Arts & Culture
Milwaukee International
It’s a little late to be posting any coverage of last weekend’s Milwaukee International, and I don’t have much to say for myself – besides that I’ve been thinking about it, sorting out the hour or so of art I saw and the subsequent hour or two of beer I drank at Polish Falcons. There’s a lot to say about Milwaukee International, and it deserves more careful coverage than it’s received. Timelier coverage, too, but that’s another matter. The show (which you can read more about here and here if you need background) was fast and low. It was crowded and god-awful hot as the gallery lights beat down on the exhibition hall, normally reserved for weekly dartball league, which is a game I had no idea existed until Andrew Swant told me about it. The choice of venue may have been in celebration of Milwaukee blue-collar/polka/bowling culture, but make no mistake, it was also completely tongue-in-cheek. This is an art movement — and more widely a cultural movement — that celebrates the unexpected, the kitschy, the almost-condescendingly but incongruously sincere appreciation of low-fi, low-brow, low-cost, low-maintenance. Yes, friends: Milwaukee International is an expo of the best hipster art from around the world. I felt like I was walking through an issue of The Believer, live outtakes from Me and You and Everyone We Know and a Riverwest rummage sale – all at once. Photos by Faythe Levine Mano Izquierda from San Juan presented large, colorful portraits of Magic Johnson, Cookie Monster and other artifacts of the recent past, leaving out sticky notes and writing utensils for viewers to participate in the installation. There were a lot of adorable, poorly-drawn sketches of everything from plastic forks and knives (in what was actually a compelling selection of works on “obsessive consumption” by Kate Bingaman-Burt at the Paperboat Gallery booth) to men and women in their underwear and folks looking mopey to legions of scary, miserable, wobbly-faced troops (presented by Hiromi Yoshii from Tokyo, whose sat miserably by, surrounded by flickering, despondent TV sets piled on cardboard boxes; a groaning post-apocalyptic work that reminded me of a less fluid and exuberant Kristopher Pollard, whom I saw in attendance a few minutes later). The Green Gallery presented a clock made out of tostadas (for $2,000, it can be yours). Perhaps the ultimate in garage sale style was the riotous installation of “Milwaukee Artists 1946-1956″, representing derivative mid-modern works from Milwaukee’s “Layton School” period. The editorial edge classifies such works as “the zenith” of our city’s artistic achievement. Photographs from gallery openings in the era were scattered across the bar; a graph on a nearby wall tracked Milwaukee’s art in a thick red line, with the ‘80s and ‘90s were labeled merely “Drugs” and an arrow crashing below the graph’s threshold where “Milwaukee International” appears. It’s an obvious stab of cheeky sarcasm and a statement about what makes art what it is, who gets to decide and how we all assume that we’re living […]
May 25th, 2008 by Amy Elliott
Before da show
Milwaukee International Polish Falcons Beer Hall 801 E. Clarke Street, Riverwest Friday May 16 (5-9pm) Saturday May 17 (Noon-9pm) It’s Thursday, 1 pm, May 15. Tomorrow at 5 pm, the doors open to reveal the Milwaukee International art fair. I’m standing in the middle of the chaos at the Polish Falcons Beer Hall at 801 E. Clarke Street, deep in the soul of Riverwest, here to give you a taste of what it takes to ready 28 art spaces for exhibitors from as far flung as San Juan (Puerto Rico, not Capistrano), Tokyo, Glasgow, and yes, even M’waukee. Bowling will rumble from the Falcon Bowl in the building’s bowels. It’s the fourth oldest bowling alley in America; Liberace would love it. A distinct air of beer wafts through the hall on the first floor. Groups of volunteers hump booth walls to and fro, a few sporting white hoodies emblazoned with the art fair’s logo. You can purchase a hoodie or a tee for $24 and/or $10 respectively, and they come in really big or really small sizes. A visiting artist from Glasgow made them. “Somebody from Ralph Lauren called me to ask if they could buy some,” says Tyson Reeder, who operates The General Store art venue. “I’m not kidding,” he adds. A huge tray of food arrives from their neighbor across the way (The Riverwest Co-op). It’s almost time to chow down and take a break. Last year the walls were donated for no charge. This year, there may be a slight charge if the fair turns a profit. Booths for non-profit venues rent for $200; for-profits pay $400. All things considered, it’s a deal. So far the group has taken in $4,000 for this year’s extravaganza. Last year they took in $2,000. But they’ll be lucky to clear a grand, and if they do, it rolls over into their next project. No one is getting rich. Everyone is getting happy. From the editor: The walls were paid for, NOT donated, as the organizers of Milwaukee International have made clear in the comment posted below. The generous sponsorship of Thomas Blackman Associates in Chicago assists with the walls, but the are paid for, and nearly all of the booth rental fees charged by MKE INTL go toward wall rental and lighting fees. We regret the error. VS The volunteers and those who donate supplies seem to take pride in being “emotionally invested” in the Fair. Green Gallery proprietor John Riepenhoff lectures at UW-Milwaukee. His subject? How to start an art gallery. He should know. Nick Frank dashes by in a red hoodie. He’s sporting a “new” and rather elaborate growth of facial hair. I remark that he looks like a fugitive from a Goya painting. We move to a corner near the long dark bar where a guy from Cuba show his art. “We almost got a fellow (first name “Valentino”), a taxidermist, but he changed his mind,” said Frank. I asked him about the accusation that local galleries […]
May 16th, 2008 by Stella Cretek
Body Heat
The Milwaukee Public Museum opened Body Worlds on January 18, positioning it as a limited engagement. According to their website, it’s the most highly attended touring exhibition in the world, and promises, in a P.T. Barnum kind of pitch, that you’ll “see the human body like never before.” Before visiting the 200 authentic organs, systems and whole-body displays, I determine not to be sucked in to the show-biz hype. On April 23, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Body Worlds had surpassed expected sales and might net the Museum as much as $2 million in revenue, which would make it the Museum’s most successful and highly attended show of all time. As a grand finale, the exhibition will stay open for 63 hours straight before closing on midnight June 1. Depending on whose side you’re on, the MPM extravaganza is either a marketer’s dream or a marketer’s worst nightmare. In any event, the many incarnations of Body Worlds and its imitators are cranking heat. The temperature rose when ABC’s 20/20 aired an investigative report on the source of the touring cadavers. The New York State Attorney General’s Office has opened an investigation (and issued subpoenas), as has the Chinese government, following an allegation by someone said to be part of a bodies black market that sold Chinese corpses, including executed prisoners, for $300. Dr. Gunther Von Hagens, Body Worlds head honcho and the inventor of the plastination process which sucks out fat and body fluids and replaces them with liquid plastic, tried to soften things by saying he “had to destroy some bodies” as he suspected they were execution victims. Apparently folks are packing an Ohio exhibition (Bodies: The Exhibition) entombed at the Cincinnati Museum Center, where museum officials claim everything is above board. My sister writes from Kansas City that a similar exhibition (another rival of Body Worlds) is installed in a small museum space in the historic Union Station. She isn’t going to see the stuff because to her mind, “it is voyeuristic.” I too hoped that the MPM exhibition wouldn’t trigger any peep-show tendencies. My father was a forensic pathologist, and by the time I was a young adult, I’d had it with his dinner table discussions of organs. He was generous with his body, though; when he died he willed it to the University of Kansas for medical research and spent time floating around in a brine tank with a numbered tag attached to his toe. Hopefully a medical student benefited when they hooked Father with a long pole and pulled forth their personal cadaver. But the science of medical dissections as practiced today, thanks to Von Hagens’ ongoing development of plastination, may soon disappear. As I write, I’m reminded of a former Wisconsin physician who, when last sighted, was working for a Cryogenics firm in Arizona. His job was to sever the heads from the corpses of those wishing to find everlasting life via a process similar to freeze-drying. The late baseball player Ted Williams […]
May 14th, 2008 by Stella Cretek
Life’s remedy
By Charise Dawson One Milwaukeean has no trouble likening medicine to art. Dr. Curt Kommer, a Milwaukee artist and physician, will exhibit his artwork in his first gallery show at Lakeshore Gallery. The exhibit, Travelogues, a collection of oil and acrylic paintings, runs May 2 through May 31. According to Kommer, being an artist is like being a doctor: both roles require discipline and detail. “When I sit down, I can bring a lot of focus in it. A lot of the qualities of a doctor require the same focus and detail that artists need.” During his work as a family physician, Kommer made house calls to former UWM Professor of Art Joseph Friebert. The two discussed art and the late Friebert asked Kommer to show him his paintings. His encouragement inspired Kommer to continue showing other people his artwork. “He passed away about two years ago. I know he’d be so proud of me,” Kommer said. For the internationally known artist, painting was Friebert’s lifetime work. According to Kommer, he was still painting at 89 years old and reworking pieces he had done 30 years ago. “I used to be so sensitive about revising my work. You don’t want a physician who isn’t a perfectionist. You want him to get it exactly right the first time. But in art, you can start over. Friebert showed me that art is a living thing. It evolves. As it develops, we may change our minds,” said Kommer. Kommer, a Chicago native, had never left the city until he was 18. As a Chinese interpreter in the military, he took watercolor classes in Asia to relax. Ten years ago, his wife bought him a set of oil paints. He now uses oils and acrylics to create textures in his paintings. He received his M.D. from the University of California at Davis. Kommer has been with Columbia St. Mary’s since 1985. He is semi-retired from his family practice and works half-time in urgent care. Since his semi-retirement, Kommer wanted to see if any gallery would consider showing his paintings. Roger Tsang at Lakeshore Gallery was the first person he approached, and though Tsang really liked Kommer’s work, Cranston in the Third Ward was the first to show his art. Kommer and Tsang kept in touch, and about a year ago, the gallery showed and sold some of Kommer’s artwork. He was delighted when Tsang offered to have an entire show of Kommer’s work at Lakeshore Gallery. Kommer, who paints in the back bedroom of his house, said that seeing his paintings on the wall of the gallery, professionally lit, was thrilling. The exhibition is the first time the artist has seen all of his paintings in one place. “I’ve got some butterflies,” Kommer admitted about his first opening night reception at Lakeshore Gallery, a chance for art-lovers to meet the artist. “I don’t know if they are expecting me to walk around with a pipe and talk about every detail of each painting,” he […]
May 6th, 2008 by Vital Archives
funny stuff in January at the Pabst
Although not a household stand-up name like Jerry Seinfeld or George Carlin, Jim Gaffigan is one of the funniest, strangest, most acerbic and affable comedians on the circuit today – which is probably why the Pabst Theater took a risk in booking him as the featured act on New Year’s Eve (the December 30 date was added when demand became high) instead of some hip young musicians like last year’s party with cult rock group Cake.
Dec 27th, 2007 by Brian Jacobson
Cinco Jugueteros de Venezuela @ Latino Arts Center
I hate sounding like Scrooge, but my memory bank is filled with nights-before-Christmas spent assembling toys for my kids. If you’ve ever tried finding a minuscule screw in inch-high shag carpeting, you know what I mean. There were endless batteries to test, a parade of dolls (Chatty Kathy, Baby Wets, Raggedy Ann) and, atop our aluminum tree, a revolving purple-and-blue light on the fritz. And where were Barbie’s pink shoes and Ken’s shirt? Would my 5-year-old like the green cowboy boots I bought in Mexico? I learned later that not one kid in his preppy pre-school wore cowboy boots, let alone green ones. What was I thinking? The turkey thawing in the kitchen seemed to be the only thing not giving me tizzies. On these nightmares before Christmas, I slugged down extra eggnog. Cinco Jugueteros de Venezuela (Handcrafted Venezuelan Toys) was scheduled to open Friday, December 7 (5pm-7pm) at the Latino Arts Center, 1028 S. 9th St. When I arrived for the gala opening, it had been rescheduled. The new date is Friday, January 4, 2008. The show will run through January, so you’ll be able to greet the New Year with a selection of toys crafted entirely by hand, with no assembly required and no lead-paint problems. As I write this, the shipment of toys is sitting somewhere in Memphis, held up due to changes in Venezuelan shipping regulations. “The toys don’t talk, they don’t walk. They run entirely by imagination,” said Zulay Oszkay, a member of the Milwaukee Arts Board and Artistic Director of Latino Arts, Inc. She added that she and her staff had painted the 300 sq. ft. auditorium room entirely white so as to better “show off” the toys. They tracked the Fed-Ex shipment for several days, right up to the last minute, but alas! No toys in time for the December 7 opening. The toys were to be accompanied by the artisans who made them, but they were unable to get visas for the visit. While writing this, I found a website blasting Venezuela’s President, Hugo Chavez. It seems he thinks Barbie and Ken represent “disgusting stupidity”; his holiday choices are items made in Venezuela. For boys, he suggests wooden rocking horses and/or “Ilaneros” (cowboys), and for girls … rag dolls. However, I doubt if politico Chavez was actually thinking about simpler times. Call him a dictator or a Democrat; he does seem a bit sexist when it comes to toys. Venezuela is in the throes of political turmoil, which contributed to the delayed shipment of toys. As Zulay and I sipped coffee and chatted in the auditorium, kids came in to participate in “toy-making” workshops and the United Community Center Youth Cuatro Ensemble arrived to perform. Images of the exquisite toys flashed by on a nearby television screen. Despite the cancellation of the opening, the mood was upbeat and the room sparkled with decorated trees. This is a wonderful facility and worth a visit anytime. Later in the evening, a friend and I […]
Dec 10th, 2007 by Judith Ann Moriarty
A Christmas Carol
Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol at a time when there was a new focus on our growing human family and the plight of the poor. It was also a time when the urban Christmas tradition had started to lose meaning. Although a century or so has passed, A Christmas Carol still reminds us of the importance of charity and love for humanity that’s especially pertinent this time of year.
Dec 6th, 2007 by Vital Archives
A Cudahy Caroler Christmas
Bringing back that “old Cudahy Caroler magic” is Stasch Zielinski’s mission in A Cudahy Caroler Christmas, In Tandem Theatre’s co-presentation with the Marcus Center and a Milwaukee holiday favorite. Returning to Vogel Hall in the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts Thanksgiving weekend, this production features both new and returning cast members.
Dec 4th, 2007 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
Carrying A Knife In To The Gunfight
His real name is Edmund Makowski, but around town he’s known as poet Eddie Kilowatt. It suits him to a tee: his persona is electric indeed, and it shines through in his slender new book of poetry, Carrying A Knife In To The Gunfight.
Dec 1st, 2007 by Judith Ann Moriarty
Art vs. Craft
After seven rounds, nationally-recognized Art vs. Craft has become a Milwaukee institution – by way of minimally institutional principles. Also an anomaly: over 75 progressively-minded, “new wave” artists, crafters and designers will be vending their handmade and independent wares – just in time for the holiday feeding frenzy.
Dec 1st, 2007 by Amber Herzog
12 Days – A Milwaukee Christmas
How many teachers inspire and believe in their young students? First Stages Children’s Theater musical play, 12 Days – A Milwaukee Christmas, is the adapted true story of Miss Emily Brown, a Downer College Professor whose Christmas theatrical productions became legendary in Milwaukee at the turn of the century. First Stage presents this holiday offering as a world premiere, written by Playwright-In-Residence James DeVita. DeVita is well-known to Milwaukee and Madison audiences as a core company member at the American Player’s Theater in Spring Green and, more recently, as the author of last year’s one-man show, Dickens In America, staged by Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. This children’s play reprises his admiration for Dickens as he incorporates elements of the English author’s stories and words from the “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” which Emily Brown is credited with bringing to America from England. Money and supplies are scarce in 1917, during World War I, and Emily Brown, now a grade-school teacher, struggles to stage her Christmas play. The Scrooge-like principal, Mrs. Crudgens, orders the pageant cancelled, but the students heed Miss Brown’s words: “In this class, as in life, an effort is required.” They go caroling to earn the funds, and in the end, in true Dickensian fashion, minds are changed, hearts are won and everyone enjoys the final presentation. Traditional carols and falling snow sprinkle this First Stage production with charm. Sarah Day as Emily Brown brings energy to the stage throughout the 90 minutes, and her chemistry with Bo Johnson, playing Polish-American school employee Mr. Horace, adds a touch of tenderness to the slightly contrived plot. The Pear Cast, one of two sets of child actors alternating throughout the run, contributed ample talent to the humorous and light-hearted performance on opening night. An interesting historical set and period costumes accent the production. In the final scene, the students wear “homemade” costumes like plum pudding and buttered dinner rolls, which delighted all ages in the audience as they finished with a sing-along of the title carol. Ultimately the production offers some important ideas for discussion throughout this festive season: often life requires an effort, an imaginative effort, especially when difficulties arise. As Miss Brown quotes from Dickens to her students, trying to encourage them to see beyond their own circumstances, she says, “Without imagination, there can be no compassion.” First Stage’s 12 Days – A Milwaukee Christmas uses both imagination and effort to tell this family-friendly story of Christmas hope and how one person’s efforts can change lives in the smallest of ways. Perhaps with true Dickens conviction, adults and children will remember to make these compassionate efforts throughout the holiday season. And believe – as Mr. Horace and Emily Brown believe – that “Christmas is not complicated. Christmas is Christmas. Heaven bless us!” First Stage Children’s Theater presents 12 Days – A Milwaukee Christmas in the Todd Wehr Theater at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts through December 24. For information: 414.273.7206
Nov 28th, 2007 by Peggy Sue Dunigan
An American Portrait
Art and social commentary have always been kissing cousins. In a sense, all art is social commentary, as it reflects artists’ views of the world they inhabit. Whether that reflection is viewed in a straight mirror or distorted like a fun-house mirror is the choice of the artist. In Running the Numbers: An American Portrait, Chris Jordan set out to “look at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics.” Each large image represents a specific statistic in visual format: one depicts fifteen million sheets of office paper, representing five minutes of paper usage in America. The stacks of paper tower and wobble like something out of Dr. Seuss’ nightmares. The artist’s hope is that the visual impact of “seeing” these statistics will make the way we live and the vast, ever-increasing complexity of American society accessible to individuals. His thought is that the enormous numbers in most statistics are incomprehensible. What, exactly, does 3.6 million SUV sales a year look like? Our brains can’t fathom it; the numbers are too large. But a picture created out of all the Denali nameplates sold in a year, arranged in pointillist fashion to recreate the peaceful mountain scene used in Denali commercials, has an impact. Looking at each individual name plate, you are struck by the enormity of that number in a way that simply reading it can’t accomplish. The piece is titled “Denali Denial,” in an extension of that social commentary. If everyone drove such a vehicle, there would be no more peaceful mountain scenes of crisp air and fresh water. My favorite piece of the exhibition is called “Painkillers.” In it, 213,000 Vicodin pills swirl around a center point, a maelstrom of small, white ovoid shapes. It’s like they’re circling the drain, about to go the through the tubes and hit rock bottom. And at the same time, it’s like being high, unable to control what’s going on and letting it all just swirl around you, content to be passive. The number of pills in the composition is equal to the number of emergency room visits every year related to the abuse or misuse of prescription painkillers. Running the Numbers: An American Portrait opened at the UWM Union Art Gallery on November 15, 2007 and will run through December 14, 2007. The gallery’s hours and upcoming events can be found on its website, http://www.aux.uwm.edu/Union/events/gallery/.
Nov 28th, 2007 by Ryan Findley
