Cautionary Tale reveals the personal folklore of five American artists who pull from multiple cultures in order to create visually stunning stories. Dennis McNett, Amanda Smith, Stacey Rozich, Betsy Walton, and Nick “Doodles” Mann will display drawings, paintings, prints, ceramics, and site specific installations. These works illustrate a multitude of legends, music, proverbs, and popular beliefs that reflect each artist’s personal narrative.

Dennis McNett’s work ranges from delicate wood block prints to larger than life Viking ship installations. The Pratt Institute printmaking professor’s work is inspired by a fusion of Nordic history, fantastical creatures, and the high energy of the 80s skateboard and punk rock scene.

Nick Mann (aka Doodles) is a San Francisco-based street artist whose eye grabbing work can be simply described as modern day folk art. His creations are a combination of delicately wheat-pasted pieces of paper, gritty spray paint, and eerie neon Nordic creatures.

Amanda Smith’s three-dimensional tableaus on clay slates open up infinite worlds of interpretation. Smith favors a cast of little girls in flowered dresses, who balloon in size like Alice in Wonderland, frolicking through landscapes brandishing drums and guns. Smith cites her family and Indian and Persian miniatures as influences to her work.

Betsy Walton’s work is informed by a range of influences including Byzantine icons, American folk art, geometric abstraction, and the work of many contemporary illustrators and painters. A graduate of Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, she now works in Portland, Oregon.

Seattle-based Stacey Rozich studied illustration at California College of Arts in San Francisco. Her work varies from bold folk art in watercolor and gouache, to simple pen and ink line drawings. Slavic folk tales are the largest influence to her work. In a nod to her Yugoslav background, Stacey works traditional costumes and folklore into a storybook world of warrior women and ghoulish monsters.

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]]> http://uwmunionartgallery.wordpress.com/2011/03/04/cautionary-tale/feed/ 0 VisualHierarchy http://uwmunionartgallery.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/focus-uwm-photography-club-in-the-atrium/ http://uwmunionartgallery.wordpress.com/2010/12/10/focus-uwm-photography-club-in-the-atrium/#comments Fri, 10 Dec 2010 18:37:12 +0000 VisualHierarchy http://uwmunionartgallery.wordpress.com/?p=380 ]]>  

Visit the UWM Atrium through finals and over winter break to see photography by the FOCUS UWM Photography Club

November 18-December 17, 2010
Opening Reception: November 18th, 5-7pm
Gallery Talk with Marco Zamora: Thursday, November 18th, 4pm
Gallery Talk with Loren Schwerd: Thursday, December 2nd, 7pm

Featuring two-dimensional drawings and paintings as well as three-dimensional sculptures from found items, this exhibition of mixed-media work by Loren Schwerd and Marco Zamora looks to collections of memory and nostalgia. Both artists bring unique perspectives to issues of home and memory, and the way the material world becomes integrated into identity.

Artists include:

Thom Romero
Allison Lindner
Shannon Connor
Andrea Lutz
Anna Krajcik
Katie Belanger
Jessica Bublitz
Jesse Graves

OPS (Orginization of Painting Students) has some spectacular work up in the UWM Union Atrium.  Humorous, serious, vibrant, and dynamic images inhabit the space for a couple more weeks. Remember to visit this group show of great painters!

There is a wonderful series of photographs in the Atrium documenting a project by the UW-Milwaukee student organization Engineers without Borders.  The  group helped construct a Potable Water Distribution and Sanitation System in Guatemala.  The work will be up until October 15th.

Below are some more images of the project as well as a written statement about it.

“The Republic of Guatemala is a land of arresting beauty bestowed with rich
natural resources and an economy reliant on the yield of a terrestrial bounty
that includes desirous reserves of petroleum, timber, nickel, and gold. Home
to pioneering Mayan civilizations and a linguistic diversity boasting over
twenty-three Mayan dialects, Guatemala’s culture and founding history are as
equally complex as its more contemporary history: a thirty-six year-long civil
war has plagued its large countryside populations with a poverty obscenely
disproportionate to its earthly riches.

Engineers Without Borders partners with developing communities to implement
sustainable engineering technologies to improve their quality of life. On January
9-22, 2010, eight students and two professional mentors from the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee student chapter travelled to the northwestern highlands of
Guatemala to implement a Potable Water Distribution System in the village of La
Libertad. As a result, over 330 people in the village have access to clean water.

The photographs aim to capture a glimpse of the vivacious La Libertad
community and the partnership between the village and UWM students.

Photography by Alana M. Soehartono

Engineers Without Borders at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: http://
ewb.uwm.edu”

This is an art exhibit opening today (Sept 24th) through October 15th featuring videos by Patty Chang, Photographs from Mark Menjivar’s “You Are What You Eat” series, and John Riepenhoff’s performance piece “Physical Pizza Networking Theory” at the opening tonight (4pm) and every Thursday for the duration of the exhibit.

Tonight there is also a gallery talk by Patty Chang at 4pm.  If you are in the cream city be sure to stop by this exhibit!

Visit the UWM Union Art Gallery website for more details here: http://www.aux.uwm.edu/Union/art_gallery/