Street art

Sometimes Europeans are more American than Americans. They take what we invent such as Rock, Jazz, Hip Hop and graffiti and expand on it to make it their own. Now days graffiti is more appropriately labeled street art. It exists in a state where it is always free and available to the public. Each piece is unique. Each piece creates a place for the eye to rest and the mind to escape the mundane scenes of life. Unlike a lot of public art street art feels like it belongs. It grows from the street. It is at home in the dirt and grime of cities. Even the old cities of Europe. The form has been expanded to include theories of abstract art and the cultures of each new place it lands. Thanks to Sara Tajariol.

On the streets (and the galleries) of Milan from sara tajariol on Vimeo.

On the streets of Hamburg from sara tajariol on Vimeo.

MAD MAN DRAWING

I like to capture moments of creativity as they happen. Seeing any artist at work gives life meaning. The artist is Kyle Thomas hand drawning 1,500 covers for Beautiful/Decay.

Beautiful/Decay Book 1: Diary of a Madman from Beautiful/Decay Magazine on Vimeo.

Gallery Night in Milwaukee

Gallery Night & Day is coming up on July 24 and 25th and I've got art on my mind. Sometimes I wonder what the true value of art is. What's the point of it all? Why do we create? I don't know if I even want to write about Gallery Night as it is an event that will be pounced upon by every blogger under the sun. I'm still looking for an event that jumps out at me. Gallery Night & Day is often more about sampling small bites of what the arts have to offer here in Milwaukee. Some bites are better than others. Some capture my imagination, others just leave me wondering what the hell the artist was thinking.

Peltz Gallery has its "Nineteenth Annual Remarkable Women Show” which brings together women artist from the local and national scene.

"Paintings, drawings, collage and museum quality prints by more than 40 contemporary women artists. Regulars: Squeak Carnwath, Lesley Dill, Hung Liu, Frances Myers, Judy Pfaff, JoAnna Poehlmann, Carol Pylant, Alison Saar, Cheryl Olson Sklar, Jeanette Pasin Sloan, Evelyn Patricia Terry, Kara Walker, Della Wells and others are joined by newcomers: Dottie Attie, Elizabeth Catlett, Claire Van Vliet, Carol Wax. Also Judy Chicago of “Dinner Party” fame: An early pioneer in feminist art, author, educator, project organizer, collaborator, and tireless advocate for the need for art in the lives of the under-served in society. Judy Chicago has been a driving force in the cultural life of the United States."


Peltz Gallery
1119 East Knapp St. Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 USA Tel: (414) 223-4278 Fax: (414) 223-4306 Director: Cissie Peltz. Reception and Opening Gallery Night, July 24th. 6 p.m.-9:30 p.m




Katie Gingrass Gallery will feature fine art by a host of artists working in various mediums.


Abstract Perspectives John Mominee-monotype David Schaefer-oil painting Suzanne Donazetti-metal sculpture Nell Devitt - ceramic wall sculpture Leslie Emery-mixed media Ken Anderson-wood sculpture Rusty Wolfe-mixed media Jeffrey Kenney - sculpture & photography Yolanda Arda - glass wall sculpture Steve Immerman - glass sculpture Markow & Norris - woven glass Anastasia Azure - sculpture


Katie Gingrass Gallery
241 N. Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202




Walker's Point Center for the Arts

Regan Golden & Jennifer Harris
Decorative Directive
Friday, July 24 through August 22, 2009
Opening Reception: Summer Gallery Night, Friday, July 24, 5–9pm

"The interests of Jennifer Harris, a metal-smith and industrial designer, and Regan Golden, a visual artist trained in drawing and painting, converge where art and design, the domestic and the public, the hand-made and the industrial, the orderly and the chaotic intersect. This space allows both artists to explore how different notions of femininity manifest themselves in our material culture. Working with labor-intensive processes traditionally associated with feminine craft work, such as cutting, pinning and sewing, both artists create highly elaborate and ornamental – but at the same time highly unstable – works. While on one hand these works question traditional feminine values inherited from the past, they are at the same time nostalgic for the by-gone culture of individual touch and gesture. The wallpaper, the lace curtain and the tablecloth are used as emblems of this ambiguous, contradictory attitude. "

Walker's Point Center for the Arts
911 W. National Ave. Milwaukee, WI 53204
Phone: 414.672.2787 Fax: 414.755.1960
Gallery Hours: Tue-Sat, Noon to 5pm
Admission to the gallery is FREE

The Art of Nature

Inova Institute of Visual Arts is feature local artist Roy Staab for it's latest exhibition. It is a retrospective of temporary art Staab has produced over the years where nature is the main element.


Roy Staab
FOUR SEASONS/FOUR CORNERS

July 10-September 27, 2009

Opening: Friday, July 10, 6-9 pm
Reception to mark completion of the outdoor work & publication of catalogue: August 18, 7-9 pm

"Minimalism and Earth Art developed simultaneously in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Several noted artists, like Michael Heizer, Nancy Holt and Alice Aycock, combined strict geometries and minimal aesthetics with the vicissitudes of land, weather and atmosphere. With Roy Staab: Four Seasons/Four Corners, a retrospective exhibition at the Institute of Visual Arts (Inova), Milwaukee-based artist Roy Staab will finally be recognized as an integral part of this movement. Staab’s early work of the 1970s shows a preoccupation with pitting solid lines against the osmotic properties of water and natural forms."

Inova/Kenilworth
2155 N. Prospect Ave.
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Gallery hours: Wednesday-Sunday, 12 noon-5 pm & Thursdays till 8 pm