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| Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors Southeast Chapter Exhibit Reuss Federal Plaza Building Ground Floor Lobby 310 W. Wisconsin Avenue, Milwaukee September 10 - October 7, 2006 |
No nudes, no controversy.
It’s big and it’s blue, so blue, that the color of the Reuss Federal Plaza Building at 310 W. Wisconsin
Avenue, is oft compared to a Phillips’ Milk of Magnesia bottle. Likewise, over the years, the five
humanoid forms (Family) sculpted from Norwegian blue granite and arranged on the exterior plaza of
the 1983 Reuss structure, have been called “plop” art, or worse yet, “elephant turds.” It was rumored
they were to be sold, but they’re still around, newly lit in the updated plaza.
Welcome to the site of an exhibit by the Southeast Chapter of Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors/Wisconsin
Artists in All Media (WP&S/WAAM).The action takes place from now through Oct. 7 in the reconfigured
ground floor lobby. Be advised: before viewing the work, you must pass through a security check. Fair
enough, considering a Wisconsin man was convicted in April of plotting to blow up the building.
The debut exhibit of Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors was held in 1914 (the year that WWI started), and it
is rather remarkable that they’ve survived almost a century in a world rife with global conflict. They also
publish a monthly magazine (Art In Wisconsin), and are busy working on The Wisconsin Artists Biennial
2007, a juried event scheduled for the Haggerty Museum of Art, come spring.
It’s big and it’s blue, so blue, that the color of the Reuss Federal Plaza Building at 310 W. Wisconsin
Avenue, is oft compared to a Phillips’ Milk of Magnesia bottle. Likewise, over the years, the five
humanoid forms (Family) sculpted from Norwegian blue granite and arranged on the exterior plaza of
the 1983 Reuss structure, have been called “plop” art, or worse yet, “elephant turds.” It was rumored
they were to be sold, but they’re still around, newly lit in the updated plaza.
Welcome to the site of an exhibit by the Southeast Chapter of Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors/Wisconsin
Artists in All Media (WP&S/WAAM).The action takes place from now through Oct. 7 in the reconfigured
ground floor lobby. Be advised: before viewing the work, you must pass through a security check. Fair
enough, considering a Wisconsin man was convicted in April of plotting to blow up the building.
The debut exhibit of Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors was held in 1914 (the year that WWI started), and it
is rather remarkable that they’ve survived almost a century in a world rife with global conflict. They also
publish a monthly magazine (Art In Wisconsin), and are busy working on The Wisconsin Artists Biennial
2007, a juried event scheduled for the Haggerty Museum of Art, come spring.
Prior to the opening, the Reuss powers-that-be
said the artists are selected on a first-come-first-
served basis. Additionally, the content of the art
must not be “controversial.” Southeast chapter
chairperson, Virgi Driscoll, later explained that
“controversial” means (at least in part), “no
nudes.”
Actually, the Reuss personnel did scuttle two
pieces prior to the exhibit: a painting imaged with
stalactites and stalagmites (scary!) and a Gary
John Gresl sculpture ( No Dogma) punctuated
with antique darts. Four security guards
determined the darts could be removed and
possibly used as weapons. “It’s sad,”
commented Gresl, who substituted a big colorful
painting in lieu of the “dangerous” dart sculpture.
Color, and lots of it, dominates the exhibit. The
works, both large and small, consist of the usual
smattering of landscapes and seascapes, and
unless you count Fred Bell’s painting (Beer
Dogs) of dogs guzzling beer, there is nothing
controversial in sight.
said the artists are selected on a first-come-first-
served basis. Additionally, the content of the art
must not be “controversial.” Southeast chapter
chairperson, Virgi Driscoll, later explained that
“controversial” means (at least in part), “no
nudes.”
Actually, the Reuss personnel did scuttle two
pieces prior to the exhibit: a painting imaged with
stalactites and stalagmites (scary!) and a Gary
John Gresl sculpture ( No Dogma) punctuated
with antique darts. Four security guards
determined the darts could be removed and
possibly used as weapons. “It’s sad,”
commented Gresl, who substituted a big colorful
painting in lieu of the “dangerous” dart sculpture.
Color, and lots of it, dominates the exhibit. The
works, both large and small, consist of the usual
smattering of landscapes and seascapes, and
unless you count Fred Bell’s painting (Beer
Dogs) of dogs guzzling beer, there is nothing
controversial in sight.
| Gary John Gresl, No Dogma |
Where My Money Goes, is an appropriate title for Lee H. Grantham’s 72”x 49” multi-hued acrylic
painted on Plexi, and strung on the lower edge with multiple pink toe shoes collected from his
daughter, who is studying with the Milwaukee Ballet. Have You Seen my Scarf, a fiberwork by Angela
Laughingheart, arrived at the exhibit lashed to the back of the artist’s bicycle. The piece, knitted in grey
and white wool (and then “felted”…think boiled wool) was quite handsome mounted on the lobby’s
grey walls. Unfortunately, it was the only submission of a work in fiber. Photographs were in short
supply too, with only two submissions in that category.
painted on Plexi, and strung on the lower edge with multiple pink toe shoes collected from his
daughter, who is studying with the Milwaukee Ballet. Have You Seen my Scarf, a fiberwork by Angela
Laughingheart, arrived at the exhibit lashed to the back of the artist’s bicycle. The piece, knitted in grey
and white wool (and then “felted”…think boiled wool) was quite handsome mounted on the lobby’s
grey walls. Unfortunately, it was the only submission of a work in fiber. Photographs were in short
supply too, with only two submissions in that category.
Because the exhibit opened just prior to the fifth
anniversary of the Twin Towers inferno, I
assumed, incorrectly, that the thirty three
offerings would include at least one work in the
9/11 mode. Charles Wickler’s, Rescue Nola,
references the watery disaster in New Orleans,
and comes close to defining our unpredictable
world, but it is Nancy Lamer’s bodacious oil
painting (Assisi Forum Ruins), which
demonstrates Homo-sapiens’ predilection for
power and war. It’s on the east wall. Don’t miss it.
As I exited the exhibit, I wondered if the guys I
saw inside, wandering around in camouflage-
style uniforms (military facilities rent a portion of
the building’s offices), would take note of Lamer’
s painting, and if they did, would they understand
the message implicit in her depiction of power
and ruin?
The lobby opens at 6 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m.
Michael Flanagan, Director of The Crossman
Gallery at UW-Whitewater juried the awards.
Drop in and see if you agree with his choices,
one of which is Matter of the Heart, an oil painting
by Virgi Driscoll.
- Judith Ann Moriarty
(Judith Ann Moriarty is a freelance arts writer and
frequent contributor to Susceptible to Images).
Comments? Email
comments@susceptibletoimages.com
| Virgi Driscoll, Matter of the Heart. |
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