Shimmy like jelly on a plate

Last Saturday evening, September 5, I found myself in the ballroom of the Tripoli Shrine Temple at 3000 W. Wisconsin. It was my first visit to the 1928 structure built to resemble the Taj Mahal, and the parking lot was filling fast when I swung into the guarded space and walked through the south entrance to the wonders beyond. The blaze-orange ticket in my hand said “Jim Boz, Middle Eastern Dance Performance Showcase.” For those not in the know, Boz is a leading figure in the art of belly dancing, and he traveled here from San Diego to pump the evening’s lineup of participants. In the lobby fronting the hall – a lobby dripping with intricate mosaics and entwined tiles – a bar was doing a brisk business near a splashing fountain lit with multi-colored lights. Local photographer John December was busy taking shots of spangled ladies descending the impressive staircase. Here and there, clumps of women arrayed in gauzy somethings drifted by. In the grand ballroom, multiple vendors hawking multiple items necessary for exhibitionism exotica, waited to sell humongous hookahs, glittering headpieces, wild skirts and tops, and well, whatever one needs to shimmy and shake like sister Kate. On with the show. In three segments with three 15 minute intermissions, out came a diverse assortment of smiling dancers, ready to do their thing to the beat of canned music: students led by their teachers and brave dancers prepared to perform solo. All except two were women. One of the two male dancers, Richard Gaeta, is a friend of my sister, and earlier in the evening we had cocktails and eats at the Arts & Crafts home he shares with his partner. Richard confided he was very nervous about the whole thing (and never ever does he eat prior to performing), though he needn’t have fretted as he did just fine during his dance with a woman and the one other male, a veritable snake of a man who has been taking lessons for only four months. I wasn’t able to get a good photograph as I was sitting at the back of the room along with several people who were recording the entire night for posterity. The cheering audience (estimated at several hundred) seemed to be made up of mostly cheering and clapping friends and relatives of the performers. I heard an elderly lady comment, “40 years ago, I took belly dancing lessons.” A woman in a wheelchair with two huge oxygen tanks strapped to the back, clapped and cheered like crazy too, as if she was about ready to leap onto the stage and fling a few. Not all of the evening’s events were strictly mid-east in persuasion – for example, a lovely interpretative dancer gave her interpretation of “Amazing Grace,” dedicated sweetly to her mom and grandmother who were likely sitting upfront. Another performed with a genuine white snake draped around her body, giving rise to my fears that PETA types were lurking somewhere near the room’s […]

Ups & Downs

Mary Louise Schumacher, the art critic for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, beat everyone to the punch with her announcement of Nick Frank’s appointment as the “permanent” curator of Inova. “Permanent” is a rather risky word to use in the world of art, but after serving for several years as Inova’s “interim” curator, at least it seems Frank is more or less settled in. Inova operates under the banner of UW-Milwaukee’s Peck School of the Arts, and certainly it is no big secret that monies to carry forward will depend on grants, and as Schumacher wrote in a Frank quote, the “cooperation of artists.” It’s hard to believe the Inova galleries won’t be swamped with a tsunami of artists wanting to exhibit in the almost-new space on Kenilworth. In fact, their “cooperation” will likely be overwhelming. Schumacher recently asked in her online space, if the placement of the admission desk in Windhover Hall at MAM is, perhaps, inappropriate for the carefully designed Calatrava addition. Far worse to my mind are the cheesy banners in the hall, the brainchild of former executive director David Gordon, and you can add to that gripe the morphing of the east wing (formerly the space for displaying strong sculptures) to a place to sip strong coffee. The north end of the east wing, a messy entry point to the old museum, resembles a mall kiosk. These are only a few of my unfavorite changes. Of course, it isn’t the job of the museum’s board to micro-manage all the clutter. They have enough to do with keeping the bottom-line stable. During a visit last week, I ran into artist Taffnie Bogart, who is currently employed as a security person at MAM. Her spouse, painter Bruce Dorrow, is recovering from a very serious viral inflammation of his heart, and Taffnie, ever the trouper, jumped in to help with medical bills. The summer 08 Wings newsletter from the Milwaukee Public Museum has a list titled “Body Worlds by the Numbers,” including 20 tons of ice used for fountain drinks sold, 338,593 persons attending the extravaganza, and 200 light bulbs changed in the exhibit. From Tuesday, September 9 through Friday, September 12, the museum will be closed to the public for major cleaning and maintenance. Anyone grousing about the inoperable powwow turntable, will be happy to know a new turntable is being fabricated and will be up and running in the fall of 2009. The Forest County Potawatomi Community Foundation chipped in on the $260,000 project.

Do Rags Make the Woman?

My first dance demanded a special dress…long, lavish, and designed to fit a movie star like Rita Hayworth. It was nowhere near Cindy McCain’s controversial pumped up pumpkin-colored princess ensemble she wore at the Republican convention. Ah no, the dress of my dreams cost nowhere near the estimated $300,000 Cindy frock, but in all fairness, her outfit included a Chanel watch, diamond earrings and real pearls. The result made her look like Glenda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz. What was she thinking? As I write, I’m thinking about fashionistas of the political persuasion. I’ve lived long enough to view quite a few, including Bess Truman who looked like a frump, no matter what her spouse, Harry S. said she could spend. My favorite era was Ike’s reign when Mamie-of-the-short bangs was on his arm instead of his mistress. Mamie favored tiny snippets of tiny hats. It’s odd isn’t it how specific items of clothing define life’s route? Now that Mad Men is on the tube, I can identify fully with the nipped-in waist and crinoline thing, though when I was in my late twenties, living in a suburban tri-level, I was given to aping Jackie-O, whose spending must have driven Jack mad. She of the dark eyes and languid limbs made fashion exciting enough that I rushed out and bought two sheath dresses (with matching pumps). Hidden in my bathroom drawer was a “fall,” i.e. fake hair meant to be worn with a wide headband. Jackie did it, so I did too. Dressing to kill extended to nights at the Milwaukee Symphony, where I sat regally in a box seat, gowned in a black and white ball gown with matching elbow-length white gloves. If she could do it, so could I. Pat Nixon (usually out of sight), Betty Ford (a former dancer given to drink), and Ladybird Johnson weren’t exactly runway material, but they weren’t exactly frumps either. Nancy Reagan preferred chic Republican Red, and compared to Nancy, Laura Bush is positively saintly in sensible suits with cropped jackets and slim skirts. Rosalind Carter’s clothes never ever called attention to Rosalind per se, and compared to Cindy, Jimmy shelled out a fairly modest amount of peanuts for R’s rags. Hillary’s traveling pants suits were (and are) reliably hilarious in their diverse hues, and certainly their dull styling sends a message that Hil isn’t given to letting her clothes wear her. Sarah Palin passes muster (barely), even in her moose-hunting ensemble and 70s rock ‘n roll hair. Michele Obama? I recently read that one of her outfits tallied in at over a grand. That said, a simple frock she wore during the run-up was designed by a graduate of Mount Mary College here in Beer Town. Perhaps all female candidates (wives or otherwise), should appear gowned in sackcloth, a crown of thorns on their heads, for who knows when a cub reporter wearing a Target special will leap from the bushes and report each and every fashion detail? […]

Gripe list

I visited the Milwaukee Art Museum today, specifically to re-see Unmasked & Anonymous in the Koss Gallery. As I passed the Gilbert & George show, it was in the process of being taken down. While roaming the galleries I decided to make a mental list of the irritating stuff that is cluttering the glorious Calatrava addition. Note: The September 2, 2008 issue of the New Yorker has a big spread on Santiago Calatrava, a portion of which is devoted to interviews with Russell Bowman (former executive director) and Daniel Keegan (current executive director). The article includes great Robert Polidori photographs of Windhover Hall. In the same issue is a blurb about local filmmaker Chris Smith (American Movie) and Mark Borchardt. The AM film screened recently at the Museum of Modern Art. So anyway: THE LIST. Yes, the current desks in the reception area are dumb, but dumber still are the banners hung hither and yon, as if visitors didn’t have the good sense to figure out what was going on. Flashing television screens belong in the Sensory Overload exhibit, not in the reception hall. On the day I visited, the messy kiosk-like arrangement at the entry to the “old” museum was gone, but probably only temporarily, though I hope otherwise. A clutch of black leather chairs have been clustered at the end of the east wing, but they face a blank wall. Bring back the sculptures that once graced that area, please. Beneath the Laura Owens’ paintings in the contemporary area of the old museum, a barrier of sorts was in place, and I guess it is there to keep children from rushing forth to touch the doggies depicted in Ms. Owens’ works. The former room where Peg Bradley once entertained special guests is still lovely (except for the thick layer of dust on a buffet in her formerly “private” dining room), but as you move nearer to the east facing bank of windows (splashed with the doo-doo of gulls), you’re treated to a big flapping ugly exterior banner touting the coming of the ACT/REACT (interactive art) extravaganza opening October 4. I’ll zip my lips until it opens, but my idea of visiting a museum to view art does not include waving my arms about to “interact.” Before exiting, I passed the lone lady (with a bucket of white paint) whose job it is to forever and ever keep the paint looking spiff. In all of this stuff, there is some good news. MAM is now publishing its Insider series on a quarterly basis. The first issue’s format looks slick and has expanded to include informative articles, interviews, features, etc. Their spin is “by switching to a quarterly print schedule, we have reduced the amount of paper used to produce it.” If the museum really wants to cut costs and be environmentally responsible, they should cease heating and air-conditioning the garage below the addition. The savings would be astronomical. I’m only guessing.

Farwell goes Atomic

Monster Mash

There’s a major battle gathering fury on Prospect Avenue. New Land Enterprises is trying to push through a condo tower on the site of the historic Goll Mansion, which NLE guy, Boris Gokhman, purchased several years ago. One of the area residents said it would include a tall obelisk on the east end, not unlike “Boris Giving Milwaukee The Finger.” The proposed condo will be only slightly more discrete than the Layfayette condo development looming to the north, which residents also tried to stop as did existing residents around Downer Avenue where Boris built the world’s ugliest parking structure which diminished neighboring properties, including the family home of alderman, Nic Kovac. So is Boris giving Milwaukee “the finger?” Is Alderman Bob Bauman, in tandem with Boris, also sticking it to area residents? Do we need yet another condo development? What happens if these mighty monoliths crumble in a sagging economy? On the same once lovely avenue (a former trail for Sauk Indians), the towering “Breakwater” condo is rising under the tutelage of developer Peter Renner, who promises the lobby will rival that of Roman emperors. Driving up Prospect from the south, the Breakwater thing is atrocious when viewed behind and beyond two mansions on the Westside of the avenue. Residents on Prospect have another name for “Breakwater”; they call it “Breakwind.” Everyone is entitled to freedom of expression, even the developers who mash us with these monsters. Anyone reading this blog who is concerned with the relentless march of monoliths on Prospect Avenue is urged by Stella to contact {encode=”rjbauma@milwaukee.gov” title=”Alderman Robert Bauman”} and/or {encode=”nkovac@milwaukee.gov” title=”Alderman Nic Kovac”}. Will they have their fingers in their ears?

Grunt green, pea green, etc.

It isn’t easy being green. Check out the paint job on the parking garage on the east side of Downer Avenue. You know the one we mean. The one that’s big ugly and THERE. The addition of green paint laid on in confusing configurations is a bit like putting lipstick on a pig. Further south on Farwell, in the block where dwelleth “Mr. Shoe,” two more buildings are undergoing paint mania. The orange-ish 50’s Atomic design on the building on the west side of the Farwell drag strip is actually fun, but the one across from it is not to be believed … big blocks of color that shout in order to define the property. Not a good idea, plus the developer ripped out the funky awning windows which at least added a former note of interest. The Lafayette Park condos at Prospect & Lafayette are still rising, but whoa! when you stroll the Oak Leaf Trail that runs below them, the noise from the air-exchange system in the looming project is distracting to say the least. At this writing, only one was operating. Stella can’t wait till they fire up the others. Doesn’t Milwaukee have ordinances regulating nuisance noises belching forth from mega structures? The Breakwater Condo on Prospect Avenue (the one overlooking modest Burns Park) is moving along, most recently with the addition of major balconies hanging from the units. Next year they’ll be filled with grills and furniture no one ever sits in.

Bag it and ship it back to the sculptor…

…Gerald Sawyer, who maybe is hiding in the bushes considering a career change. We’re talking about the Bronze Fonz. Last year, I did some online research seeking images of this artist’s work and it took only a few minutes to determine he must surely be a graduate of the Hallmark School of Sappy Sculpture. Okay, make that the School of Hideous Sculpture. Whatever. The Journal/Sentinel’s Jim Stingl has a hilarious take on who folks think the Fonz-thing resembles, and from what I’ve perused, it sure isn’t Fonzie. Remarks range from Christopher Walken (quite a few votes), Howdy-Doody, Liberace, and Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan (though Donovan deserves better). I wonder if Fonzie himself was disappointed in what is a laughing-stock attempt? We have worse in town, but not by much. Milwaukee has tons of bad sculpture. Gertie The Duck is one. Any others? Sure, lots of them. I hate to diss Father Marquette, but the bronze sculpture of him standing on Marquette University’s campus makes him look like a 60s hippie blowin’ in the wind. The Betty Brinn museum has a gaggle of sculpted kids on the east side of the building that should also be placed somewhere near the top of the list for wretched art. But, will the Bronzie be a popular place to have your photo snapped? Sure.

Update

Bridget Griffith Evans and Gene Evans move more often than a roofer in a tornado. Honest. Their final exhibit at Luckystar happens August 22 from 6-10pm. It’s appropriately titled the “Monsters of Metal,” and the ever-mobile proprietors claim it’s their final show at the Vliet street address before they hit the road in 2009, traveling hither and yon with art in tow. In 2005-2006, they did something similar in a display of art aggression titled “World Domination Tour.” They’ve shepherded galleries in Riverwest, the Third Ward and have taken up wall space in various venues around town, most recently at VS’s Gallery Night & Day and east a bit at Design Within Reach. Another of their efforts addresses Body Art and is currently at Walker’s Point Center for the Arts. Will they return to Milwaukee for more punishment in the future? UPDATE: Actually, they’re not leaving Beer Town. They’ve moved south to the Mitchell St. area, allegedly into a live/workspace. Apparently the deadly duo is scouting out businesses in the Third Ward (and probably elsewhere) to hang their work. When Mike Brenner folded Hotcakes Gallery, he re-surfaced almost immediately to exhibit his personal work around town, and as Mary Louise Schumacher’s poster-boy for sage remarks, he’s yet to be topped. Jimmy Von Milwaukee used to fill that slot, but when his favorite reviewer, MJS’s James Auer died, Jimmy’s notoriety nose dived. August 14 was the opening of Julie Lindemann & Johnie Shimon’s photography exhibit (Unmasked & Anonymous) in the Koss Gallery at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Major pieces from their portraiture trove will dazzle, plus selected photographs from MAM’s permanent collection. You’ll recognize some of the Milwaukee-based names, including Francis Ford, and the charred “punk” photographs of Stanley Ryan Jones, that will be displayed in a vitrine. On Tuesdays (September 9, October 21, and November 18) Cathy Cook will premiere her experimental portrait of Wisconsin poet, Lorine Niedecker. Shimon & Lindemann were visual collaborators for this film titled ”Immortal Cupboard: In Search of Lorine Niedecker.” There’ll be more fine photography to admire during the Stephen Shore exhibit at the Haggerty and the John Heymann exhibit at the Charles Allis Museum of Art. A feature about Mr. Heymann can be found here. The current issue of INFO magazine has a feature on Milwaukee gadfly, Michael Horne, whose career seems to be on fire now that he’s popping up in Milwaukee Magazine and hitting the air waves on Lake Effect. The feature, written by VS’s Judith Ann Moriarty, includes an early drawing of the defunct Milwaukee train station, by none other than a very tender Horne. Who knew he makes art? You can check in on Milwaukee doings via milwaukeeworld.com, written by the more mature Horne who has a way with words.

An Alternative to Grilling Brats

This may be the finest exhibit anywhere. It’s happening NOW in the Koss Gallery at the Milwaukee Art Museum. “Unmasked & Anonymous: Shimon & Lindemann Consider Portraiture,” was previewed by this writer for the Shepherd Express. Adding to the event, are works by various photographers, including Francis Ford and Stanley Ryan Jones of Milwaukee-based fame. If you know about photography, you’ll know about Francis and Stanley. Multiple works from Julie & Johnie are seamlessly hung with many from the museum’s permanent collection, no small thanks to Lisa Hostetler, MAM’s curator of prints, who, over the past two years, gave the show her considerable and undivided attention. The leaves of brown will soon tumble down. What a way to bid adieu to summer and hello to Manitowoc’s finest, a pair of pros. Lucky are those students who fall under J & J’s professorial spell at Lawrence University up Appleton way. Museum members can see it free until it this superb show ends on November 30. Who says Wisconsin-based artists get the short end of the museum’s stick? Love xxxooo, Dem Bones Plus it will likely be a party to end all parties. Edtior’s Note: Read VITAL’s review of Shimon & Lindemann @ The Milwaukee Art Museum here!

Guilt Free Bones

I finally got around to visiting the Gilbert & George show at MAM’s Baker/Rowland Galleries. It was coordinated by Chief Curator Joe Ketner, who will be moving on shortly before G&G moves out on September 1. Anyway, I decided to see the show after visiting with Dean Jensen, who runs a Water Street venue bearing his name. He was sitting alone at his desk, clad in a splendid suit, smart shirt and tie, complaining about computer trouble. Eventually our chatter got around to the G&G event, and Jensen said he was working on an appraisal of a G&G piece owned by a generous local couple who are donating it to the Milwaukee Art Museum. He had attended a lecture, a basic Q & A with the London duo, and commented that G&G had been around for so many years that they’d answered every possible question about their careers. However, I was in Jensen’s gallery not to talk about G&G, but to select a frame for a Laurence Rathsack watercolor (“Skeletal Church”), purchased by my son who is now grown up enough to appreciate what art is. By way of comparison, Rathsack’s work, quiet and unassuming, is the exact opposite of the bodacious work of G&G. One whispers, the other shouts. One is a candle, the other a bottle rocket. Jensen has been around for what seems like forever, and for much of that forever, I’ve been around to view his exhibitions. Like me, he’s getting a bit long in the tooth, but it takes time to develop a great career and a great following, and he’s certainly done that. If anyone is a survivor, he is. In addition to being a fine gallerist, he is a fun interesting writer (perhaps because he cut his writing chops at the Milwaukee Sentinel in the long ago). The work in his various shows is frequently of the narrative kind, a perfect fit for a chap who knows how to spin a tale. Should you doubt me, buy a copy of 2006’s Daisy & Violet Hilton: The True Story of Conjoined Twins. In an earlier blog, I wrote about my “feelings of guilt” and those of the others who hadn’t yet seen the G&G show. You may have been somewhat confused by the image (“Bacon & Eggs for Gilbert & George”) accompanying that particular blog. Stella sez the art (made from Play-Doh) is definitely not for sale, though it may be on eBay someday. For more on G&G, look up www.mam.org/gandg, then go to Cedar Block’s MAM event on August 15 to see what Milwaukee area artists are up to. Inspired by G&G, it’s a one night stand, 8pm – midnight.

Guilt Feelings

Recently I attended an art closing and heard people mention that they hadn’t been to see the Gilbert & George show at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Their voices were tinged with “guilt,” as if the G&G was something they should be interested in, but aren’t. I know the feeling. Years ago (25 more or less), I milled around a really big show when the splashy two hit Milwaukee and the Art Museum. Most people were there to be “shocked,” or at least there to be part of the crowd waiting to be shocked. Was I shocked? I can’t remember. These were the years of Russell Bowman at MAM, who brought in lots of cutting edge contemporary art. Theatre X was still around, performance art was a big deal, and there was a general air of excitement and change at the formerly staid venue. Bacon & Eggs for Gilbert & George Play-Doh/paint The other thing I missed out on was Tom Bamberger’s recent take on curatorial efforts, which aired on Lake Effect. I hear it was great, but I didn’t actually listen as I don’t have my speakers hooked up, nor have I purchased a cheapo gizmo to tune into the world of What’s Going On. I don’t own a cell phone and last year I dumped the recorder on my land line. This makes me feel guilty about not being “with it.” More and more, I find myself picking up The Onion and/or watching MAD T.V. I’ve also been writing a weekly column for my old hometown newspaper in rural Iowa. They’ve been publishing for over 100 years, and the paper has hardly changed at all. The populace (1,000 and shrinking) consists of mostly Republican church-going types. They don’t have any public art–unless you count the fiberglass hog standing at the rim of town. I find this oddly refreshing. They’ve never heard of Gilbert & George, and the closest the town has come to “fame” is when the 1912 axe murders took place and eight were slaughtered in their sleep. They do have the original axe, but that’s about it. You can still buy a house in my hometown for less than $50,000. The house I grew up in recently sold for $35,000.