| milwaukee's online art review |
FORWARD: A Survey of Wisconsin Art Now
Charles Allis Art Museum
1801 N. Prospect Avenue, Milwaukee.
414-278-8295
www.cavtmuseums.org
By Katherine Murrell
I have to wonder if 2007 is a year of cosmic
alignment that favors exhibition after exhibition of
contemporary Wisconsin art in our area.
Concurrently on view in addition to this show are
the Wisconsin Artists Biennial at the Haggerty
Museum in Milwaukee, plus the Wisconsin Triennial
at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. And,
the Walker’s Point Center for the Arts has their
annual Member’s Show on display which is also
worth a visit.
FORWARD is an exhibition comprised of works
submitted by artists throughout the state. The
exhibition juror is Siri Engberg, Curator in the Visual
Arts Department at the Walker Arts Center in
Minneapolis. About 250 works were submitted,
and from these about 49 were selected for the
show. Several artists are represented by multiple
pieces, but the works are exclusively two-
dimensional pieces: paintings, prints and drawings,
photographs, and mixed media of these sorts.
There’s some overlap with the Wisconsin Artists
Biennial, as a few participants are represented in
both shows. And like the Biennial, the overall tone
is relatively conservative, but here even more
dominated by representational work than
abstraction. As a survey intended to show what
Wisconsin artists are really up to these days, the
absence of three-dimensional or new media works
narrows the scope of the show considerably.
Overall, the relative merits in terms of quality and
execution have a pretty wide range, but it makes
for interesting and educational viewing. Despite
the fact that this is a juried exhibition, the flavor of
many pieces has something of a raw tone. It’s an
interesting venue for the viewer to become their
own de facto judge, to decide what they would
select as award-worthy, and more importantly,
why. It’s one way to develop and eye and insight
into art.
As for my own opinion, I have to say I agree with
the award selections, and there were two works
that I found particularly memorable. JW Lawson’s
Abandoned Garage, Old Highway 421, North Carolina
is a photograph of…an old garage. Lawson makes
something of a specialty in transforming lost and
forlorn places. Old eyesores become arrangements
of elegant and fragile beauty. It’s not easy to do.
Sure, anyone can pull old the camera, find the
nearest old garage with the most peeling paint,
point and shoot. But it doesn’t work like that.
Lawson’s instinct for balance and the harmonies of
shape and color is rich and subtle, and it goes way
beyond a lucky click of the camera shutter. There’s
an awareness of things under the mundane
surface of this façade; the weathered edges are
like the ghost of Rothko at work; the wild weeds
creep up through cracks, orderly and in line but
break free of the parched cement into small
outburst of soft leaves. Nature is green, but so is
the base of an old oil drum, a toxic punctuation
mark set off by the rusty orange glow that flicks
across the top of the can.
Lawson, like all of the other award winners except
for one, is based in the Milwaukee area. The one
recipient who is not is Angela Young, who hails
from Merrill, Wisconsin, about twenty miles north of
Wausau. Her Self-Portrait is an exceptional stone
lithograph. The strength of Young’s execution
prevents this from being an arrangement that
could be the subject of any standard art exercise,
and transforms it into a work that communicates
the power of portraiture. The contained
expression and clarity of gaze is riveting, and the
modulation of tone enlivens the surface while
demonstrating Young’s skill in physical
representation.
But once again, regarding the exhibition as a
whole, it doesn’t quite live up to the suggestion of
the show title. To proclaim “FORWARD” is like a cue
to get ready, you’re going to be in for something
progressive, innovative, or even confusing and
chaotic. But of course, “Forward” is also a simple
and catchy title modeled on the Wisconsin state
motto. Based on the works selected for the show,
it’s a gentle stroll rather than a brisk march into the
future.
Katherine Murrell is co-publisher of Susceptible to
Images.
Comments?
Email kmmurrell@susceptibletoimages.com
Copyright 2007. Content may not be used or
reproduced without the permission of the author.
Charles Allis Art Museum
1801 N. Prospect Avenue, Milwaukee.
414-278-8295
www.cavtmuseums.org
By Katherine Murrell
I have to wonder if 2007 is a year of cosmic
alignment that favors exhibition after exhibition of
contemporary Wisconsin art in our area.
Concurrently on view in addition to this show are
the Wisconsin Artists Biennial at the Haggerty
Museum in Milwaukee, plus the Wisconsin Triennial
at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. And,
the Walker’s Point Center for the Arts has their
annual Member’s Show on display which is also
worth a visit.
FORWARD is an exhibition comprised of works
submitted by artists throughout the state. The
exhibition juror is Siri Engberg, Curator in the Visual
Arts Department at the Walker Arts Center in
Minneapolis. About 250 works were submitted,
and from these about 49 were selected for the
show. Several artists are represented by multiple
pieces, but the works are exclusively two-
dimensional pieces: paintings, prints and drawings,
photographs, and mixed media of these sorts.
There’s some overlap with the Wisconsin Artists
Biennial, as a few participants are represented in
both shows. And like the Biennial, the overall tone
is relatively conservative, but here even more
dominated by representational work than
abstraction. As a survey intended to show what
Wisconsin artists are really up to these days, the
absence of three-dimensional or new media works
narrows the scope of the show considerably.
Overall, the relative merits in terms of quality and
execution have a pretty wide range, but it makes
for interesting and educational viewing. Despite
the fact that this is a juried exhibition, the flavor of
many pieces has something of a raw tone. It’s an
interesting venue for the viewer to become their
own de facto judge, to decide what they would
select as award-worthy, and more importantly,
why. It’s one way to develop and eye and insight
into art.
As for my own opinion, I have to say I agree with
the award selections, and there were two works
that I found particularly memorable. JW Lawson’s
Abandoned Garage, Old Highway 421, North Carolina
is a photograph of…an old garage. Lawson makes
something of a specialty in transforming lost and
forlorn places. Old eyesores become arrangements
of elegant and fragile beauty. It’s not easy to do.
Sure, anyone can pull old the camera, find the
nearest old garage with the most peeling paint,
point and shoot. But it doesn’t work like that.
Lawson’s instinct for balance and the harmonies of
shape and color is rich and subtle, and it goes way
beyond a lucky click of the camera shutter. There’s
an awareness of things under the mundane
surface of this façade; the weathered edges are
like the ghost of Rothko at work; the wild weeds
creep up through cracks, orderly and in line but
break free of the parched cement into small
outburst of soft leaves. Nature is green, but so is
the base of an old oil drum, a toxic punctuation
mark set off by the rusty orange glow that flicks
across the top of the can.
Lawson, like all of the other award winners except
for one, is based in the Milwaukee area. The one
recipient who is not is Angela Young, who hails
from Merrill, Wisconsin, about twenty miles north of
Wausau. Her Self-Portrait is an exceptional stone
lithograph. The strength of Young’s execution
prevents this from being an arrangement that
could be the subject of any standard art exercise,
and transforms it into a work that communicates
the power of portraiture. The contained
expression and clarity of gaze is riveting, and the
modulation of tone enlivens the surface while
demonstrating Young’s skill in physical
representation.
But once again, regarding the exhibition as a
whole, it doesn’t quite live up to the suggestion of
the show title. To proclaim “FORWARD” is like a cue
to get ready, you’re going to be in for something
progressive, innovative, or even confusing and
chaotic. But of course, “Forward” is also a simple
and catchy title modeled on the Wisconsin state
motto. Based on the works selected for the show,
it’s a gentle stroll rather than a brisk march into the
future.
Katherine Murrell is co-publisher of Susceptible to
Images.
Comments?
Email kmmurrell@susceptibletoimages.com
Copyright 2007. Content may not be used or
reproduced without the permission of the author.
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
Events Calendar Click on listings for more information |
| SEARCH THIS SITE |
| Join the list! Receive email notifications of site updates. Privacy Policy Your email address is strictly confidential and will never be sold or given away. |
| SEARCH THIS SITE is case sensitive, so be sure to use capitalization where needed. |
| Installation view in the Margaret Rahill Great Hall, Charles Allis Art Museum |
| Katie Musolff, Margaret in the Ceramics Room. Oil on canvas. Recipient of the 2007 Friends of the Charles Allis Art Museum Grand Award. |
| Angela Young, Self-Portrait. Stone Lithography. Recipient of the 2007 Honorable Mention Award. |
| JW Lawson, Abandoned Garage, Old Highway 421, North Carolina. Archival Pigment Print. Recipient of the 2007 Margaret Rahill Memorial Award. |
| EyeSpy June 19-26 Temporary Contemporary opens Friday India Poems: The Photographs of Milwaukee Artist Waswo X. Waswo at the Haggerty And more... |
