Gallery Night Picks

The quarterly Gallery Night is a pivotal mark on the Milwaukee art calendar as many galleries open new exhibitions and various locations participate in a weekend of artistic display. The problem is, there’s 73 venues listed as participating in this season’s Fall Gallery Night and Day, October 18 and 19, so deciding what to see isn’t always so easy.

Here’s a way to help you decide: a few picks from each neighborhood, which will hopefully be able to simplify your gallery adventures this weekend. For the full list, visit the Historic Third Ward’s website. See you out with the art!

EAST SIDE  

Tyanna J. Buie, Preparatory study for Father Figure, 2013. Courtesy Inova.

Nohl Fellowship Exhibition 

Inova

2155 N. Prospect Avenue

Friday 5 to 9 p.m.; Saturday 12 to 5 p.m.

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. For more details on the show, check out this extended review.

DOWNTOWN

Big Bangs, Small Bucks IV

Dean Jensen Gallery 

759 N. Water Street

Friday 6 to 9 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The premise of this group exhibition is that all of the work is priced at $1000 or less, described as “modeled somewhat after Filene’s annual “Running of the Brides” wedding dress sale.” Make no mistake, the artists involved are far above bargain-basement caliber. Some of the most prominent artists in the area are shown, including Tyanna J. Buie, Santiago Cucullu, David Niec, Leslie Smith III, Claire Stigliani and Sonja Thomsen. If you are in the market for something extraordinary to live with, hurry on down. Even if not, stop in for a wealth of surprises.

A Working Ranch – Photography by Jim Brozek  

Jim Brozek’s photographs of ranch life are on view at the Grohmann Museum.

Grohmann Museum

1000 N. Broadway

Friday 5 to 9 p.m.; Saturday 12 to 6 p.m.

The current exhibition at the Grohmann Museum is Jim Brozek’s photographic exhibition, A Working Ranch, which documents the experiences of cowboys on the trail and in the corral. Brozek’s photographs stem from his work in New Mexico during the late 1970s and early 1980s but remain timeless reflections on the rigors and rewards of life on the range.

THIRD WARD 

The Brooks@20: Twenty Years of Design at the Brooks Stevens Gallery of Industrial Design

Co/exist: New Sensibilities in Collage

GraceMarie Keaton & Sheila Wagner (Chicago), Samantha Bittman & Francisco Cordero-Oceguera (Minneapolis)

Layton’s Legacy Book Signing and Video Presentations

Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design

273 E. Erie Street

Exhibitions open Friday 5 to 9 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Book signing and video, Friday 6 to 8 p.m.

MIAD galleries are in full swing, with a slate of exhibitions covering industrial design, explorations of collage influenced by digital art and a new exhibition curated by the collaborative group Swim Team. Historians John C. Eastberg and Eric Vogel, who spent five years researching the life and legacy of Milwaukee industrialist Frederick Layton, will present a video related their monumental tome, Layton’s Legacy: An Historic American Art Collection, 1888-2013. A book signing will follow and the video repeated throughout the evening on Friday.

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

Marshall Building 

207 E. Buffalo Street

Gallery hours vary; most are open Friday 5 to 9pm, Saturday 10am to 5pm.

As usual the Marshall Building will be a vibrant epicenter for viewing, as the building offers galleries and art spaces throughout six floors. Some highlights to check out include Elaine Erickson Gallery, opening an exhibition of tribal arts from Africa, New Guinea and South America, along with new work by artist Kenn Kwint. Sadler Gallery, on the second floor consistently shows extraordinary paintings, including the luminous figurative work of Sasha Kinens. On the fifth floor, Portrait Society Gallery continues Tara Bogart: A Modern Hair Study, Demitra Copoulos: Hair and Nicholas Grider: Adornment, exploring conjunctions of personal style and identity.

WALKER’S POINT 

21st Annual Dia de los Muertos Exhibition 

Walker’s Point Center for the Arts

839 S. 5th Street

Friday 5 to 9 p.m.; Saturday 12 to 5 p.m.

WPCA carries on the tradition of exhibiting ofrendas created by artists and community members. The altars and offerings are a commemoration of the deceased, filled with poignant symbols and the vibrant spirit surrounding the Day of the Dead.