Artist Mary Nohl was an enigmatic figure who lived in a house in Fox Point. Her yard is a well-known site, decorated with concrete sculptures of quirky figures and creatures looking out over Lake Michigan. When she died in 2001, she left a bequest that funded a series of annual grants for emerging and established artists. The current “Mary L. Nohl Fellowships for Individual Artists Exhibition” at INOVA (Institute of Visual Arts) is a result, and this year’s show is full of works that range from poignant social commentary to art that explores more interior, personal qualities.
Emily Belknap’s wall sculptures riff on structures of the urban environment brought down to elegantly diminutive scale that address the containment of nature in the city. Collaborative duo Brent Budsberg and Shana McCaw take over a large, darkened room with videos and installations alluding to relationships, ambivalence and time in an abstract mode. Photographer Kyle Seis also delves into the psychological realm with images of pilgrimage sites. The etherealness of spirit squares off against the blunt edges of the material world.
Anne Kingsbury shows assemblages and meticulous beadwork that catalogue events and notions of social constructs. In a sense, these are documents that give physical form to fleeting moments. The dichotomy of absence and presence is most acute in the work of John Riepenhoff, whose work was part of the opening as collaborations of food and drink, and his endeavor offering financial support for the art community, known as the Beer Endowment.
Most provocative and socially concerned are works by Jenna Knapp and filmmaker Erik Ljung. Knapp’s installations address the spate of violence between black citizens and white police and probe the implications of the manner in which these stories are reported. Ljung’s poignant documentary, Mothers For Justice, was screened at the Milwaukee Film Festival and tells the story of Maria Hamilton, mother of Dontre Hamilton, who was shot to death by a police officer in Red Arrow Park in 2014. While the exhibition has many strengths overall, Knapp and Ljung’s works stand out as markers of how contemporary art can activate crucial dialogue about significant social issues outside the gallery walls.
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Through Jan. 9, 2016 at INOVA, 2155 N. Prospect Ave.
