different environments.
Nov 18th, 2008 by Dave Reid
You Say Potato, I Say Potatoe
A few years ago when Whole Foods sprung up on the west end of North Avenue, their PR person put out a call for local artists. What this usually means when a new business materializes, is that artists are expected to hang their work for free. It’s a kind of art-as-wallpaper concept. Anyway, Mike Brenner (the former proprietor of Hotcakes Gallery) took the bait and arranged for a bona-fide exhibit of his gallery artists. They failed to pass muster with the powers that be, i.e. Whole Foods deemed the work a bad fit for their particular product. Susceptibletoimages.com picked up on the story and ran with it. What a difference a few years make. Recently, while shopping for things I don’t need, a group of paintings caught my eye as I was about to take the down escalator to the parking garage. Most folks would never know they were there, tucked in a dead-end corner just beyond a display case hawking hemp hats and plastic water bottles. They looked quite a bit like paintings Mike Brenner might have had in his defunct gallery, though of far lesser quality. In any event, they weren’t paintings of organic tomatoes and green peppers. The tag near the grouping identified them as the work of someone in the store, a “Team” member, who perhaps was laboring in the frozen food department. I couldn’t make sense of the artist’s name, but I swear it translated from Spanish into something akin to “Devil Lobster.” I could be wrong. Okay, so I’m near the parking garage downstairs and a pea-green “Call for Artists” poster catches my attention. It promises the artists that thousands of people monthly would view the artwork, that there would be an opening reception catered by Whole Foods’ in-store chef, and that the exhibit would be promoted in the monthly calendar, etc. It didn’t identify the three areas where the artists would have their work displayed, but I’d seen one of the areas and believe me it wasn’t exactly a high-traffic zone. I was the only one there, and that was sheer coincidence. Artists who want to take this bait can pick up an application at the store’s Customer Service desk or online at www.wholefoodsmarket.com. Just imagine how a show at Whole Foods would look on your resume. It’s not everyone that gets to exhibit near bunches of asparagus and heaps of organic fruit. Oh, I forget to mention that the exhibit opportunities include a chance to sell your pieces directly to the customers as they rush by. On the fun side of life: A late October sign on the inside of a door at the downtown M & I Bank advises: For security reasons, please remove your Halloween mask before entering the bank.
Nov 18th, 2008 by Stella Cretek
Whither Hillary?
I may be wrong but I don’t think Barack Obama will choose Hillary Clinton as his Secretary of State. For one thing, during the campaign they took significantly different positions on foreign policy; from her vote for the Iraq War to the wisdom of meeting with bad guy foreign leaders to going after bin Laden in Pakistan. Then there was how she inflated her role as First Lady being sent to hotspots around the globe. Then there’s the Problem with Bill. The former president is already an extraordinary diplomatic resource of cosmic proportions; traveling around the globe on behalf of his foundation, he is able to meet with state leaders and serve as an emissary, if asked. Hillary’s Foggy Bottom appointment would require some restraint on 42 (good luck with that) and I’m not sure that serves our nation’s best interests or Obama’s. Then there’s the Biden factor. Surely, Joe the Veep was brought on board to make use of his extensive experience on the world stage. It’s hard to imagine two egos the size of Biden’s and Clinton’s effectively sharing responsibility for advising the new president on all things foreign. My guess is that Hillary would be a much better choice as Health and Human Services Secretary, following in the footsteps of two prominent Badgers, Tommy Thompson and Donna Shalala. Both Obama and Clinton promised health care reform during their campaigns. Nobody knows this issue better than Hillary and she has already been rebuffed from leading the effort in the Senate by Edward Kennedy who intends to champion it himself as long as he’s drawing breath. And way too much was made of the difference between Clinton’s proposal and Obama’s. Clearly, the children’s mandate proposed by Obama would be a lot easier to pass than the universal mandate endorsed by Clinton. But nothing will happen unless Obama undertakes an Olympian effort in collaboration with Congress. Hillary and Bill tried to ram their proposal down the throats of Kennedy, Pat Moynihan, Dan Rostenkowski, George Mitchell and other Lions of Congress which was the main reason the effort failed miserably. Everything Hillary Clinton has done since 1994 demonstrates that she learned this important lesson. She has become extremely engaged in the art of legislative compromise and could be a valuable leader in this effort. In addition, children’s issues are near and dear to her heart and the HHS position would provide her with a platform to develop and implement new initiatives that could improve the lives of millions of young people. It might seem as a step down for someone of her stature and some of her supporters might see it as an insult. But she is savvy enough to know the HHS position would provide her with an ideal platform to develop a legacy that could last for generations. Not a bad deal for her and the country.
Nov 17th, 2008 by Ted Bobrow
