Nocturne Exhibit at No Instructions Gallery

MILWAUKEE, WI — No Instructions Gallery is pleased to present Nocturne, a group exhibition featuring work by Ezekiel Cambey, Rebecca Kautz, and Will Kanel, on view January 9 through February 27, 2026.

Nocturne brings together three artists whose work carries its own version of night. Each artist reaches into night differently, whether through memory, symbolism, lived experience, or the atmosphere of imagined spaces. Their paintings move between the familiar and the dreamlike, creating scenes shaped as much by feeling as by observation. The exhibition reflects the breadth of approaches that night can hold and the ways artists translate its interior spaces.

This exhibition also continues the strong run of work No Instructions has been privileged to present since opening in May 2025, expanding the gallery’s commitment to supporting contemporary artists whose practices invite curiosity, reflection, and dialogue.

About the Artists

Ezekiel Cambey (b. North Carolina) is a painter, writer, and illustrator living in Chicago, Illinois. He attended Macalester College, where he earned a BA, and later completed a Post-Baccalaureate program in painting and drawing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Cambey has exhibited nationally in galleries across the southern and midwestern United States. His practice spans comics, oil painting, poetry, and ceramics.

Rebecca Kautz (b. Princeton, IL) is a Sun Prairie, Wisconsin–based artist, curator, and lecturer. A multidisciplinary artist with a background in performance, video, painting, and drawing, Kautz currently focuses her practice on painting and drawing. She is the recipient of the Midwest Regional Artists With Disabilities Award (2025) from Arts Midwest and the Dane County Forward Art Prize (2024), where she is also a two-time finalist. Kautz holds an MFA in painting and drawing from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has been exhibited internationally for more than three decades and is held in public and private collections throughout the United States and Canada. She was recently published in Staring at the Sky: Essays on Art and Culture by Douglas Rosenberg (2024). Additional awards include the Award of Distinction from the 10th Annual International Drawing Exhibition, The Social Art Award, The Larry S. Tempkin Exhibition Award, and First Honorable Mention for the Russell and Paula Panczenko MFA Prize. She is represented by Woodwalk Gallery in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin, and teaches as an art lecturer at Madison College.

Will Kanel (b. Madison, WI) is a Milwaukee-based painter. He received his BFA in studio art with a concentration in painting and drawing from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 2025. His work has been exhibited locally and regionally, contributing to a growing body of contemporary painting emerging from the Midwest.

About No Instructions Gallery
No Instructions is a contemporary art gallery located in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood. Founded by James Stepanek, the gallery’s mission is to present bold, dynamic artwork that sparks conversation and challenges traditional boundaries. Since opening in May 2025, the gallery has championed both emerging and established artists from Milwaukee and beyond, with a focus on dynamic contemporary painting and artists exploring the edges of material, process, and form.

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.