| EyeSpy: Picks for the Week |
| October 30-November 5, 2006 |
| So much art, so little time. Here are a few things worth seeing this week: |
| Copyright 2006 Art History Chicks LLC Contact Us |
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Dia de los Muertos
Walker’s Point Center for the Arts
911 W. National Ave., Milwaukee
414-672-2787
November 2 – 30
In traditional Mexican practice a trail of marigold petals
might guide the dead into their proper households where
an altar, with food and drink and pictures of the deceased
would welcome them home. Sometimes, even a blanket
and pillow would be provided to encourage them to spend
the night.
Each year, Walker’s Point Center for the Arts
commemorates this ancient tradition with an exhibition of
altars. The Dia de los Muertos opening reception is from 6
to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, with a presentation by curator Rosa
Zamore. The altars were created by community residents
and artists, including a group of students from the
Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
With ancient Aztec roots, this festival traditionally includes
cleaning and decorating the graveyards and creating altars
in the home. The altars often include decorative skulls cast
from sugar, “pan de muerto” (bread of the dead), Marigold
flowers, and special gifts for the dead.
- Debra Brehmer
Walker’s Point Center for the Arts
911 W. National Ave., Milwaukee
414-672-2787
November 2 – 30
In traditional Mexican practice a trail of marigold petals
might guide the dead into their proper households where
an altar, with food and drink and pictures of the deceased
would welcome them home. Sometimes, even a blanket
and pillow would be provided to encourage them to spend
the night.
Each year, Walker’s Point Center for the Arts
commemorates this ancient tradition with an exhibition of
altars. The Dia de los Muertos opening reception is from 6
to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, with a presentation by curator Rosa
Zamore. The altars were created by community residents
and artists, including a group of students from the
Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
With ancient Aztec roots, this festival traditionally includes
cleaning and decorating the graveyards and creating altars
in the home. The altars often include decorative skulls cast
from sugar, “pan de muerto” (bread of the dead), Marigold
flowers, and special gifts for the dead.
- Debra Brehmer
Sonya Clark: Tangles and Teeth
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
608 New York Ave., Sheboygan, WI
920-458-6144
October 29, 2006 – January 21, 2007
Sonya Clark uses hair combs (the common simple, black
plastic kind) to make sculptures that broadly address how
African American hair styles speak of culture and character.
She transforms these generic artifacts into marvelously
inventive two and three-dimensional forms that somehow
defy the functional nature of the comb. Yet, each piece still
echoes a deep history of tribal hair designs, barber shops,
black beauty salons and endless hours of plaiting, braiding,
curling and methodically transforming the head into a
sculpture in and of itself.
Hair, in African mythology, is potent because the head
houses the human spirit. One could think of hair as a living
frame around a type of reliquary. But Clark’s show, titled
“Tangles and Teeth,” suggests more than decoration.
Beyond the notion of hair as a frame of sorts, is the complex
sociology of black hair as both a proud emblem of culture
and heritage and a battlefield where the uncooperative must
be tamed and ordered.
Clark received her M.F.A. from the Cranbrook Academy of Art
in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1995 and now serves as the
chair of the Craft/Material Studies Department at the School
of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University in
Richmond, VA.
-Debra Brehmer
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
608 New York Ave., Sheboygan, WI
920-458-6144
October 29, 2006 – January 21, 2007
Sonya Clark uses hair combs (the common simple, black
plastic kind) to make sculptures that broadly address how
African American hair styles speak of culture and character.
She transforms these generic artifacts into marvelously
inventive two and three-dimensional forms that somehow
defy the functional nature of the comb. Yet, each piece still
echoes a deep history of tribal hair designs, barber shops,
black beauty salons and endless hours of plaiting, braiding,
curling and methodically transforming the head into a
sculpture in and of itself.
Hair, in African mythology, is potent because the head
houses the human spirit. One could think of hair as a living
frame around a type of reliquary. But Clark’s show, titled
“Tangles and Teeth,” suggests more than decoration.
Beyond the notion of hair as a frame of sorts, is the complex
sociology of black hair as both a proud emblem of culture
and heritage and a battlefield where the uncooperative must
be tamed and ordered.
Clark received her M.F.A. from the Cranbrook Academy of Art
in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1995 and now serves as the
chair of the Craft/Material Studies Department at the School
of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University in
Richmond, VA.
-Debra Brehmer
| Above: Sonya Clark installing work at JMKAC. Right, top and bottom: works by Sonya Clark. |
Nature and Sculpture
Schlitz Audubon Nature Center
1111 E. Brown Deer Road, Bayside, WI
414-352-2880
There is nothing quite like the Mystery Pond at the
Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, particularly on a late
fall day when hikers are in short supply and the only
sounds to be heard are those of lively chickadees.
Nowhere to be seen are the pond’s ducks and geese;
hidden from sight are the turtles, frogs and fish.
Nature holds her breath in anticipation of the arrival of
winter’s icy blasts.
Stay a moment and gaze into the mystery bathed in the
slant of autumn light. Consider the elegant lily pads
smooshed with hues of pink, lavender and buff; study
the delicate slivers of willow leaves floating like tiny
kayaks on the watery still surface. How very like the
1899 Claude Monet painting (Water Lily Pond)
conceived at Giverny, and dare I say, even lovelier than
that? No one will tell you not to, if you wish to bend and
touch this “art.” But why mess with perfection?
Come walk with me on a trail leading to the “Eagle’s
Nest,” a gigantic construction of dead wood shaped
(by human hands) to resemble an aerie. It too, is
perfect. There is no identifying plaque to determine
when it was made or who made it. In many ways, it
reminds me of the 1980 Three Horses sculpture
fashioned of sticks and mud by artist Deborah
Butterfield who began her teaching career at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The trails remain open during the winter and 2.5 miles
are available for those who seek perfect moments on
cross-country skis.
- Judith Ann Moriarty
Schlitz Audubon Nature Center
1111 E. Brown Deer Road, Bayside, WI
414-352-2880
There is nothing quite like the Mystery Pond at the
Schlitz Audubon Nature Center, particularly on a late
fall day when hikers are in short supply and the only
sounds to be heard are those of lively chickadees.
Nowhere to be seen are the pond’s ducks and geese;
hidden from sight are the turtles, frogs and fish.
Nature holds her breath in anticipation of the arrival of
winter’s icy blasts.
Stay a moment and gaze into the mystery bathed in the
slant of autumn light. Consider the elegant lily pads
smooshed with hues of pink, lavender and buff; study
the delicate slivers of willow leaves floating like tiny
kayaks on the watery still surface. How very like the
1899 Claude Monet painting (Water Lily Pond)
conceived at Giverny, and dare I say, even lovelier than
that? No one will tell you not to, if you wish to bend and
touch this “art.” But why mess with perfection?
Come walk with me on a trail leading to the “Eagle’s
Nest,” a gigantic construction of dead wood shaped
(by human hands) to resemble an aerie. It too, is
perfect. There is no identifying plaque to determine
when it was made or who made it. In many ways, it
reminds me of the 1980 Three Horses sculpture
fashioned of sticks and mud by artist Deborah
Butterfield who began her teaching career at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison.
The trails remain open during the winter and 2.5 miles
are available for those who seek perfect moments on
cross-country skis.
- Judith Ann Moriarty
| Lily pads at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center. |
| Claude Monet, Water Lily Pond, 1899 |
| The "Eagles Nest" at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center. |