The Shrinking Local Scene

Lapham’s Quarterly (I highly recommended it), the new edition, has been sitting on my desk for a few weeks now and I’ve yet to get to reading it. The subject is Crimes and Punishments; quite apropos, given the scandalous amount of advantage taken in business lately. It seems criminal, is it? Or is it the natural result from the exploitation of loopholes and a system set up by those who run it so that they and theirs can reap (or rape) the full advantage. Crazy amounts of money. I’m sure they’re thinking that the good ol’ days are over.

But I am thinking that, here in our humble Milwaukee, losses are mounting. Not just the jobs in the labor force or homes foreclosed from untenable loans and deals, but in the loss of yet another independent, smart outlet for creative forces and things that enliven daily living. Paper Boat announced earlier this year that if things didn’t improve financially, they were going to have to close up shop. It was a sad and surprising statement, especially since an imminent closing would have come on the heels of the very successful premier of Faythe Levine’s clever documentary film, Handmade Nation. But things seemed like they were surviving, until now. Over the weekend the email went out that they will have to close, apparently it’s not economically viable to hang in there. So sad, so ironic that after this film, where Milwaukee is a part of this movement, it’s not able to sustain it.

How long has it been? Was it one year ago, two years ago that there was so much going on? I remember driving down Water Street in warm sunshine, passing under the freeway and into the Third Ward and thinking about how lucky we were, as a city, to have so many amazing places; I suppose that is now referred to as “back in the day.” There was Hotcakes, Broad Vocabulary, White Whale Collective, Brooks Barrow Gallery, shows happening at the Hide House (actually, ArtBeat is having an event there on Fri., Apr. 3; see message on MARN list]), Schwarz’s seemed an eternal presence on Downer Avenue, and I know there are others I’ve missed. (o4/03/09: *blush!  Luckystar’s gallery is another unfortunate absence – I knew I made a huge oversight [and there's probably more...])

Like so many other cities, our publications are feeling the pinch – Vital Source is now solely online as Third Coast Digest. Of course, I think the online format is fabulous, but there is still something to be said about printed materials. They have a definite presence, you see them in the newsstand as you’re wandering into Alterra or other favorite businesses, and it brings them back to mind. A new cover is a reminder to pick one up, or check online for new articles. The same with the Shepherd Express, strolling past the newsstands offers a half-second perusal of the stories and headlines, and a mental note to read up soon.

The shame is that these places and things are disappearing not because of a lack of quality, but a lack of money; another dimension to that “root of all evil.” Who knows where it ends or how things ultimately shake out; all I can think is to support the local scene, before there isn’t one left.

~ KM Murrell

Tempus fugit and then some: a recap of recent events

Good intentions don’t amount to much unless they take some tangible form, otherwise they’re doomed to wander the earth as the ghosts of ideas. To that end, this is one big giganto-post, not on a single topic, but a small slew of them. It was a busy weekend, and there’s a lot that has been seen, heard, and said; this is my breathless attempt to get it all down. With plenty of pictures, too.

Thursday, March 26

National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago

I was asked to go along on a field trip for a Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design class (where I also teach), to the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago. As you’ll note from my recent post from Mexico City, I’ve been experiencing something of a recurring theme lately in terms of Latin American art. It is a subject that I know little about, but am learning more and more, visual and otherwise.

The museum is small but richly fascinating. The exhibition Mexicanidad traces the history of Mexican art through visual representation and historic events. Another current exhibition, Miradas, is a diverse group of contemporary Latin American art from the collection of the Bank of America. Another gallery is devoted to Muralla sobre lienzo, a mural-in-progress by celebrated artist Hector Duarte.

Works are ripe with color and symbolism, and this description extends not just to pieces in the museum, but to the streets as well. Murals in the area loom large, watching over the neighborhood below. Nearby, an artist extended his work to cover the exterior of his house. Dynamic, dramatic, and impassioned images abound as part of daily living, as well in the art of history.

Click for photos.

State of Art: Open Forum about the Visual Arts in Wisconsin

Haggerty Museum of Art

Zipping back to Milwaukee after being in Chicago for the day, the event of the evening was the State of Art forum at the Haggerty Museum. The best play-by-play review of the evening is by Brian Jacobsen for Third Coast Digest, and there have been a number of posts on the MARN list that take up the issues raised.

One of the recurring themes (besides money and arts funding) was about art education and the lack of a comprehensive art publication in Milwaukee. Mary Louise Schumacher at the Journal Sentinel certainly has her hands full covering this rather unwieldy art scene, and there are a number of blogs, established or with a rising profile, that talk about the arts. The MARN Yahoo group is the most established, and now there is a new MARN endeavor called Art in Milwaukee that seems to be sort of a clearinghouse for visual arts information. Art in the blogosphere finds a home on Schumacher’s Art City, Jonathan West’s Artsy Schmartsy, the ever-delightful CricketToes, and the sporadic stylings of Susceptible to Images.

But, as Deb Brehmer pointed out in at the forum (Deb also writes on Susceptible, as well as for Milwaukee Magazine), perhaps the most significant aspect of the sadly-missed and long-defunct Art Muscle journal was the depth and scope of criticism, regularity, and its tangible presence. It was a free, jumbo-sized publication that came out every two months with in-depth reviews, articles, excellent photography, and served as a thorough document of who-what-where in the Milwaukee art scene. The quality and tangibility of Art Muscle were important; it was the sort of thing you would toss on your coffee table and come back to over and over, or find under a stack of books for pleasant spontaneous perusing. Being available out in the public on newsstands, free of charge, also made it accessible to people who were not part of the regular “art crowd,” and was a way to enter and become interested in the goings-on of local artists and galleries.

One of the great challenges of the internet is how to recreate that sense of casual availability. The possibilities offered by the variety of media on the web are astounding, as is the speed, but how to recreate that sense of presence? And, how to make it financially viable – an unfortunately perennial question.

So in the aftermath of this forum, there are no easy answers, but at least there are interesting dialogues and thoughts generated that could come to future fruition.

Friday, March 27, 2009

Night Work opening at the Armoury Gallery

Click for photos.

Openings at the Armoury Gallery are always interesting; they tend to have a good mix of people, the gallery itself is a unique space, but more than anything else, gallery proprietors Jessica Steeber and Cassandra Smith consistently put together intriguing shows. This time around, the exhibition is “Night Work,” pieces created by working art instructors. It may be night work, done after the obligations of the day (or so one could imagine), but these pieces are definitely not an afterthoughts or the remnants of creative energy.

Six artists are featured in the show, and it’s impossible to get a really good look at everything during an opening. But, I have to say I’m impressed by Nathaniel Stern and Jessica Meuninch-Ganger, whose multimedia works blend elegant forms of drawing, collage, and art history tradition integrated with digital surprises. It’s a fascinating blend of old and new art technologies.

In the Armoury Gallery, there is an additional room, a small and humble space but becoming one of my favorite gallery spots. Because it’s a closed area and set off from the general hubbub outside, it has an immediate feeling of separation, as though you’ve entered into a place where, even more so than in the main gallery area, anything can happen. This time, the room holds two works by Shana McCaw and Brent Budsberg, both simple but captivating. Unravel links the three-dimensional reality with the two-dimensional possibilities of drawing, and the charming and surreal Draft simply opens up all sorts of imaginative wonderment. Elegant, simple, and inventive.

Art Bar

We finished off our evening at Art Bar. Their current show, One Week Paintings, is a mix of different artists, and I can’t give you much more that that now based on casual, hazy looking. But, I will go back to investigate further. I have to say, though, that I thought the portrait over the cigarette machine was quite good. But by this point, the rest of my party was tired of me yanking out the camera like an obsessed tourist and photographing everything in sight, and after a while, you need to just relax.

So with drinks and pizza we did, but ah, a bonus – that night a fabulous duo of a group was playing. “Steph Taylor and the State of,” one on keyboards, the other on drums, and a guitar comes in somewhere . And vocals, rich powerful sounds from both female musicians. I bought their CD and love it – go see them. Their original music is tightly melodic, and their covers (The Police, Message in a Bottle, Madonna’s Like a Prayer) fall in-between ironic and earnest, and excellent musicianship all around.

Saturday, March 28, 2009

UWM MA/MFA Spring Thesis Exhibition I at Inova/Arts Center Gallery

Click for photos.

Before the snow flew, I had a chance to drop in and see the UWM MA/MFA Spring Thesis Exhibition I at Inova/Arts Center Gallery, and I ‘m glad that I did before it closed on Sunday, March 29.  There was an array of work on view, tending more toward installation and multimedia works. It was like looking at the start of a journey, you can see possibilities and ideas, though there’s a sense of tentative exploration.

To point out one, the installation by Maria Bolivar was exceptional. Bolivar, a native of Venezuela, created a work that deals with leaving her country during the 2002 Venezuelan national strike. It’s a heavy subject, but she doesn’t play it for melodrama or emotional theatrics. Even before entering her darkened gallery, you become aware of the installation, hearing gradually crescendoing noise and shouting crowds. Entering, there are two screens on tall pedestals, but in the back of the room, the source of the noise and a wall with sections cut out so you can see just a sliver of video. But this is a journey, so at the two pedestals, you put on headphones. A brilliant touch, as focus shifts to the narrative of Bolivar, describing in two different was her fleeing Venezuela, and her life in the United States. The images are mundane and ordinary and the sound of her voice is jarringly shadowed by the crowd sounds bleeding in from the other video; it’s never out of mind, either in sound or vision, even when looking and listening elsewhere.

Then, it is time to go behind the separating wall, so what lies behind of all of this. Three walls are taken up with video screens, at times all with the same image, other times the images move across the three like a wave. It’s rhythmic, enveloping, and had the mysterious quality of memory, real and surreal, vivid but dreamlike. The arrangement of the space, the process of moving through the installation, the subtle modulation of sound and control of visuals in creating a multi-layered experience were exceptional.

~ KM Murrell

MAM After Dark: The Fountain of Youth

MAM After Dark: The Fountain of Youth

Click for more photos

The theme was ostensibly about the fountain of youth, but aside from the spa set-up at the far end of Windover hall, the theme in actuality was more of a party punctuated by art, videos, and plenty of people.

As with most of these events, there were various stations and amusements for the evening. Rishi Tea had a table set up with delicious samples, in the Schroeder Foundation Galleria (the one on the west end), a DIY craft extravaganza was set up, and the centerpiece of the evening was the Lievens exhibition. It was a different experience, seeing the exhibition at night. Even quality of light seemed to have a subtle change in hue, but most of all, the viewing atmosphere was transformed; rather than the hushed formal quietude of the day, there were animated people pointing and discussing the paintings and drawings, a sense of energized engagement with the work and with each other.

However, the real highlight of the evening were the sculptures and installations scattered throughout Calatrava addition, featuring collaborative works by established artists and fledgling art students at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (full disclosure: I’m an instructor in art history at MIAD, though none of the works I saw were by my students). Most pieces had a good initial presence, but in a funny way, it’s as though they had to warm up to us, and we to them. Aren’t all parties the same? Cool and a little awkward at first, but by the end you’re fast friends.

Deluge, 2009, by Sonja Thomsen and Julie Wayer, at first look was a little dry, despite being a projection of rivulets and droplets of running water above the hall. The wall text for the work discusses the temporality and affective nature of rain, and the notions of this force of nature in a controlled environment. But what actually evolved with the work was the improvisation of the artist(s?), friends and acquaintances who gradually appeared in a shadowy pantomime behind the projection. I don’t know if this was planned or not, but the random figures in rain, seeming to be suspended in space and larger than life, created a fascinating connection between the art above and the crowd below. On the theme of fountains and youth, maybe this was it.

Another work that needed time and interaction to warm up was Loop by Ray Chi and Jessi Schleis, a circle of flat stones arranged on the floor of Windover Hall. This is a sculpture with an undeniably low profile, something like a child who gets lost in the crowd of adults. Visually, it was like something that wandered in from the garden, the curved, natural stone against the cool, sharp sophistication of the rectangular marble floor slabs. But it was later when it got really interesting. A small chunk had been nudged out of place by an unaware foot, and it’s as though this opened up all sorts of possibilities. Before long, there was a group (artists and students?) seated on it. Now of course this wouldn’t be recommended for all sculptural installations, but in this case, it seemed to make sense. There was something that seemed invitational, art to be participated in.

Another participatory installation was by Mary DiBiasio and Dani Klute. On a square white pillar, they put a stack of small, stiff, translucent papers. On each, one side is printed to read OPPORTUNITY and the other side reads CHALLENGING. I was perplexed; what to make of this? The sign on the side of the pillar said TAKE ONE, so I did. Functional art.

It’s been over a week now, and I’ve decided to leave it on my desk for a year and see what happens. Its appearance is less-than-pristine already, and taking on the sense of a strange talisman. I love the durable weight and gentle rough texture of the paper, translucent but strong. But it’s the words that interest me – or annoy me, depending.

You see, as part of the landscape of my desk, it’s always there, maybe buried or only a corner visible behind my computer screen, but it is always around. Maybe it’s the power of suggestion, or I’m just that susceptible (ha ha), but when the side that reads OPPORTUNITY is facing up, things tend to go smoother in desk-land; emails and decisions and writing flow along. When the CHALLENGING side is up, well, things don’t seem quite as fluid. There’s more time spent staring emptily at screens, lost in cyber-voids. So I haven’t turned it over in a few days, but feel like I should. The CHALLENGING side must be conquered, or at least fashioned into something useful. So this is a new talisman/albatross for the year. I’ll let you know how it goes…

~ KM Murrell