Dis/Connection - Julia Scheckel and Hunter Louis

September 10th-30th, 2021.
Gallery Hours: Fridays, 4-8PM, Saturdays, 12-4PM.
Closing Reception: Sat, Sept. 25th, 12-6PM.

Julia Scheckel

My approach to creating imagery starts with the act of carrying around a  camera. While going through daily life, or during special adventures,  imagery will jump out at me, and in that moment I know that I need to  record it. These flashes of connection are often inspired by the sublime  qualities of nature, or cherished moments of friendship. I reproduce these  experiences through printmaking. The act of making prints combines my  love of working in the photography darkroom with my love for drawing.  Shown in this exhibition are some of my recent screenprints. This process  is done by using a light sensitive emulsion coated on screens to make  stencils, which ink is then pushed through, creating an image on paper.  Crafting these prints is a time consuming process which allows me to  relive the moments being depicted. 

Spending time with nature is an escape from the chaos that surrounds  me. Being alone in the forest lets me empty my mind of trivial things,  giving me a better perspective of the bigger picture. I could watch Lake  Michigan for hours and let the tides wash away my anxieties. Most of my  imagery comes from Wisconsin, which is where I have lived my whole life.  It took me a long time to appreciate the gifts that this land gives us,  especially around the great lakes. I try to celebrate this region of the  world so others explore what’s in their own backyard. 

The other living elements in my work are some of the people that I love.  When camping or hiking, the camaraderie that transpires is very special.  Pitching a tent in the rain or spending extensive hours in the car can  bring out the best qualities in people if you’re spending time with the right  ones. When things get tough, friends often show their dedication to each  other and come out stronger on the other side. My connection to the earth  and my favorite people is highlighted in the images here. Spending hours  drawing these scenes lets me spend time in those moments of peace  again. 

juliascheckel.com

Hunter Louis

My artistic interests and work lie within the realms of illustration and  printmaking, and the translation of one to another. My work exists across the  stages and processes of drawing, both physically and digitally, and  printmaking, primarily screenprinting. Figurative and colorful, my creations  are a playground for whimsical characters to live out their experiences. The  characters invite viewers to celebrate the things that we feel as humans, face  up to darkness that we all experience from time to time, and find the humor  in it while doing so. 

Welcome to the Wasteland is a series of posters introducing viewers to the  characters Flipsy and Potnik and their home, the Wasteland. The Wasteland  is a post-apocalyptic world overrun by disease, violence, corruption, and  wealth-hoarding overlords. Flipsy and Potnik closely resemble the  archetypes of the fool and the hermit, two sides of my personality that I have  tended to switch between amidst the confusion and changes prompted by  events over the past year. There is an implied connection between the two  characters, but the nature of their relationship is unclear. What is clear is that  when push comes to shove, as long as there is someone in your corner,  you’re in a better place than you could be. 

The series illustrates the absurd nature of an uncertain world. To me the  posters are stories without a beginning or end (though they may have those  at some point), like a journal in a time capsule from a parallel world. There  are no heroes in the Wasteland, only the people who make it to the next day. 

Welcome to the Wasteland acknowledges that our world and environmentisn’t always the greatest while also implying that despite this it can be endured by those who are willing to try and those who accept help.

theworldofhunnerlouis.com 

Shelter Lures Me - Adam Stoner, Sara Willadsen, & Daniel Fleming

After weathering a year and a half of a global pandemic, we’ve all adapted new ways of going out into the world—and our home environments have taken on a new layer of biological safety. Yet for many the familiar architectures of the workplace, the grocery, the place of worship, and the classroom are still navigated with the anxiety of contamination. Now more than ever, we are attuned to the surfaces underneath our touch – not in a poetic way, but with alert precaution.

At a time when interactions with our usual people and places had been disrupted, the artists in this show felt the need to think about the various spaces in our lives. Who do we allow into the intimacy of our home? How do we safely rely on public utilities? Will cities of the future have a downtown, or was that just an artifact of a time before video conferencing?

While the artists each worked in their relative isolation, this exhibition served as a place for them to gather together to think through the social and physical production of space. Boundaries, thresholds, and arches are scattered throughout their images. Shelter Lures Me is, in short, their love letter to dwelling places – whether they are protective or secretive, inviting or boisterous. In these images and objects, architecture becomes a container for the salient memories of our lives—our walls which witness our grief and comfort; our rising and sleeping; our labor and reward.

Shelter Lures Me | August 1 - August 31

A group show of architectural works by

Adam Stoner | Sara Willadsen | Daniel Fleming

On view at Grove Gallery August 1 - 31 ; and online at gallerygrove.com

Opening Reception Friday, August 13th 5:00 - 9:00 pm

Adam Stoner

Adam Stoner (b. 1989) received his Master of Fine Arts in Intermedia Studies from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in 2019, and his BA in Studio Art and Theater from Williams College in 2011. Stoner makes paintings, drawings, and video installations that visualize the intimate connections between architecture and our bodies. How are we mutually inhabited by the very places we inhabit? If we build structures, do they also build us? Stoner is the recipient of UWM’s Chancellor’s Graduate Student Award, Layton Fellowship, and Williams College’s Gilbert W. Gabriel Prize in Theater. Originally trained in scenic design, Adam’s research frequently explores the language of space, the latent agency of materials, and the architectures—visible or invisible—which resonate endlessly in our daydreams.

Sara Willadsen

Sara Willadsen (b. 1987) received her Master of Fine Arts in Painting from Northern Illinois University in 2014 and her Bachelor of Arts in Studio Art and Graphic Arts from Lakeland University in 2010. Working mainly with paint and various collage elements, Willadsen’s work explores concepts of abstract spaces and objects guided by her surroundings. She has had work featured in New American Paintings and shows frequently in regional and national exhibitions. Willadsen currently works as a visual artist and graphic designer in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.

Daniel Fleming

Daniel Fleming received his Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design and Painting from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 2010. Fleming’s work is archetypal: visually abstract but conceptually specific. He uses symbols and associations of symbols that constitute a theme or narrative. His physical process is intentionally raw, direct, intuitive, vigorous, and spontaneous. Fleming works as a visual artist and graphic designer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

New Works by Laura Jean DanNhauser

New Works by Laura Jean Dannhauser takes on subject matter intended to draw the viewer into unpredictable cycles of thought and association. The work provides an experimental chance to challenge the viewer’s perceptions and assumptions about the worlds both inside and around us. By combining canvasses with sculptural techniques, the artist creates paintings that give a tactile experience.

Laura Dannhauser is a naive artist. From Southern California, to Bali Indonesia to Wisconsin. She has spent the last 2 years experimenting with different mediums and subject matter. She works in several media: doll making, stop motion animation, toy demos, watercolor, oil pastel, ceramic tile portraits, and street art. Her latest endeavors mix many of these techniques directly on canvas. Her work has been exhibited in local businesses, regional and international galleries, including House of Cars, a traveling group expedition from Milwaukee Art Museum, KM Art Gallery, and Gallery 2622. She is currently the resident artist at “Your CBD” in Greenfield.

Phyllis Bankier - Garden Splendor

A flower garden is shades of color. In this exhibit, I look at flower portraits and how they are posed with other colors in the garden. Colors are everywhere; the garden showcases a stunning masterpiece. As I concentrate on the main subject, I adjust the background colors of the garden to be slightly out of focus. I use a macro lens observing and capturing the fine points of the flower with a low f/stop, allowing the flower portrait to be in the spotlight and the background not in focus. My photography is rooted in my deep love of seeing the beauty and sensuality nature has given us.

Phyllis Bankier is a self-taught creative floral art photographer giving a voice to her flower subjects. Photography has always been part of her life. Over her many careers, she has always had a camera in her hand. “While composing the world through the camera lens and capturing those special moments or scenes, my camera has always been there.” Her work has been accepted into many juried exhibitions as well as winning first places and honorable mentions in numerous categories.

Artist’s Website: http://www.scenescapes.us/
Instagram: @scenescapespb

OPENING:
Friday, May 14th, 5-9 PM
Saturday, May 15th, 12-4 PM

Chutes and Ladders - Jesse Bell

Exhibition

Tunnels leading to here, pathways leading to there, start in one spot, find yourself in another. Hanging plants, drooping sunsets, pools of warm hues, stacks of yellow hay.

This group of work is an exploration of imagined places, philosophical thought, and undiscovered poetry. Each can be viewed as cartography, contemplation, discovery, and memory. 

These paintings attempt to create an entry point to explore places and scenarios of the viewer’s own making. They are suggestions of scenes yet realized.

Artist Statement

As an artist and a painter, it is crucial to continually re-examine and re-evaluate one’s practice, and to always be asking the questions: what am I doing through this work? What is it saying? What does it say about me? 

In a certain sense, I’m continually reclaiming my humanity through painting. At a formal level, I’m introducing myself to the world with my brush strokes, my line, and my choice of materials. It represents something deeper and more comprehensive than language, or even action, and opens up a type of communication that cannot be had in any other manner. At a time of seemingly infinite images and stimulation—so much of it digital and fleeting—to introduce something as humble as a painting to the world is a grounding experience for me. 

My paintings are abstract compositions that incorporate strong narrative elements. I juxtapose visual references of the mundane with the absurd to create open-ended conceptual opportunities for viewers to explore. I also strive to infuse my work with musicality and a continually-developing visual language. Through this, I'm working to create paintings that suggest stories, events, or convey to the audience a memory, situation, or scenario.

The direction of my latest work has led me to more unconventional framework shapes and supports, larger formats, and stronger narrative elements through shape and line relationships. I want to investigate issues of scale and associations between multiple paintings within a single piece. It is here that I feel I can make substantial breakthroughs in my practice—exploring and contributing to what a painting
can be.

Exhibition Runs from December 21, 2020 through January 30th, 2021. Open by appointment only.

Feeble Barriers - Nirmal Raja

Fragility and Feebleness has become second nature to us these days. But some experience this more acutely than others. Viewing the COVID 19 virus as the “great equalizer” has quickly been revealed as a farcical idea. The masks we wear have been ripped and the ugliness within has been revealed. Our healthcare workers, first responders and essential workers continue their jobs with danger lurking at every turn. They face each day not knowing if they will continue to be the same that night. They bear witness to horrific situations of life and death, suffering and survival in their raw “unmasked” state.

The mask has become a symbol for many conflicting ideas today- protection and consideration for others but also fear and partisanship. This thin piece of fabric has become a fault line where political identities are determined when it should simply be what it is- a feeble barrier against a pandemic. Many stories are being written on it- some about last breaths, some about courage and valor, some about love, some about inequality, some about survival, some about the ripple effects of COVID 19.  Feeble Barriers is a record of our times as seen through the eyes of health care workers as we battle a mysterious monster in the dark.

Exhibition Runs through July 31st, 2020. Open by appointment only.

Marilyn Propp: Notes from the Sea

Marilyn Propp’s series Notes from the Sea reflects the clash/coexistence between the industrial and natural worlds, where industrial debris and fragments of sea life are entangled, often morphing into one another, and machine parts disrupt the free-flowing undersea life. Fueled by her concerns about environmentally destructive practices (devastation of coral reefs, plastic debris, and oil spills), she creates relief prints and collage on hand-made paper, to present images of beauty while offering reflections on destruction.

Handmade paper reflects both the undersea world and the way paper is made. It’s a watery material in which wet pulp is formed, drained, and pressed. Pigmented pulp, pushed through a grid, creates a textured surface like fish scales. Installed 3 inches from the wall, Propp’s layered works appear to float, creating the impression of glimpses into the depths of the sea.

Marilyn Propp is a recent transplant from Chicago to Kenosha, WI, and is adjunct faculty at Carthage College. She is co-founder of Anchor Graphics, Chicago and the Center for Collaborative Research, soon to be opening in Milwaukee. Her work is in the collections of the Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art; Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College; DePaul University Museum, Chicago; Summer Palace, Saudi Arabia; Amnesty International, NYC; Old St. Patrick's Church, Chicago; Hallmark Collection and the AT&T Collection, Kansas City; and private collections throughout the U.S. Exhibitions include Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Projects, NYC; Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, IL; Galeria AP, Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Mexico; Neiman Gallery, Columbia University, NYC; Printworks, Chicago; and the Kenosha Public Museum, WI. Visiting Artist positions and Residencies include Cill Rialaig, County Kerry, Ireland; Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico; University of Iowa, Iowa City; Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville; Louisiana Tech University; Jentel Artist Residency, Wyoming, and a Ragdale Artist Residency, Illinois. Among her awards are Illinois Arts Council Grants, an Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Grant, and the 2019 RAM Fellowship Award. Concurrently, her work is in a solo show at RAM’s Wustum Museum of Fine Art, Racine.

For more information, visit www.proppjonesstudio.com

Opening for Doors Open Milwaukee: September 28th and 29th, 10am-5pm.

Gallery Night Reception: Friday, October 18, 5-9pm; and Gallery Day: October 19th, 1-5pm.

Imaginary Experiences: An Unserious Examination - Demitra Copoulos

Energetic and intimate works on paper and large scale 3 dimensional renderings on acrylic, will occupy the gallery walls and courtyard. Demitra Copoulos’s interwoven and interconnected imagery emerge on paper to resemble phenomena of the natural world.

‘Imaginary Experiences’ takes an unserious examination of metaphysics through a visual approach to questions of space and possibility. Visually addressing questions of what is beyond our perception, this series attempts to represent the unseen energy and wave patterns that move through our lives; a personal interpretation of what this invisible world could look like.

In the courtyard Demitra uses clear acrylic sheeting and acrylic paint to create large scale 3D drawings. As you move through the courtyard around each piece, the drawings morph in size and shape, taking on an almost animate characteristic. “My intention is to represent many forms that can exists simultaneously without opposing each other.”

Local artist Demitra Copoulos’s multi-decade career spans several themes. Best known for her large-scale sculptures and installations which are strongly suggestive of tension and confusion to the current more curious investigations on paper. Working with local artists and businesses, she created and co-organized “Temporary Resurfacing,” a large public outdoor multi-video projection event of regional and international media-based artists, which drew thousands of viewers. https://temporaryresurfacing.org/ 

Imagined Experiences runs through August 30, 2019. Gallery Hours are on Saturdays, 12-5 PM and by appt.

Works on Paper by Nancy Metz White (1934-2018)

OPEN FOR TWO WEEKS
Saturday, June 15, 2019; 12-5pm
Saturday, June 22, 2019; 12-5pm
& Sunday, June 23, 2019, 2-5pm

Grove Gallery will mount the one-woman show Nancy Metz White: Works on Paper during two weekends in June. The exhibit will feature framed and unframed prints, pastels, and “colorings” by the late Milwaukee sculptor Nancy Metz White (1934-2018), best known for her monumental welded steel sculptures in two Milwaukee parks, “Tree of Life” in Mitchell Boulevard Park and “Magic Grove” in Enderis Park Playfield.

Metz White began her artistic career as a painter and printmaker and later worked in pastels. “Even in her printmaking, you can see that my mother was fascinated by dimensionality,” notes Jacqueline White, of Minneapolis, the younger identical twin daughter of Metz White. “Though she started out making wood cuts, she gravitated toward relief prints—and could be counted on to point out how the images had been embossed on the paper. In fact, she even made ‘prints’ that were essentially ink-less, in which the white-on-white forms were made visible by the embossing.

“We’re excited to acquaint Wisconsinites with Nancy’s more two-dimensional works,” said White, who explained that funds raised by exhibit sales will go toward upkeep of the two Metz White sculptures in Milwaukee parks, as well as “Fantasy Flowers” at Saint John’s on the Lake retirement community in Milwaukee and “Helping Hands” at Mead Public Library in Sheboygan. As a special bonus, the artist’s models for her “Tree of Life” and “Magic Grove” sculptures will also be on display, on loan from the Milwaukee Historical Society, which houses the White family papers.

“We’re envisioning this show as a comprehensive overview of our mother’s works on paper,” says White. “Included are what she termed her ‘colorist’ works, which she created when she was struggling with memory loss. Though she relied on imagery in adult coloring books, her vibrant sense of color was still very much intact.” 

While she often chose floral designs for her colorist projects, Metz White’s imagery in her paper works is primarily abstract. The forms are often circular: One print, “Emergence,” features “O”s made by wooden letterpress letters. Other shapes in her prints are freeform—and reminiscent of the painted foliage, made from forge flashings recycled from Milwaukee heavy industry, in her large-scale sculptures.

“It’s particularly meaningful to our family that Grove Gallery is hosting this retrospective exhibit,” said the older twin daughter of Metz White, Michele Beaulieux, of Chicago. Designated a "Walker's Point Building of Architectural Interest,” the Lamars Building, which houses the gallery, has been lovingly restored by a cousin of Metz White, Celine Farrell. A noted Milwaukee printmaker and sculptor, Farrell’s work will also be on view in her studio behind the gallery.

The artist’s daughters will be on hand to greet visitors during gallery hours. The show will be open Saturdays, June 15 & 22, 2019, Noon - 5pm and Sunday, June 23, 2019, 2 pm - 5 pm. In conjunction with the show, a family-friendly performance, “The Buundid in the Magic Grove: A Fable for All Ages” will be performed in Enderis Park on Sunday, June 23 at noon.

Mundane Wonder - Nirmal Raja, Riley Rae Niemack, Erin E Bolte

Mundane Wonder brings together three artists: Nirmal Raja, Riley Rae Niemack and Erin E. Bolte, who use daily studio practice and everyday experiences as a foundation in their work. Playful experiments, sketches, material explorations and attention to the mundane result in small works that are rooted in wonder, offering a glimpse into the subconscious and the intuitive.

OPEN ON SATURDAYS: March 23 - May 25, 2019
OPEN FOR GALLERY NIGHT & DAY: Friday, April 26, 2019; 5-9 PM and Saturday, April 27th, Noon-5 PM

Nirmal Raja

Studio warmups have become a part of Raja’s studio practice at the start of her work day. Set parameters and daily discipline anchor these playful exercises that focus on the act of making. While they feel indulgent with a guilty pleasure in materials, Raja’s work taps into her subconscious like none of her other research based, large scale projects. Each series ends at a 101 - a number that symbolizes growth and seems to be her threshold for pushing the limit of variations within set parameters.

From the Void, No. 37, Nirmal Raja

Riley Rae Niemack

Having an in home studio over the last year has re-invigorated Niemack’s everyday inspired art practice. From creating impressions of her hair sheddings to capturing the use of her living room TV tray table, domestic life’s inherent ephemeral yet ritualistic core is an always-present reminder to her of the small things easily dismissed. These selection of works are distilled meditations on the peculiar nature of the accepted everyday.

Daily Thread Shed, Riley Rae Niemack

Erin E Bolte

Working with her hands grounds Bolte, calms her, gives her purpose, and never bores her.  She has learned repeatedly that she has a need to create daily. Her works in this show are artifacts of time passed.  They are reflections on the repetition of daily routines, and somewhere within the ordinary something extraordinary comes into being.

Michelle Obama, Erin Bolte

Breakers & Bastards - Jim Ford

Breakers & Bastards is an exhibition of paintings and collage art by Jim Ford. Using elements of typography, bold colors, patterned fabrics and found objects, Ford creates eccentric artworks that swell with playful energy. The Breakers are pieces that broke new ground for the artist, leading to new methods and bodies of work. Bastards are the outliers that never fit in to a series. Together, they present a six year journey through a detailed creative process.

Jim Ford (b.1981) is a type designer and visual artist living and working in Milwaukee. He studied art and Graphic Design at Columbia College Chicago, graduating in 2005. While honing his craft as a type designer, Jim also forayed into poster art, creating silkscreened editions for shows and events. Around this time, he developed his collage techniques further and began moving toward abstraction. Jim continues to evolve as a dynamic creative person, striking a harmonious balance between art and type.

OPEN ON SATURDAYS: January 12 - February 28, 2019
ARTIST RECEPTION: January 12, 2019, 6-9 PM
OPEN FOR GALLERY NIGHT: January 18, 2019, 5-9 PM

GROVE GALLERY
832 S. 5TH ST. MILWAUKEE, WI
GALLERYGROVE.COM

The God-Almighty Stanley Ryan Jones $ell$ Out

Opening Reception: Fall Gallery Night; Friday, October 19th, 2018. 5 – 9pm.
Also open on Gallery Day – October 20th, 2018. 1-5pm
Gallery Hours: Saturdays, 12-5pm through November 23rd, 2018.

“The God-Almighty Stanley Ryan Jones $ell$ Out” is a retrospective of 40 years work in photography, painting, collage, sculpture and shadow boxes.

Hundreds of black & white photographs documenting the late 70’s Punk/New Wave scene and late 80’s Dance Clubs in Milwaukee.

Two dozen large paintings composed of latex caulk applied like cake frosting and painted in candy colors.

More than 50 sculptures assembled from all manner of wooden objects: bowls, keys, weapons, fruit and hand-carved animals.

Over 30 shadow-boxes featuring action figures, children’s toys and religious icons playing with absurd and brutal truths.

80 fantastic paintings and monoprints made from drips, splatters, coffee cup rings, and bingo daubers.  

400+ Unique Works of Fine Affordable Art. Everything Must Go.

Stanley Ryan Jones, born 1951 in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, graduated from Mayville High in 1970. He was immediately drafted into the US Army and served in Bamberg, Germany.  Jones has been recognized for documenting the punk and new wave scene in late 70’s Milwaukee. His work was published primarily in the Bugle American and New York Rocker.  In 2007, the Milwaukee Art Museum accepted a collection of 83 prints titled “Milwaukee’s Blank Generation” into their permanent collection.

In 1981, Jones left Milwaukee to become a smokejumper and for five seasons parachuted from planes to fight wildfires in the American West.  On his 91st and final jump, he shattered his ankle colliding with the top of a pine tree. He moved to back Milwaukee, settling in at the infamous Norman Apartments.  When the Norman burned down in 1991, he lost all but a fraction of his work.

More recently, Jones was the Artist in Residence at Hi-Fi Cafe from 2011-2017.  He’s a member of the collaborative printmaking band, The Dry Points. He is also Frank Lloyd Wright’s fourth cousin.   

Musical Prints and Choreographed Lines: Works by Arthur Thrall

July 14 to September 1st, 2018
Opening reception, Saturday, July 14, 1 – 5pm.   
Also open on Gallery Night – July 20, 5-9pm & Gallery Day – July 21, 1-5pm
Gallery Hours: Saturdays, 12-5 and by appointment (contact 414-520-3891) 

Musical Prints and Choreographed Lines is an exhibition of etchings, engravings and drawings by Arthur Thrall.  His complex images include music notations, scientific illustration and bits of illuminated manuscripts.  The marks of these distinct symbolic languages are a kind of visual music. The honed techniques of this master printmaker are on full display in these prints.  The use of multiple plates, music engraving punches, myriad intaglio processes and hand-coloring demonstrate Thrall's expansive approach to printmaking. 

Arthur Thrall (1926 – 2015) was a printmaker, painter, Professor Emeritus of Art and former Charles S. Farrar-Laura Norcross Marrs Professor of Fine Arts at Lawrence University. Winner of numerous awards, his prints and paintings are included in national and international museum collections, including the Tate, Victoria & Albert and British museums and corporations.  Thrall’s art has recently been featured by the Museum of Wisconsin Art, Cedarburg Art Museum and Lawrence University.   

On view will be a video, “Orchestrated Lines,”  of Thrall creating “Confluence” which shows him engraving, punching, proofing and printing the plate.  It will be shown at the gallery with the music punches and the printing plate. 

“Viewers will find his work aesthetically pleasing and intellectually engaging.”  
-- Beth Zinsli, director of the Wriston Art Gallery.     See arthurthrall.com 

Website: Arthurthrall.com
Press: https://urbanmilwaukee.com/2018/08/16/visual-art-enthralled-by-arthur-thrall/

"Variations", Engraving by Arthur Thrall

Partly Cloudy Skies: The Skyscape Series. Paintings and Drawings by Todd Mrozinski

Over the last decade, the sky has been a haven, a collaborator and an inspiration to Todd.  Skies and clouds have emerged in his work as the visual equivalent of freedom and transition.  The work in this show spans ten years of both observed and imagined skies from various points of view. 

Todd Mrozinski acquired his BFA in painting and drawing from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 1997 where he was the recipient of a Frederick Layton Scholarship and attended The New York Studio Program. He and his wife, Renee Bebeau, have a studio in The Nut Factory in Milwaukee, WI. Todd was the 2015-16 Pfister Artist-in-Residence and curator of The Pfister Pop-Up Gallery.

He is currently represented by The Woodman/Shimko Gallery, Provincetown, MA and Palm Springs, CA.

Opening Reception
Friday, April 13, 6-9pm
Artist Talk
Saturday, April 21, 1-2pm
Show runs April 13- May 26

Out From the Darkness - Drawings and Prints by Gregory Martens

“Out From the Darkness” Is an art exhibition of new drawings and prints by Milwaukee artist and master printmaker Gregory Martens. “Out From the Darkness”  refers to letting go of the influences and pressures of academic training and just trying to channel the teenaged kid back in the 1970’s who loved drawing for endless hours while listening to rock and roll on the 8-track. There is also darkness in the drawings which depict demons, comics, snakes, skeletons, monsters, crying babies, bad boys, and cool cars. The exhibition features richly detailed black ink drawings, acrylic paintings, and screen prints. 

Martens has developed a series of incredibly detailed sketchbooks over the last 16 months to support his work. A beautiful anthology of his best pages entitled “The Sketchbook of Gregory Martens” (Waterhouse Press, Milwaukee) will be available for purchase during the opening reception. You will get a rare glimpse into the psyche of a working artist complete with finished drawings, comics, tidbits of found wisdom, copies of the great masters, fascinating quotes, and Martens’ inviting sense of humor. 

Over the years Gregory Martens, a natural storyteller, has been a janitor, graphic designer, traveling salesman, a shoe cobbler, a university art professor, and bone marrow cancer survivor. His diverse experience includes winning first place at an international show carving competition in Harbin, China, receiving a research grant to study Spanish tiles in Lima, Peru, and presenting an etching demonstration for the Milwaukee Art Museum Print Forum. 

Martens’ works have been exhibited and collected around the world at venues including the JM Kohler Art Museum, The International Print Center of New York, The Milwaukee Art Museum Print Collection, The Museum of Wisconsin Art, and the Southern Graphics Council Archive. 

Artist Reception
Friday, Oct. 20, 2017; 5-9 pm. Cold beer and live blues/folk music by Graveyard Shift
Artist Talk
Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017; 12-5 pm, Gallery Talk at 2:00 pm 

Gallery Hours: 
Open on Saturdays 12-5 pm and weekdays by appointment,
Show runs through November 3, 2017

Final-Final: Paintings by Jim Finnerty

Opening Reception
Friday, July 21, 2017; 5-9 pm
Saturday, July 22, 2017; 12-5 pm

Final-Final: A Vietnam vet’s plight with PTSD through his art showcases the abstract paintings by the late artist, Jim Finnerty.  On display will be 20 pieces from his painting career.  This is the first gallery exhibition of the artist’s work since his passing in 2016.

Jim Finnerty went to the Layton School of Art to study commercial art before enlisting with the Army in 1967-68, which included a year of deployment to Saigon.  He served as a military police officer in charge of investigating accidents involving military vehicles.  Upon returning to Wisconsin, Finnerty finished his degree and established a successful graphic design business, DesignCor.

In 2008, Jim was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after seeking treatment with the Milwaukee VA Medical Center.  It was through the VA that he began to use painting as a meditative act to deal with his trauma.  He devoted himself to his painting and in 2010 took second place in the National Veterans Arts Competition with his piece, “Year of the Monkey”.

His paintings are abstract departures from landscapes, focusing on the actions of color on the horizon.  Creating a balance between the calmness of the horizon and the full emotion of his saturated pigments, Finnerty applies the paint with palette knives, sponges and rags.  Writing for “Caggio Blog: an Art Experiment” in 2010, blogger Maureen Mulhern observed the tension of a graphic designer creating spontaneous, abstract forms:

“Choosing to work not from photography, but rather from a vibrant library of memories categorized by color and texture, Finnerty's paintings provide a balance of recognizable to purely abstract and emotive representations. In color fields of rough geometry lies a structure by which memories are placed like elements in a pictorial space, creating strong compositions varying in mood. As concept is key, the artist uses his superb understanding of color to inform his process--one that is remarkably spontaneous!”

Join us as we pay tribute to a man whose life and talent were taken from us too soon.  

Gallery Hours:
Saturdays 12-5 pm and weekdays by appointment.
Show runs through September 22, 2017.

Otherlands 5-D - Nina Bednarski

Opening Reception
Friday, April 21, 2017; 5-9 pm
Saturday, April 22, 2017; 12-5 pm

Otherlands 5-D remarks on landscape traditions through the personal narrative of the artist, Nina Bednarski. Her work pays homage to nature and the limitless realities envisioned within it. Her use of color and methodical painting techniques join to create the bright and enchanted environments in Otherlands 5-D. Striving to reach a meditative state while painting, Bednarski created this new body of work to inspire the mind and heart.

The paintings in Otherlands 5-D are made primarily with enamel on glass and acrylic on canvas. A methodical, slow-painting approach achieves a smooth, blemish-free surface reminiscent of mechanical print processes.  Experiments in mixed media sculpture accent and combine with the paintings to achieve poetic foregrounds that the landscape paintings enrich.

Nina Bednarski is a multi-media artist working and living in Milwaukee, WI.  After graduating with a BA from the University of Wisconsin in Madsion, she began a fifteen year career of group, solo, university and museum shows across Wisconsin, Chicago, and New York City (where she maintained a Brooklyn studio for many years.)  More recently, Nina has taken on several large curatorial projects in raw spaces, storefronts and experimental galleries in Milwaukee.  To learn more, visit www.ninabednarski.com  

Gallery Hours: 
Saturdays 12-5 pm and weekdays by appointment.
Show runs through Saturday June 18, 2017.

Warmer: Modern Quilts and Weaving from the Upper Midwest

Opening Reception
Friday, January 20, 2017; 5-9 pm
Saturday, October 21, 2017; 12-4 pm

WARMER features a selection of modern weavings and quilts by four regional artists working in fibers.  Their individual practices oppose the disconnect between work and meaning. Using traditional techniques requires long investments of time and careful consideration of materials.  This collection of work is a comforting yet critical response to consumerism and industries that thrive on exploitation.

Work like theirs whispers to the person seeing or touching it. It vibrates with the energy used to create it; deep concentration, patience, tenderness, hopefulness, and time are vital to construction.  The artists have developed unique approaches to fiber arts less through formal training than through their personal desire to create and explore.

MANDI SMETHELLS graduated with a BFA in printmaking from UW-Eau Claire , and currently reside in St Paul, MN. For the weavings in this series, she repurposed leather from five jackets found at thrift stores. Contrasting the texture of leather with colorful yarns transforms this unconventional pairing into delicate and beautiful wall-hangings.

AMANDA TOLLEFSON received her BFA in painting from Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 2003. She was inspired by ski fashion and the solar system as she designed the quilts featured in Warmer.  They are made of recycled sweatshirts that would otherwise be destined for a landfill. The utilitarian aspect of these quilts is elevated by their intended potential to transfer love.

JENNA VALOE is a self-taught textile artist with a BA in Cultural Anthropology from UW-Milwaukee. She is a daydreamer who attributes her innate fiber skills to the abundance of makers in her ancestry.  Considering place-making, symbolism, and magic in daily life, she employs large color planes in gentle  combinations to capture the calm of rural skylines.

KELLY WANDERER is a weaver and musician with a BS in Film Studies from UW-Milwaukee. Her formal introduction to weaving began in a a class at ABK Weaving Center.  She’s taught herself complex weaving skills through analysis of 1960s and 70s weaving books.  Her techniques produce technically sound fabrics using modern yarns and historic patterns. She’s drawn to the immersive nature of the act of weaving.

Leslie Vaglica, the curator of Warmer, lives in Milwaukee. She holds degrees in drawing,  political science, and apparel design. She currently works in costuming for dance, opera, and theater.  

Gallery Hours:
Fridays 5-9 pm, Saturdays 12-5 pm and weekdays by appointment.
Show Runs through Saturday March 18, 2017.

The Last of the Bohemians - Bob Watt (1925-2012)

Opening Reception:
Friday, October 21, 2016; 5-9 pm
Saturday, October 22, 2016 12-4 pm

“The Last of the Bohemians” features a suite of ten Native American landscape paintings from the private collection of Jimmy von Milwaukee. This is the first public thematic exhibition of Watt’s works since his death in 2012.

“The Last of the Bohemians” showcases Watt’s signature style of Native American Chiefs in repose on appropriated sofa-size commercial art landscapes.  

In Watt’s playful style, chiefs are “photo-bombs” that lurk in the background, dominate the composition, or meld into the picture like a double exposure in the wasteland of commercial kitsch.

Sampling the facial masks of modern art masters, 19th century portrait photography and the whimsical three-dimensional play of mobiles, Watt creates images that are haunting and haughty totems signifying the clash of the natural and manmade world that requires the viewer to  question what is and what isn’t art.

Bob Watt was a Milwaukee poet, artist and provocateur.  He was considered the most published Wisconsin poet.  His artwork is in numerous private and public collections including Jimmy Carter Library, Hugh Hefner, Jack Nicholson, John Shimon & the late Julie Lindemannn and the Vatican.

Gallery Hours: Saturdays 12-5 pm and weekdays by appointment.
Show Runs through Saturday, December 17th, 2016

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Bob Watt painting in his studio, 1997.  Photo courtesy of J. Shimon & J. Lindemann.

Viewshed - Jessica Meuninck-Ganger

Opening Receptions:
Summer Gallery Night & Day
Friday, July 22nd, 2016 from 5-9 pm and Saturday, July 23rd, 2016 from 12-5 pm

Closing Reception:  
Doors Open Milwaukee
Saturday, September 17th, 2016 and Sunday, September 18th, 10 am-5 pm

Gallery Hours: Thurs & Fri, 5-9 pm; Saturday, 12-4 pm

Jessica Meuninck-Ganger's visual art practice can be framed as communal engagement in “making” by means of papercrafts and printmaking. She has a dedicated interest in learning and sharing the traditions of these practices, practices that are rooted in ideas of locale and community. Printed assemblages of built environments utilize paper's strength, translucency, touch, surface, and materiality to offer a unique "Viewshed".

Jessica Meuninck-Ganger’s prints, artist’s books and large-scale hybrid media works have been exhibited in museums and both experimental and commercial galleries regionally, nationally and internationally. Her works are included in several private and public collections, including the Weisman Museum of Art, Northwestern Mutual, the Target Corporation, and in contemporary publications, such as Andrea Ferber’s, Sustenance: Contemporary Printmaking Now, Richard Noyce’s, Printmaking Beyond the Edge, and Nathaniel Stern’s, Interactive Art and Embodiment: The Implicit Body as Performance. Jessica received a BS degree in Art Education from Ball State University and a MFA in Studio Arts from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She is currently the Print and Narrative Forms Area Head, Associate Professor, and Director of Graduate Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.