Press Release

Artwork Comprised of Multiple Parts Showcased in Upcoming Racine Art Museum Exhibition

By Racine Art Museum - Apr 19th, 2021 11:36 am

Nancy Hild. Allegory of the Seven Sins, 1996. Acrylic on panel. Each 20 x 17 inches. Racine Art Museum, Gift of Linda R. James and Mary F. McAuley

Racine, WI April 19, 2021

Open June 2, 2021 through February 12, 2022 at the Racine Art Museum (RAM), Component Parts: Artworks Made of Multiple Elements features works from the museum’s permanent collection that are comprised of multiple parts—whether they be a single complex object or a series of several pieces unified as one work.

Artworks made of multiple elements are not new to the modern era but contemporary artists have pushed their direction and visual potential. Through conceptual, metaphorical, and experimental lenses, artists literally make one object, or one ultimate work, out of many pieces. Component Parts features a wide range of media and approaches—both two and three-dimensional—that expand this conversation.

Sculptural configurations made of individual pieces can register as single objects with layers of information. Examples include Beth Lipman’s Still Life with Detritus, a sublime re-imagining in glass and wood of a historical still-life—including the table it rests upon—and Eddie Dominguez’s Fish Dinner, a wall-mounted ceramic relief that cleverly uses underwater life-themed dinnerware to evoke an aquarium. Whereas Nancy Hild’s painting group, Allegory of Seven Sins, could be understood as seven individual pieces, its narrative is most powerful when all of the paintings are considered in relation to one another. This part-to-whole idea is further underscored with print portfolios by individual artists—where one or two pieces could stand in for the whole but a different message is conveyed when larger numbers of works are viewed together at once.

The works in this exhibition are united by conceptual choices in presentation yet reflect a variety of perspectives and subject matter—from cultural, historical, and domestic issues to material and formal creative investigations.

Exhibitions at Racine Art Museum are made possible by: Platinum Sponsors—Anonymous, Nicholas and Nancy Kurten, Windgate Foundation, Wisconsin Department of Administration; Diamond Sponsors—Osborne and Scekic Family Foundation, Ruffo Family Foundation; Gold Sponsors—Anonymous, David Charak, Tom and Irene Creecy, David Flegel, Herzfeld Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, Racine Community Foundation, Kathy Robins, Trio Foundation of St. Louis, W.T. Walker Group, Inc., Wisconsin Arts Board; Silver Sponsors—A.C. Buhler Family, Andis Foundation, Lucy G. Feller, Ben and Dawn Flegel, Ron and Judith Isascs, Johnson Bank, Bill Keland, Dorothy MacVicar, RDK Foundation, Inc., Real Racine; Bronze Sponsors—Anonymous, Susan Boland, Virginia Buhler, Cotsen Foundation for Academic Research, Educators Credit Union, Fredrick and Deborah Ganaway, Tom and Sharon Harty, Tony and Andrea Hauser, The Norbell Foundation, Bill and Mary Walker; Media Sponsor—Wisconsin Public Radio.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

Mentioned in This Press Release

People: Beth Lipman, Bill Keland, David Charak, David Flegel, Dawn Flegel, Deborah Ganaway, Dorothy MacVicar, Irene Creecy, Judith Isascs, Lucy G. Feller, Mary Walker, Nancy Hild, Nancy Kurten, Sharon Harty, Susan Boland, Virginia Buhler

Organizations: Educators Credit Union, Herzfeld Foundation, Johnson Bank, Wisconsin Public Radio

Government: Department of Administration, Department of Administration

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