Words and Images

This week’s Art Date takes you to artist and author talks, opening receptions, plus the extravaganza of Bay View Gallery Night.

Artist talk: Amanda Ross-Ho
Inova
2155 N. Prospect Ave.
6 p.m.

Amanda Ross-Ho created the monumental outdoor installation The Character and Shape of Illuminated Things for Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art and will visit Milwaukee for a talk on aspects of photography and the process of seeing.

The inspiration for the piece came from How to Control and Use Photographic Lighting by David Brooks, plus the pedagogical practice of using a three-object still life to explore lighting and its effect on modes of viewing. Though the installation is 90 miles away, the discussion will touch on topics of interest for photographers, artists, and viewers alike.

Brian Nigus: Soft Feet 
Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design
273 E. Erie St.
6 p.m.

MIAD sculpture lab technician Brian Nigus has self-published books comprising stories of travel, ideas and observations. His presentation will include readings and photos, described as “a platform to inspire one’s own reflections, curiosities and courage to venture into the unknown,”

Tara Bogart will be one of three artists presenting work musing on the symbolic and sculptural aspects of hair at Portrait Society Gallery.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27 

A Modern Hair Study: Tara Bogart
Hair: Demitra Copoulos
Adornment: Nicholas Grider
Portrait Society Gallery
207 E. Buffalo St., 5th Floor
Opening reception 6-9 p.m.
Exhibition continues through November 17.

Portrait Society opens three new exhibitions addressing aspects of hair design as self-expression and metaphor. Tara Bogart’s series of photographs, a project begun in 2011, suggest the styling of hair as a signifier of age, experience, and mood. Bogart says, “In these intimate portraits I am a voyeur concentrating on a generation that is not mine. While certain ideals are often relevant to different generations, the ways in which women adorn and modify themselves often indicates the struggles of a young adult with their own ideology and individuality.”

Demitra Copoulos takes a daring sculptural approach with three-dimensional pieces suggested of hairstyles but transformed through the molding of clay and finished with various types of surface patinas.

Nicholas Grider takes a sculptural approach as well, but uses his head as a locus for embellishment and concealment. He says, “The work in Adornment comes from wondering about the line where decoration stops being decoration and starts to serve another purpose, in this case to obscure or possibly even muzzle and blindfold a human head.”

Tyanna J. Buie, Preparatory study for Father Figure, 2013. Buie will show work at Inova as one of the Nohl Fellowship recipients.

The 2012 Greater Milwaukee Foundation Mary L. Nohl Fellowships Exhibition
Inova
2155 N. Prospect Ave.
Opening reception 6-9 p.m.
Exhibition continues through December 15.

The Mary L. Nohl Fund Fellowships are presented annually to emerging and established artists working in the Milwaukee area, culminating in an exhibition of work created during their fellowship year. In 2012, Danielle Beverly, Faythe Levine and Colin Matthes were the award-winners in the Established Artist category, and Lois Bielefeld, Tyanna J. Buie, Brad Fiore and Paul Kjelland taking the prizes as Emerging Artists. Their works showcase a variety of mediums including film, photography, printmaking, and sculpture. Watch TCD for a preview of this always intriguing exhibition.

Colin Matthes will lead a gallery tour at 7pm, but stick around for his Green Mini Demo Derby, taking place at 8pm.

Bay View Gallery Night
5-10 p.m.

Artists take over up and down Kinnickinnic Avenue and places beyond, with more than 120 exhibitors and 50 businesses showing all manner of visual creations.

The full evening’s schedule can be found on the Bay View Gallery Night website, but some highlights include the Made in Milwaukee fair in the Colectivo Coffee parking lot (2301 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.), the Milwaukee Makerspace (2555 S. Lenox Ave.), plus art and dance at Hide House (2625 S. Greeley St.).

Live music and DJs will also be part of the evening at various locations, including Tonic Tavern (2335 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.) and an after party at Frank’s Power Plant (2800 S. Kinnickinnic Ave.).

Historians John C. Eastberg and Eric Vogel will speak about their extensive new book detailing the extraordinary legacy of the Frederick Layton Collection.

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 29 

Layton’s Legacy: An Historic American Art Collection, 1888-2013
Boswell Book Company
2559 N. Downer Ave.
3 p.m.

Historians John C. Eastberg and Eric Vogel spent five years researching the life and legacy of Milwaukee industrialist Frederick Layton, creating a nuanced and thoughtful portrait of a man who established one of the first single patron art galleries in America.

Layton’s collection became part of the Milwaukee Art Museum, and the monumental tome, Layton’s Legacy: An Historic American Art Collection, 1888-2013 traces the history of his collection through the ensuing decades. Eastberg and Vogel will speak about the book and the many stories represented by the collection, as well as the process of uncovering the history of this important art patron.