| Gallery 218 Gallery 218 207 E. Buffalo Street, Suite 218 Milwaukee, 414-643-1732 |
Gallery 218 is located on the second floor of
the artistically popular Marshall Building in an
industrial but comfortable concrete space. The
bare walls and floors are subtle shades of
blue-gray and shining silver industrial flood
lamps light up the walls. Against this neutral
backdrop is the current installation of works
from this artists’ cooperative. It’s a diverse
group, showing paintings, sculptures, and
photographs, and at first it is difficult to pull it all
together into a cohesive concept. But as you
look around the space, the primacy of color and
texture comes to the forefront as an
overarching artistic interest. Unexpected
resonances appear between artists,
particularly in the paintings of Judith Hooks and
Thomas Kovacich, and the photographs of
Bernie Newman and Angel Hernandez.
Hooks is a founding member of this gallery,
and the current installation shows works from
her “Alchemical Investigations” series. Using a
variety of tools, techniques, and media she
creates shimmering works that are a visual
delight to behold though devoid of overt
subject Citing influences such as colorfield
painting and minimalism, Hooks works within
the vocabulary of pure color, but adds depth
and richness with the addition of a keen
interest in script and mark-making. In process
that involves applying numerous layers of
the artistically popular Marshall Building in an
industrial but comfortable concrete space. The
bare walls and floors are subtle shades of
blue-gray and shining silver industrial flood
lamps light up the walls. Against this neutral
backdrop is the current installation of works
from this artists’ cooperative. It’s a diverse
group, showing paintings, sculptures, and
photographs, and at first it is difficult to pull it all
together into a cohesive concept. But as you
look around the space, the primacy of color and
texture comes to the forefront as an
overarching artistic interest. Unexpected
resonances appear between artists,
particularly in the paintings of Judith Hooks and
Thomas Kovacich, and the photographs of
Bernie Newman and Angel Hernandez.
Hooks is a founding member of this gallery,
and the current installation shows works from
her “Alchemical Investigations” series. Using a
variety of tools, techniques, and media she
creates shimmering works that are a visual
delight to behold though devoid of overt
subject Citing influences such as colorfield
painting and minimalism, Hooks works within
the vocabulary of pure color, but adds depth
and richness with the addition of a keen
interest in script and mark-making. In process
that involves applying numerous layers of
| Gallery view |
| Works by Judith Hooks at Gallery 218. |
pigment, she uses a variety of media including oil, enamel, powdered pigments, and varnish, and seemingly
suspended between these layers, she makes calligraphic swirls and marks. These become textual and
textural elements that suggest a buried language, beautiful and undecipherable, in the midst of these rich,
reflective colors. Other pieces take a more overt approach to the suggestion of text by featuring gold tones
with incised lines that call to mind illuminated manuscripts as they shimmer in the light. The surfaces of her
works shine with beguiling textures that play not only to the visual sensibilities, but to a physical sense as
well.
suspended between these layers, she makes calligraphic swirls and marks. These become textual and
textural elements that suggest a buried language, beautiful and undecipherable, in the midst of these rich,
reflective colors. Other pieces take a more overt approach to the suggestion of text by featuring gold tones
with incised lines that call to mind illuminated manuscripts as they shimmer in the light. The surfaces of her
works shine with beguiling textures that play not only to the visual sensibilities, but to a physical sense as
well.
Thomas Kovacich’s work shares this penchant for the
physicality and texture of the painted surface. He uses latex
and other types of paint that are put on thick and heavily,
then scrapped down and built back up, and looking at them
it is difficult to ignore that aggressive physicality. A sense of
tactile play is also at work in one of his sculptures, an
enhanced found-object that consists of a square wooden
base and vertical metal rod with stout tubes jutting out
horizontally. The silver metal and earthy wood play it straight
against the vivacious bunches of fluffy, colorful feathers
stuck into the metal tubes. The feathers waft gently in the
circulating air, and bunches of them lay around the piece on
the floor. It’s funny and childlike, a quizzical thing on the
gallery floor, and instills a bit of tension as you watch the
waving feathers, and not often do you observe a sculpture
and wait for it to kinetically fall apart. It’s a playful piece, but
takes on a more ominous tone when you read its name on
the wall: Guantanamo Tickler, (2006). But the implications
suggested by the title do not clearly come through in the
piece itself; it remains enigmatic in meaning but rich
visually.
physicality and texture of the painted surface. He uses latex
and other types of paint that are put on thick and heavily,
then scrapped down and built back up, and looking at them
it is difficult to ignore that aggressive physicality. A sense of
tactile play is also at work in one of his sculptures, an
enhanced found-object that consists of a square wooden
base and vertical metal rod with stout tubes jutting out
horizontally. The silver metal and earthy wood play it straight
against the vivacious bunches of fluffy, colorful feathers
stuck into the metal tubes. The feathers waft gently in the
circulating air, and bunches of them lay around the piece on
the floor. It’s funny and childlike, a quizzical thing on the
gallery floor, and instills a bit of tension as you watch the
waving feathers, and not often do you observe a sculpture
and wait for it to kinetically fall apart. It’s a playful piece, but
takes on a more ominous tone when you read its name on
the wall: Guantanamo Tickler, (2006). But the implications
suggested by the title do not clearly come through in the
piece itself; it remains enigmatic in meaning but rich
visually.
| Thomas Kovachich, Guantanamo Tickler, 2006. |
Other works of note include photographs by Bernie Newman, who contributes three pieces to the exhibition
and describes his medium as “Ultrachrome Pigment on Velvet Fine Art Paper.” His images, taken on various
travels including visits to Las Vegas and Amsterdam, show glimpses of life in deeply saturated and vibrant
colors, and capture ordinary scenes transformed into superheated and shimmering colors. In contrast to the
bright tonal sensibilities demonstrated by most of the artists in the exhibition are the two large-scale black
and white photographs by Angel Hernandez. However, Hernandez’s sensitivity to gradation and tone renders
this absence of color as a neutral sensation, and with subtly draws out the beauty of line and pattern of
entangled fruits and palm fronds in Miami Palm (n.d.) or the charcoal piers of Chicago North Beach against a
flatly pale sky. These are cool images, and as they are hung about mid-way through the gallery installation,
serve as a visual palette cleanser before taking in the rest of the vibrant works by the gallery’s artists.
- KM Murrell
Katherine Murrell is a co-publisher of Susceptible to Images.
Comments for the writer? Email kmmurrell@susceptibletoimages.com
and describes his medium as “Ultrachrome Pigment on Velvet Fine Art Paper.” His images, taken on various
travels including visits to Las Vegas and Amsterdam, show glimpses of life in deeply saturated and vibrant
colors, and capture ordinary scenes transformed into superheated and shimmering colors. In contrast to the
bright tonal sensibilities demonstrated by most of the artists in the exhibition are the two large-scale black
and white photographs by Angel Hernandez. However, Hernandez’s sensitivity to gradation and tone renders
this absence of color as a neutral sensation, and with subtly draws out the beauty of line and pattern of
entangled fruits and palm fronds in Miami Palm (n.d.) or the charcoal piers of Chicago North Beach against a
flatly pale sky. These are cool images, and as they are hung about mid-way through the gallery installation,
serve as a visual palette cleanser before taking in the rest of the vibrant works by the gallery’s artists.
- KM Murrell
Katherine Murrell is a co-publisher of Susceptible to Images.
Comments for the writer? Email kmmurrell@susceptibletoimages.com
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