Art
Art and performance 4/15 to 4/21
Visual Art Gallery Night and Day, metro Milwaukee area, Friday evening on April 17 and Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 18 (most locations) *See our special section for a preview of this quarterly must-see event. Multimedia Tile, Quilt, Pixel: Paul Berger, UW-Milwaukee, Wed. April 15 at the Arts Center Lecture Hall. Starts at 7 p.m. Paul Berger talks about the trajectory of his composite and collage works over the course of the last thirty-five years. Currently a professor of art at the University of Washington’s School of Art where he founded the school’s photography program, Berger moved from traditional forms to digital manipulation and gained fame throughout Europe plus grants from the National Endowment of the Arts. A retrospective of his work showed at the Museum of Contemporary Photography in 2003. He will be speaking about his work as part of UWM’s 2008-09 Artist Now series. Merengue: Visual Rhythms, Latino Arts museum, now through June 5. Open M-F 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. In this Milwaukee stop on a national tour organized by International Arts and Artists showcases 27 classic and cuurent artists from the Dominican Republic. The focus of the show looks at that country’s national music form through mediums including photographs, sculpture, paintings, and videos by “analyzing the rhythm’s artistic components and environmental contexts”. Admission is free. Theater Last of the Red Hot Lovers! , Broadway Baby Dinner Theatre, now until April 26. Milwaukee’s longest-running dinner theater is putting on Neil Simon’s successful 1969 comedy. The story revolves around a middle-aged and shy man who hopes to join the sexual revolution before it’s over. Lacking experience and chutzpah, he arranges three separate seductions with women of various neuroses — one of whom is his best friend’s wife. The Cherry Orchard, Milwaukee Rep at the Quadracci Powerhouse Theatre, April 14 to May 10. Anton Chekhov’s last play is the newest production by members of the Resident Acting Company and other guest actors. While Chekhov intended this to be a comedy, its first director set it as a tragedy. Directors have been wrestling with what it is ever since. Brooklyn Boy, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre at the Cabot Stage. Opens April 16 running through May 3. The MCT will finish its 34th season with Pulitzer Prize-winning Playwright Donald Margulies’s drama about a best-selling author of a loosely autobiographical novel describing growing up Jewish in Brooklyn. But the author also experiences a midlife crisis as he struggles to come to terms with an aging father, a failing marriage and lost roots. Zombies From the Beyond, Cardinal Stritch at the Nancy Kendall Theater. April 17-19 and April 24-26. The school’s Music and Theater Department is premiering this hit Off-Broadway play, adapted for local reference. The original musical comedy by James Valcq skewered American ideals during the Eisenhower era using a sci-fi B-movie structure. The local production sets the play at “the Milwaukee Space Station, where a flying saucer lands, piloted by Zombina, an alien aviatrix”. How I Became a Pirate, Milwaukee First Stage at the Todd Wehr stage. Opens April 17 running weekends until May 17. based on the well-known children’s book by Melinda Long and given new lyrics and notes by […]
Apr 14th, 2009 by Brian Jacobson
surReal World
Garages, labs, cubicles, bars, McDonald’s, courtrooms – we all work somewhere. Most of the time the work place is strictly dictated by the vocation. You’re not going to find the Brewer’s playing at the mall and your doctor won’t be giving you a physical exam on the bus – at least I hope not. Art is an exception; artists set up studios in spare rooms, attics, dank basements, warehouses, barns; plein air artists work where ever they’re inspired; graffiti artists use alleys or more inappropiate spots. Some artists need sterile white walls and some prefer chaos. Brookfiled artist Jeff Sadowski prefers something closer to Oz. Jeff’s environment is truly an extension of his work. Heavily influenced by Dali, and other surrealist, Jeff’s studio is a strange place where Pixy Stiks function as support beams; Holly Hobbie, Thundercats and Rambo vintage lunch boxes hang from the ceiling by a thread; Scrubbing Bubbles and Kiss action figures fill the shelves; a giant cheeseburger on the floor and a small collection of art on the walls. The bulletin board holds pictures of carnival rides, inspirational color combinations, an autographed picture of the Olsen twins, as well as a signed photo of legendary montage artist Winston Smith, who Jeff has been recently collaborating with. Jeff’s studio features nearly has many obscure pop cultural references as his paintings. His most recent work, an homage to sugary sweet breakfast cereal, featuring dozens of reference to the food stuff; including: milk bottles, a tiny portrait of W.K. Kellogg and the trio of elves that pimp for Rice Krispies, to name just a few. What surprises me most is that after being a working artist for over 20 years; painting album covers for obscure metal bands and backdrops for the stage sets for such acts as Santana, the Rolling Stones and the Grateful Dead; Jeff is just “feeling comfortable enough to do his own thing” – that’s surreal. See Jeff’s stuff at: http://www.jeffsadowskiart.com
Apr 9th, 2009 by Gene Evans
Salad Days
“Smooth” is how Pete DiAntoni describes Turf, the legendary, but now defunct, Milwaukee skate park, “smooth concrete, beautiful curves”. Even a novice, like myself, understands the importance of those simple words when it comes to skateboarding. Pete said that upon walking into Turf, the first time nearly 30 years ago, “my life was changed”. He found the energy and excitement inspirational and starting taking photographs of the skateboarders This documentation is the subject of of the Vans sponsored Salad Days at the Vetter Denk building, 161 Pittsburgh Ave, Friday, April 10, 7-10 p.m. It’s tough to write about a subculture without sounding either nostalgic, or like a poser, so I’ll spare you any attempts to capture what Turf was in a couple words – you had to be there. And if, like me you weren’t, you could check out the exhibit and see why skateboarders across the country were talking about this Milwaukee skatepark. To make the evening complete WMSE DJ Eric Von Munz will be on hand spinning; the Buzzcocks, B-52’s, Sex Pistols, the Cars and more of the new wave and the punk rock that fueled the subculture phenomena. Coincidentally both Pete Diantoni and Eric Von Munz are part of the creative team behind Cog; a magazine dedicated to another subculture; bike messengers – but that’s another story.
Apr 9th, 2009 by Gene Evans
Around town with Bones – 4/8
I can’t figure out why any artist in their right mind would complain “there’s nothing new” in Milwaukee. Balls! I just saw two great Peter Barrickman paintings at Green Gallery, plus at GGWest, the most minimalist piece of art I’ve ever seen: a slender slice of wood painted white and propped in a corner of GGW’s third floor space, which also houses Club Nutz, the world’s smallest stand-up comedy club. You know, when I talk to John Riepenhoff I feel a real burst of hope for the arts. The people around him are smart and young and energetic. What a tonic. It isn’t that I don’t respect artists who are mature (or old like me), but there comes a time when bi-focals have to give way to firm flesh and sharp eyes and keen ideas. Riepenhoff must be like Dean Jensen was in the olden days, and his adventurous mind reminds me much of Jensen, who is, by the way, a big fan of John and company. Deb Brehmer is down-on-her-knees sorting through piles of drawings from various Wisconsin-based artists. My eyes like Paul Caster’s stuff, but you can decide from seven participants when the show (Tender is the Line) opens in the Portrait Gallery (Floor 5) on Gallery Night & Day (April 17-18). Her expanded space now includes TWO galleries, the latter to be known as “Gallery B,” with walls being painted blood red as I write. Down the hall, also on floor five, Catherine Davidson has established a new little office with walls of eggplant hue. Her larger venue is on floor two. Jilan Glynn is curating a GN&D exhibit at Soups On. Does anyone remember Jane Brite, co-founder of Walker’s Point Center for the Arts? Allegedly, she’s the new “art consultant” for the Charles Allis/Villa Terrace Museums. They’ve ground through quite a number of staffers in the last few years, and seem to be very zipped-lipped when it comes to press releases announcing who’s new and who’s not. I’m really saddened that no one has ventured forth with a guess as to who “Pierre Renee” is. His photographs are hanging in the Riverfront Pizza Bat & Grill on Erie St. I guess no one cares but Mr. Renee, hey? Okay, Stella will sweeten the Pierre pot and buy a veggie pizza for the FIRST person who posts the correct answer in the comment section. All the stupefying silly-ness over whether or not alderpersons like the public sculpture proposed for Wisconsin Avenue. It’s sort of a low blow to make comments about Bob Donavan’s missing teeth though. Or is it tooth? It should be even more stupefying when “concerned” artists mass in order to voice their ego-driven agendas about the project’s ix-nayers. Real artists will be home making art, but Pegi Taylor will likely be out and about milling around. Stella says later gator. There’s way more coming …
Apr 8th, 2009 by Stella Cretek
The Sky is Falling, The Sky is Falling!
Enjoy public scrutiny? Hard work for little or no pay? Willing to sacrifice your time, money and dignity? If you answered yes to all these question you can join an elite team comprised of just about anyone who can afford the supplies. That’s right, you to can be an artist (can’t afford supplies? be a conceptual artist – then all you’ll need is your imagination). In my experience, nothing provokes eye-rolling or makes a usually well mannered person utter a contemptuous “mmm” whilst waving their little finger in the air, more than telling someone “I’m an artist.” I really do try to avoid using the term “artist;” it can sound a little pretentious and does invoke the image of a fancy man wearing a striped shirt and beret, sipping wine and pontificating how “no one gets me.” That’s not me – I prefer beer and don’t even own a beret (not yet). As of late there’s been a call for artists, and advocates of the arts, to “get more involved” and “support the art scene” from various groups and self professed arts leaders. Ignited by the closing of yet another art gallery: Paperboat (the latest of over 30 galleries that have come and gone since 1999) and the uproars surrounding a couple public art projects (Lincoln Park and the Zweig project). Since I’ve been in Milwaukee, and involved in the art scene, for a little over a decade, there’s always something: Blue Shirts, Bronz Fonzies, Beasties, contempt for the Di Suervo Sunburst, etc., and not only is it artists versus public consensus, it’s artists versus artists, gallery versus gallery, and Calatrava versus Godzilla. What will come from the latest debacles? Probably nothing. After this public furor settles down, and the smoke clears, the fine folks in the Milwaukee art scene will get back to normal; complaining, finger pointing, and calling each other names – in private.
Apr 3rd, 2009 by Gene Evans
Peepers
So get busy already. You have until Sunday, April 5th to do your Marshmallow Peep Show project and take it to the Sugar Maple smoke-free bar at 441 E. Lincoln Avenue in trendy Bay View. No entry fee; no jury, so hurry. Be there from 2-6pm. No self-respecting serious artists need show their faces, but all others seeking fun can price their peep art, and if it sells, believe it or not Ripley, they won’t have to pay a commission. A suggested donation of $2 at the door will go to the Bay View Community Center and special peep-inspired cocktails will be served by Sugar Maple .Organized by artist Nicole Hauser, a sweet treat herself, she’s back after a two year hiatus with hopes you’ll be inspired by this year’s hatching of those little fowls with beady eyes. And from the artist herself: Hi Friends, As many of you know, I am bringing back the “Peep Show” on Sunday, April 5th from 2-6 pm at the SUGAR MAPLE. However, Cafe Lulu is advertising that they are bringing back the Peep Show – and on the very same day!! They didn’t change the name or make any attempts to contact me first. Please, don’t be fooled by imposters!! Thanks and hope to see you at the ORIGINAL PEEP SHOW – #4. Sincerely, Nicole Reid and Cathrine Friedmann
Mar 28th, 2009 by Stella Cretek
Notes from the Visual Arts Forum at Haggerty
Things heard and observed at the State of Art: Open Forum about the Visual Arts in Wisconsin held at the Haggerty Museum of Art on March 26, 2009 Forum participants: Jane Simon, Curator of Exhibitions, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Polly Morris, Director of Development, Marketing & Outreach at UWM Peck School of the Arts, Milwaukee Arts Board member. George Tzougros, Executive Director, Wisconsin Arts Board. Debra Brehmer, arts writer, owner of Portrait Society Gallery and art history instructor at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design * I arrived early to look at the Current Tendencies: Ten Artists from Wisconsin survey show. I am impressed and captivated, mostly at the transformation Haggerty itself has undergone in the past year to expand its space and scope. Gone are the permanent collection pieces that often featured religious themes and replaced with more provacative work. The selections in this show seemed to be calculated, however, to find individuals set to specific voices. In one room, beaded dolls from Anne Kingsbury seem Native American. The next room has giant paintings of nude Black males by George Williams, Jr. The next, minimalist folk art objects by the late Peter Bardy. Another incredible room created by Jennifer Angus is covered with faux-wallpaper insects and 3D bugs over all four walls. One more room contains paper cutting art by Xiaohong Zhang. The other five artists are less distinct in perspective (except maybe Sonja Thomsen’s Lacuna, which could be described as Caucasians in Wisconsin based on content and concept) but they are all just as compelling. The evening starts as the room nearly fills. Haggerty Museum Director Walter Mason gives an opening speech about questions circling visual thinking and then gives directions on what will happen here. There is to be introductions followed by opening up to the floor to queries. He makes an aside, seemingly joking, that there will be no complaining. This falls on deaf ears as the conversation will immediately devolve to subjects of funding, exposure, and the lack of critical evaluation of local art. If I had a chance to ask a question, it would have been more like “so what have you seen lately and how did it move you?” I always attend these events hoping to talk about art, but they always end up being about tangential subjects to art itself. Introductions start with Debra Brehmer, who takes up the most time initially with a clever photoshopping of a crucifixion painting showing a trinity of artist, dealer, and collector along with bystanders representing media, educators, and others. As the former editor of Art Muscle, Brehmer laments the present-day lack of a print publication that could showcase and critique local art (like Art in America does in a national publication). Evoking Art Muscle’s name will happen again and again by the audience, who may not understand the financial difficulty with putting out a physical edition of something in a period of skyrocketing paper costs and plummeting ad revenue. George Tzougros is next. He’s thankful for […]
Mar 27th, 2009 by Brian Jacobson
Denouement
It’s official: Takashi Soga’s proposal has been approved for the Lincoln Park site. On March 13, the public art committee voted in favor of Soga’s project, bringing some closure (for now) to what has been an arduous and controversial process. First things first, though: some corrections and clarifications need to be made. In Part One of this piece I included an excerpt from a press release written by Pegi Taylor of IN:SITE, and also stated that Soga’s project would cause the City of Milwaukee to incur an additional $100,000 on top of the $250,000 budget for this site. I was able to obtain Takashi Soga’s official proposal (not available in time for Part One) and verified that each of Soga’s proposed pieces would stay within the amount allotted. However, the hubbub was not because of an additional $100K; it was simply that this amount of the budget would be spent on design fees, a misinterpretation on my part. Despite the fact that the piece will stay within the budget, IN: SITE still questions whether $100K in design fees is “appropriate … for a piece Soga has already designed.” IN: SITE raises the question as to whether or not the design fees are “paying for [Soga’s] name.” In Part One, I also reported that a proposal by local artists John Riepenhoff, Cat Pham and Sarah Luther was included in the top five submissions. It has come to my attention by selection committee member Barbara Opferman that this is also incorrect. Though an innovative concept, this project was not a finalist for the selection committee. However, it was favored by IN: SITE as a superior design. That’s what we know now. Here’s what you may not know. The Takashi Soga decision was not made overnight. In fact, the selection process for the Lincoln Park site began over a year ago when the original call for artists went out. At that time, however, the selection committee was not able to make a unified decision. “We interviewed 3 artists,” says Opferman, “They were from Chicago, Iowa, and Canada. I believe we received about 10 responses from the community at that meeting. As a board, we were unable to come to a consensus for a variety of aesthetic and practical reasons, which is why we revised the RFP and decided to repeat the process.” The second RFP went out in November 2008 and over 100 entries were reviewed. Local sculptor Richard Taylor sat on the public art selection committee for this second round of submissions. “We narrowed it down to a group of 6 or 8 potential artists, and with further discussion on each of these, found something to object to in all of them except Takashi Soga’s work,” Taylor says, adding, “There were a number of us on the committee who immediately reacted to Soga’s work as rising above all other entries.” The principal objections to the other proposals were based on their vulnerability to vandalism, whether the materials used would stand up to […]
Mar 26th, 2009 by Erin Petersen
Art and money
It’s hard to keep your eyes off the blood on the walls. I’m talking about the work of Steve Somers, a graduate of both Milwaukee’s High School of the Arts and MIAD. He’s worked as a curator, exhibited at the now-defunct Luckystar Gallery, the Milwaukee Art Museum as part of several Cedar Block events, and most recently at the Acrylic Age Gallery in Berlin (Germany – not Wisconsin). We’re in his home discussing a few things – chiefly how he walks the line between making a living and making art. Steve spends his days working commercially for clients like McDonald’s and Disney and spends his free time painting (as well as putting together a self-published book of his own work – Individuals in a Group – available later this year). I’d look out of touch if I didn’t ask the most obvious question – the one you can’t escape from these days: “Has the economy effected your work?” Steve initially answers “No,” and then, quickly, “But I haven’t scheduled any shows this year.” Steve explains that he’s going to spend the time “working on bigger pieces; more epic works” and that he’s challenging himself and “concentrating on painting.” No one could ever look at Steve’s work – chuck-full of festering wounds, contorted figures writhing in agony and bizarre plant life – and accuse him of playing to the consumer, but he echoes what I’ve heard from several area artists. Instead of following the retail trend to lower prices and produce smaller less expensive work artists have begun just get back to basics – making art. An upside to the current economic slump? Well, there’s got to be a silver lining – right? Art made with the purest of intentions, bucking the decade long trend of art for commerce and returning to art for art’s sake, sounds 99.9% pure. See Steve’s art: http://stevesomersart.com/
Mar 26th, 2009 by Gene Evans
Inaugural post not-quite-brought to you by St. Pat’s Day
Introductions are so far and few between, aren’t they? Ironically, in an age of iPhones and social networking, it’s getting a little tougher to meet new people. Sure, you could befriend a friend of a friend on Facebook because you think their comments are witty, then spend the afternoon poking the hell out of them, but there’s a good chance you won’t recognize them sitting next to you – whilst tweeting your brains out – at your preferred coffee haunt. I’m talking about really meeting someone. In a rush of insanity I thought I would use a St. Patrick’s party I was invited to as a catalyst to introduce you to the concept of this new column. That’s right, I thought why not use the most drunken night of the year – New Year’s Eve aside – as an opportunity to introduce you to a few creative types (artists, photographers, writers, etc.) and take you to a few places (studios, galleries, White Castle) you may not have the time to visit? This also relieves my wife of the pressure of being the sole audience of my incessant ranting. Well, once the party started, the food was too delicious, the beer too cold and the BS of too high a quality to be a buzz kill and start talking shop – who wants to be that guy? So an “official” start will have to wait a few days – or at least till St. Patrick stops dancing on my head. In the upcoming weeks look forward to meeting new people – artsy types, entrepreneurs, and local mucky-mucks – vicariously, while I have all the fun shaking their hands and talking to them. I’ll try to be gentle, but I ain’t making any promises.
Mar 19th, 2009 by Gene Evans
The Battle for Lincoln Park
The turnout for the Milwaukee County Public Art Committee meeting at Lincoln Park on March 7th was surprisingly low. For a moment, I thought that I’d gone to the wrong place. It was a particularly dismal day, and as the rain made soup of the lush green landscape, it was hard to keep the cold out of the dated clubhouse we met in. Japanese sculptor Takashi Soga was there to present his proposal for a permanent art piece in Glendale’s Lincoln Park. It’s possible that Soga does not realize the buzz that his proposed project has created, or that some members of the art community feel slighted and shut out of this pricey decision. Against such a gloomy backdrop, you had to feel for him as he addressed a room of skeptics, trying to articulate his artistic vision in broken English. So what’s the big deal? In September 2008, the MCPAC sent out a call to artists for the Lincoln Park site- over 3,000 emails, roughly- and received over 100 applications. A selection committee was formed and they chose a short list of artists, based on their concepts for the space. According to the committee’s RFP, artists on the short list would then have the opportunity to interview with the committee and preview their concept to the public. In this case, the selection committee initially made a short list of five applicants, but later decided to short list Soga alone because they felt that his piece was the most significant out of the group. Soga was the only artist invited to present, implying to some that this was, in essence, a done deal. There’s also the issue of funding. The total public art budget for Lincoln Park is about $250,000, however Soga’s proposals will need an additional $100,000 from the city. In a press release from IN: SITE, a resource for temporary public art in Milwaukee, IN: SITE Chair and MCPAC member Pegi Taylor outlines the additional costs: $100,000 design $40,000 materials $60,000 fabrication $20,000 foundation $20,000 installation and transportation $10,000 insurance Taylor also argues that the piece proposed by Soga is similar to sculptures that he’s installed in other cities, and says that the pieces are “cookie cutter.” Local artist and co-owner of The Green Gallery John Riepenhoff also voiced his concerns at the public meeting. Riepenhoff, along with artists Cat Pham and Sarah Luther also submitted a proposal for the site and made it into the top five selections, but were not invited to present their ideas to the public. “I feel like a few elements of [MCPAC’s] criteria that they set up for the selection aren’t met by Soga’s proposal,” Riepenhoff says, “ and he showed a lack of service to Milwaukee and the community.” On the other hand, artist and selection committee member Richard Taylor released this statement in response to opponents of the piece: “The committee considered many applications for this project, and came to a unanimous or near-unanimous conclusion. One proposal […]
Mar 12th, 2009 by Erin Petersen
Marcus Aurelius Redux
The first blog I wrote for VS was way back in April of ’08. Titled “Marcus Aurelius Online,” I’ve revived it with new answers to old questions. While ruling Rome, Marcus Aurelius Antonius wrote Meditations, setting down rules for living written in Greek. Stoic to the end (his end came in AD 180), Marcus Aurelius wrote them to himself, and in many ways his twelve books pre-figured the blogs of today. Book 1: “the certainty to ignore the dice of fortune…” Bones: Those who bought tickets on the ill-fated Titanic. Relive the grisly event at our Public Museum with a ticket bearing the name of an original traveler. At journey’s end you get to discover if that traveler survived or died….a gruesome roll of the dice from the world of marketing. Book 2: “Now the flesh you should disdain….blood, bones, a mere fabric and network of nerve, veins, and artifacts. Bones: Okay, cut yourself some slack and disdain the Bronze Fonz, too. Book 3: “Do not waste the remaining part of your life in thoughts about other people, when you are not thinking with reference to some aspect of the common good.” Bones: Advice to sour grapes Republicans and in particular, Mr. William Jefferson Clinton. Book 4: “Remove the judgment and you have removed the thought, ‘I am hurt,’ and the hurt itself is removed.” Bones: Rejects from the 2008 Mary Nohl Fellowship thing. Writers who didn’t make the Cream City Review. Book 5: “If on the other hand harm is done to the city, you should not be angry, but demonstrate to the doer of this harm what he himself has failed to see.” Bones: Developers who insist we need more condos. Book 6: “Some things are hurrying to come into being, others are hurrying to be gone, and part of that which is being born is already extinguished.” Bones: Art galleries, blogs, White House staffers, daily newspapers. Book 7: “The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing, in that it stands ready for what comes and is not thrown by the unforeseen.” Bones: Broad Vocabulary, Milwaukee Shakespeare, Milwaukee Fashion Week, etc., etc. Book 8: “Everything has come into being for a purpose….a horse, say, or a vine. Does this surprise you?” Bones: Well yeah. What pray tell, is the purpose of bailouts? Book 9: “Enough of this miserable way of life, enough of grumbling and aping.” Bones: Get on with the plan. Print more money. Book 10: “The healthy eye must look at all there is to be seen, and not say ‘I only want pale colors’….this is a symptom of disease.” Bones: All arts organizations that deem themselves deciders of what goes where. Book 11: “No nature is inferior to art, in fact the arts imitate the variety of natures. If that is so, then the most perfect and comprehensive of all natures could not be surpassed by any artistic invention.” Bones: Museums and galleries will ignore this advice. Book 12: “Practice even what you […]
Dec 8th, 2008 by Stella Cretek
