James Nares: In the City and Helen Levitt: In the Street are exhibitions paired in the Herzfeld Center for Photography and Media Arts at the Milwaukee Art Museum.The rationale is they share common ground in their connection to images of a certain place and time that has passed. More than that, there is a strong humanistic undercurrent to the photographs and videos by both artists.To put it in .... Read More
Korean sculptor and installation artist Do Ho Suh takes his home with him wherever he goes.In Suh's case, that “home” consists of full-size and scale replicas of his past abodes, which he constructs in art galleries around the world. The replicated spaces are created of translucent, monochrome polyester sewn onto thin steel frames and they offer both the artist and viewers an interpretation .... Read More
An artwork’s path in life can take interesting turns. It starts, naturally enough, as an artist’s idea or emotion, eventually finding a physical state as a finished piece. After that, the artwork may embark on some interesting journeys as it makes its home elsewhere. Sneak Peek: A Look at Private Collections is in part about this journey, but also about the people who take artwork into their h.... Read More
Cardinal Antonio Sersale peers from his portrait as if he were caught in mid-thought, his left hand toying with a cross of dark gemstones hanging from his neck. His mouth is firmly set. His eyes burn with an inner light, looking back at the viewer almost as if the good cardinal is anticipating a comment or question of some importance.The stunning interplay of light and shadow, of color and conte.... Read More
A Manhattan gallery is displaying a wall of 700 backpacks and belongings of migrants who illegally crossed the U.S. border. Some of them died in the Arizona desert.“Now, more than ever, in the aftermath of a presidential campaign that fed off anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric, it is absolutely critical to look deeper into the migrant experience and raise questions as to what the future .... Read More
The Milwaukee Art Museum announced the promised gift of an extensive collection of work by French graphic master Jules Chéret. Milwaukeeans Susee and James Wiechmann have promised the group of more than 500 Chéret artworks, one of the largest and most comprehensive of its kind.The gift encompasses the full range of Chéret’s output from his posters advertising theatrical events, social gat.... Read More
Japanese graffiti artist "281 Antinuke" says his latest street art — politically-charged stickers plastered around central Tokyo — takes aim at U.S. President Donald Trump.Amid the bustling night life of Shibuya, a major shopping and entertainment hub in Tokyo, the artist pastes stickers dealing with social issues to lamp posts and walls to attract the attention of passersby.His latest.... Read More
A provocative poster with the U.S. Capitol superimposed over a female’s lower torso was among signs carried during the Women’s March in Washington D.C., as well as marches in Milwaukee, Madison and elsewhere. Commissioned by activist Megan Holbrook, the “Tear Us Down, We Rise” poster was designed by local artist Niki Johnson and Christian Westphal. It was based on a work Johnson spent year.... Read More
Martin Johnson Heade is an American artist who was born in 1819 in rural Pennsylvania. He achieved some critical notoriety during his life, but after his death in 1904 was largely overlooked in the art world.In the waning years of Heade’s career and the early 20th century, Art Nouveau and the revolutionary compositions of Expressionism and Cubism with their angst and color, abstraction and jag.... Read More
Aesop’s Fables are filled with stories of animals that take on human emotions and face human dilemmas. Foibles like vanity and greed, as well as examples of compassion, are played out.In these small dramas, we can see ourselves.Artist Laurie Hogin doesn’t illustrate the stories of Aesop, but in the exhibition Implacable Demons and Better Angels she demonstrates a predilection for portrayin.... Read More
