Stories of Summer
Color studies, florals and fibers come into focus in these late summer shows.
Idris Khan (British, b. 1978), The Seasons Turn, 2021. Oil on mounted paper. 28 panels, each: 25 1/2 x 21 1/2 in. (64 x 54.5 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Sean Kelly. © Idris Khan
Once again, the Milwaukee Art Museum has curated a show that is not to be missed. Idris Khan’s first solo exhibition in the United States blends color theory, textural layering and repetition, and has been expertly curated to encourage the viewer to slow down and consider all the formal elements at play. The careful viewer will even see connections to the MAM’s own permanent collection in Khan’s analytical works. The show ends mid-month, but there are other options for infusing your late summer with visual art that complements the sunny aura of August.
Walker’s Point Center for the Arts
Future Fibers
Through March 1st
Gallery Hours: Saturday and Sunday 1 p.m. – 6 p.m. and by appointment
839 South 5th Street
Linda Marcus’s “Sleep on It” series of dyed and embroidered bed sheets are cut with neon and stitched with words like doubt, terror, panic, and choice. Where do we go when we sleep, and when we wake up before the night is over? Invasive thoughts shoot across the nightly landscape, like bright lights with no clear point of origin or termination. Kyoung Ae Cho’s contributions to the show underscore the artists’ relationship to nature in textiles that lift off the flat plane. Thom Romero’s crochet skills are on display in sculptural nets that layer and flow through the color spectrum. Future Fibers looks to the present and future to define the state of fiber art today. Textile art, from ancient times until now, recognizes its own balance between practical use and conceptual artistry. Stories begin and end within the boundaries of a quilt. Our industrial and agricultural histories are reasserted through natural dyes and fibers. The work in this exhibition incorporates personal narratives, language, and whimsy to prod the viewer towards many potential versions of textile art.
Tory Folliard Gallery
Summer in Wisconsin group exhibition
Through September 7th
Tuesday-Friday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
233 N. Milwaukee St.
Still life paintings and florals are abundant in this exhibition, which aims to capture the essence of summer in this Upper Midwest environment. It is cultural and agricultural, with an emphasis placed on pastimes (fishing, sailing, and sitting outside) most enjoyable in the summer. Tory Folliard presents a range of artists and more that 100 new works on display and celebrates both emerging and established artists. Go for Mary Alice Wimmer’s still life series, which props vibrant nasturtium, melons, and nests against a deep black background. Spend time with Dennis Nechvatal’s patterned mixed media works, which blend portraiture and painting in a piece that evokes tribal masks. Jessica Calderwood’s clay and felt sculptures are sweet and strange, with dainty legs in ballet flats emerging from their bulbous forms. Taken together, the extent of forms, color, and style presented in this collection encapsulates something ephemeral about summer in Wisconsin—a quality of light and richness, of sweetness, that has proven so difficult to contain.
Milwaukee Art Museum
Idris Khan, Repeat After Me
Through August 11th
Wednesday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m
Thursday 10 a.m.-8- p.m.
Friday-Sunday 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
The museum presents British artist Idris Khan’s first solo exhibition in the United States. Although Khan has been exhibiting since the mid 2000s, his practice has adapted from photography to sculpture to painting. This timeline is palpable in the exhibition, where the audience can see work from 20 years ago all the way up until very recently. Repeat After Me is a nod to the artist’s use of repetition in his work and the ways in which repetition has made an impression on the artist throughout his life. Growing up in an Islamic household, Khan experienced the ritual of praying five times a day, the studious discipline of fasting, and the visual patterns that emerged in pages of the Qur’an. Throughout his career, Khan has played with layering and repeating images, and now has turned his attention towards expressing his influences and exploring techniques with color. He selects colors from paintings by Baroque and Dutch masters, performs an artistic analysis of their use, and applies the selected colors to his own process and style. This allows Khan to echo traditions apparent throughout religion, culture, and art history while refining his own practice as it evolves across mediums. This special exhibition concludes on August 11th.
The Scout Summer Showcase
Through August 30th
Monday: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Wednesday: 3 p.m. – 6p.m.
Thursday: 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.
Located in the Hide House in Bay View: 2625 S. Greeley St #110
The Scout Summer Showcase is a specially curated show of local artwork that captures fun, summery colors and subjects. The show features works by Dan Fleming, John Kowalczyk, Dena Nord, Sara Risley, Jeff Redmon, Brett Newski, Eric Koester, Carol Rode Curley and others. Scout Gallery operates on a model of supporting the artists they exhibit by encouraging sales and working with collectors one-on-one. There is perhaps less focus on the curatorial flow within the gallery and more on the individual pieces for sale, which can all be viewed and purchased on the Scout Gallery website. In cases like these where an individual cannot easily access the space and view the exhibition in person, I encourage interested parties to peruse the catalogue of work online, identify a few pieces you’d like to see in person, and contact the gallery with a request to visit. The Scout organizers are wonderful supporters of fine art in Milwaukee and will work with you every step of the way. Not sure what you need, but have some space to fill? Bring gallery leader Jeff Redmon a picture of the wall you wish to fill and he can help you decide.
Kim Storage Gallery
Megan Woodard Johnson: Memorable Ordinary
Through August 31st
Sunday – Monday: By Appointment
Tuesday – Friday: 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Saturday: 11 a.m.- 4 p.m.
207 E. Buffalo St.
Suite 404
Johnson’s abstract paintings are classic and inspired. Each quadrant of every painting can be isolated and examined as a fully formed composition, as if studying the works through a viewfinder could reveal a hundred potential ways these paintings could have evolved. Printed words and images are revealed beneath thin acrylic layers in these mixed media pieces, adding to the sense that the artist has allowed for surprise and spontaneity while maintaining the control abstract painting demands. Apricot tones, seafoam greens, and pomegranate reds are abundant throughout the series, and close observation reveals a linkage between the colors that are more complex than blending. Johnson’s Memorable Ordinary series overlays the expressive atop the readymade, and with titles like An Exceptionally Fun Party and Summer Road Trip: Punch Buggy Yellow, each painting tells a story that connects to seasonal evocations.
By my last count, there are 28 festivals happening in Milwaukee in August. Visual art may not be the dominant pastime this month as galleries continue to show work through this celebratory season, but there are still opportunities to tuck into a few of these exhibitions for a brief reprieve from, or as an addition too, a busy social calendar.
Annie Raab has been writing about art since 2014 for print and online publications. You can find more of her critical and creative writing at www.annieraab.com. She lives in Milwaukee.
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