EyeSpy: art, articles, news and events

If you thought your Thanksgiving week was busy my friend, just wait until you hear what’s coming up.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 30 

It’s the last of the Nohl Fellowship exhibition events, a series of complementary activities coinciding with the current exhibition at Inova/Kenilworth (which closes this Sunday, Dec. 4, located at 2155 N. Prospect Ave.).

The UWM Union Theater (2200 E. Kenwood Boulevard) will host a free screening of Locally Grown: The Nohl Fellows / Program Three at 7pm. According to their press:

The final program of new work from the current Nohl Fellows, this

program features Waldek Dynerman’s “Memory Check” (42 min, 2006), a

documentary shot entirely in Poland that explores the fading memory of

the Holocaust; excerpts from Jeff, Chris James Thompson’s experimental

doc focusing on the people around Jeffrey Dahmer at the time of his

arrest in the summer of 1991; and Neil Gravander’s “Double-Dude Does

Repetitive Action,” a VHS video recorded through a VCR that the artist

has modified to function as a kind of multi-track video recorder.

Co-presented by Inova.

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 1

Katie Gingrass Gallery  (241 N. Broadway) hosts  “Fill the Shelves,” a benefit for the Milwaukee Public Library. The reception will be held from 4 to 8pm, and visitors will also see the current showing of work in “Go Figure.”

Image courtesy historicthirdward.org

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2

Christmas in the Ward kicks off for two days, Friday Dec. 2 and Saturday, Dec. 3. Indeed, decorated trees, holiday songs and snacks, plus a guy sporting a beard will be in attendance (that would be either Santa or the hipster dude of your choice). And, plenty of art openings. Our Christmas stockings overfloweth!

Marshall Building (207 E. Buffalo Street) 

A gaggle of art galleries are sprinkled throughout six floors, and many will be open and hosting receptions. Here are some highlights:

Elaine Erickson Gallery (1^st floor): “Tiny Things,” a group exhibition of works, plus selections from the collection of Lillian Schultz.

Reginald Baylor Studio: vibrant paintings, prints, and even t-shirts

"Every Day" features 13 artists and photographers with images from one day of life. On view at Portrait Society Gallery.

Portrait Society Gallery  (5^th floor): reception for three current exhibitions:

Jean Roberts Guequierre with Renaissance-inspired paintings and drawings, a beautiful mix of humor and pathos.

Jamal Currie and MIAD Students video installation, a project springboarding from the the Renaissance artist Giotto

Every Day: thirteen artists and photographers each created a body of work during the course of a single day. Ordinary life takes on some surprising qualities, often lovelier than we typically see. As an added bonus, these modestly-sized photographic prints are priced at $1 per inch.

Elsewhere in the Third Ward

Tory Folliard Gallery (219 N. Broadway] opens The Object Transcended, described as “a selection of artworks that will dazzle and brighten the spirits!”

But wait, there’s still more outside the Third Ward…

Walker’s Point Center for the Arts(839 S. 5^th Street) opens the Coalition of Photographic Arts (CoPA) show with a reception from 5-9pm, plus a gallery talk by exhibition juror and Chicago gallerist Catherine Edelman. It’s the fifth year for the CoPA exhibition, bringing together an array of photographic works.

Foxglove Gallery (820 E. Locust) celebrates their new, larger gallery space with a reception, live music by 4^th Street Elevator, and of course, plenty of original art, crafts, wearables, and other handmade items.

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 3

Dean Jensen Gallery  (759 N. Water Street). It’s your last chance to catch Great Impressions III, a selection of works on paper by 20^th century artistic heavyweights, curated by Jensen and former Milwaukee Art Museum director, Russell Bowman (Russell Bowman Art Advisory, Chicago). Images range from the playful Pop of Claes Oldenberg to the dark psychology of Leon Golub. Also included are selections from Chicago Imagists such as Roger Brown and Ed Paschke.

IN THE NEWS…

Catching up on art articles? Here are a few highlights:

An auction that is all Wright

Mary Louise Schumacher (Art City) and Art Daily  write about a Frank Lloyd Wright house which is going on the auction block in mid-December.

“Frank Lloyd Wright home up for auction”  (Art City):

“Wright auction house announces sale of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Kenneth Laurent House” (Art Daily)

Occupy Wall Street and Making Art 

The waves of discontent felt throughout the world and manifest in the Occupy Wall Street movement have captured our attention on the news. A group seeks to support the making of art and other creative acts in response to current events.

“Occupy Wall Street group looks to open arts space” (The Art Newspaper)

Art and Accounting Acrobatics

Bringing together admiration and dismay, check out the recent New York Times article on Ronald S. Lauder. Yes, a great art collector and philanthropist, noble actions indeed. But oh, the tax loopholes! They’re not accountants, they’re acrobats.

“A Family’s Billions, Artfully Sheltered” (New York Times)

Good Times in Wisconsin Supper Clubs

Also in the New York Times — a lovely piece on “The Supper Clubs of Wisconsin.” The article brings up the warm fuzzies and a good dose of Wisconsin pride. And, check out the photo essay by Narayan Mahon. The glow of lights though the warm shadows and convivial scenes will make you look forward to indoor socializing during the long winter nights.

“The Supper Clubs of Wisconsin”  slide show (The New York Times)

Amuse-bouche: Make Your Own Manifesto

Amuse-bouche: Make Your Own Manifesto 

Amuse-bouche: an elegant French phrase literally meaning “to amuse the mouth,” typically describing a small, singular hors d’oeuvre.

Here, the term is appropriated for a little morsel of artistic delight to start the week. Enjoy.

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Make Your Own Manifesto

You remember the old Mad Libs game, right? Choose some random nouns, unusual verbs, and exciting adjectives, plug them blindly to a text and you’ll come up with some pretty crazy stories. Well, you can also come up with your own art manifesto!

Jumble up 34 words, fill in the blanks, and make your stand. Better yet, make some art based on your manifesto. Or maybe against your manifesto. See how it goes…

Weekend Art Date Nov. 24-27, 2011

A Feast to Say the Least

Isaac Elyas (Dutch, active ca. 1620-1630), Celebrating Compagny, 1629. Oil on panel. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

The Thanksgiving holiday, and its associated goodies and foodstuffs with family gathered around the table, has caused my eyes to drift toward Dutch painting, especially the 17^th century variety. This gorgeous piece by Isaac Elyas, called Celebrating Compagny and painted in 1629, caught me a couple of weeks ago. There’s something about the glint of glass and the tableware, the sheen of satin and delicate lace ruffs that seemed particularly poetic.

Delicious things are being consumed, it is a time for comfort and relaxation in such an elegant manner. The details are captivating – the pewter pitcher and the charming disarray of the table, the folds in the tablecloth, as though it was fresh and folded, then brought out for this gathering. And for the cuteness factor, there is a fluffy little dog on the woman’s lap, perhaps calling to mind how, for many of us, little pets are an integral detail of life.

The Dutch artists of the 17^th century were especially good at these understated statements of elegance and abundance (well, never mind the fact that the Eighty Years’ War against Spanish Habsburg rule was raging outside; inside, things seem pretty pleasant). It had been a pretty good time for a rising merchant class, and people were filling their homes with art that spoke to a sense of pleasure and comfort.

Pieter Claesz (Dutch, 1597/98-1660), Still Life with a Crab, 1651. Oil on panel. Milwaukee Art Museum.

Still lifes were especially popular, like this 1651 painting by the renowned artist Pieter Claesz. This is of a sort known as a breakfast piece, and certainly on an empty stomach you’d be ready to dig into these edible delights. A bit of fresh crab, some luscious fruit, golden bread just waiting to be broken, and those lovely glass goblets, sparkling serenely under the light. And in the back, a pewter salt cellar — a mark of wealth and taste, as seasonings were treasured additions to the dining table.

Jacobus Victors and Jacob van Ruisdael (Dutch, ca. 1640-1705; Dutch, 1628/29-1682), Poultry Park, ca. 1670. Oil on canvas. Milwaukee Art Museum.

This painting, called Poultry Park, was done around 1670 by Jacobus Victors and Jacob van Ruisdael and now hangs at the Milwaukee Art Museum.  In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, I couldn’t resist this painting, too. Obviously this picture, in its own day and time, is not associated with the creation of an American holiday that is the bane of any poultry’s existence. It’s like a beautiful barnyard showing off gorgeous birds — not just one, but plenty. Abundance for humans and birds alike.

Pieter Brueghel the Younger (Flemish, ca. 1564/65-1637/38), Peasant Brawl, ca. 1620. Oil on panel. Milwaukee Art Museum.

Here’s wishing you a pleasant and peaceful Thanksgiving, — but hopefully one that doesn’t bear any resemblance to the card-game-gone-wrong drama of Pieter Brueghel the Younger’s Peasant Brawl. Cheers!

Kat Murrell

November 23, 2011