Art Gaze

Winter Gallery Night is inching closer. On Jan. 21, in the darkest days of our brittle clime, the art world will rally with some fine, toasty offerings. For those brave enough to wander in the crisp night air and risk losing their gloves, rewards await.

The Haggerty Museum of Art on the Marquette campus opens its new star-studded photography show called “The Truth is Not in the Mirror: Photography and a Constructed Identity.” The 23 artists in the show include Tina Barney, Chicago’s Dawoud Bey, Philip-Lorca de Corcia, my personal favorite Rineke Dijkstra, Lee Friedlander, David Hockney, Thomas Ruff – and the beat goes on. Haggerty director Wally Mason organized the show, which focuses on the slippery contingency and cultural shaping of personal identity as it is siphoned through the lens of a camera. There’s a lecture by Minnesota photographer-turned-superstar Alec Soth at 6 p.m. on Jan. 26. He packed the house at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design a few years ago.

Painter Paul Kosek’s first solo exhibition is on view at the Milwaukee Gay Arts Center. His paintings in “Bridging the Gap” are intelligent studies in tension, balance and transformation, beautifully set in the airy and gracious gallery space.

A Chicago native and current Racine resident, Kosek has a long history as an artist and art educator. The paintings in his “HP Series” show assertive compositional handling; the placement of pivotal lines sing in contrast with round forms and shards of overlapping color. Viewed up close, other strong points come through. Kosek’s acrylic paint is opaque, yet applied deftly to allow underpainting and brush strokes to remain visible. Layers build and collaged elements enliven the surface, like a bit of the world caught in the art. Below the painted surface, occasional HP logos from packaging peep through. The detritus of life is something to build another world on.

The Milwaukee Art Museum has successfully created a monthly After Dark series that presents tours of the current exhibitions in a funky, festive setting. On Dec. 17, from 5 p.m. to midnight, the party will focus on the 1980s in conjunction with the exhibition “European Design since 1985.” Admission is free for members and $12 at the door for non-members. Dress in retro-’80s – leg warmers or maybe some vintage workout gear – and expect live music, a photo booth and other activities.

Tucked into the near South Side, the newly re-located Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, 839 S. Fifth St., is showing a juried survey of Mid-western photography. Sponsored by Milwaukee’s ever-growing Coalition of the Photographic Arts, this annual event presents a range of professional and serious amateur work that adds up to a lively and rewarding visual experience. From fancy cameras to iPhones, our culture is now taking more pictures in more places than ever before. The show runs through Jan. 22.

The holiday season is in full force as decorations light up the streets across the city. The Historic Third Ward, one of Milwaukee’s art hot spots, is getting into the spirit with Christmas in the Ward festivities  Dec. 3-4. Catalano Square (on the corner of Broadway and Menomonee) will feature live entertainment, reindeer, and Christmas trees for sale. The Third Ward’s annual tree lighting ceremony takes place at 5 p.m. Dec. 3, and a fireworks display lights up the sky over the river at 6 p.m. Shop windows throughout the ward are decorated this year in silver and gold. Votes for favorite windows will be tallied until Dec. 22, and the winner will be posted on the Historic Third Ward website Dec. 23.

Despite the deep freeze of January, the art scene is running pretty hot in Milwaukee, with a number of exhibitions opening and closing.

The Milwaukee Gay Arts Center, 703 S. Second St., holds an opening night reception and costume gala on Jan. 28 for “Urban Fairy Tales: Interpretive Views of the Classics,” which continues through March 5. Featuring Perry Heideman, Pear Photography and the fashion design of Liz Shipe, gala attendees are encouraged to come in fairy tale costumes – with a twist.