It would be an error to say photographersJohnie Shimon and Julie Lindemann are the “J & J” of Manitowoc, Wis., eventhough, like G & G (British art duo Gilbert & George), they’re close astwins. The pair got together during their student years in Madison, and they stuck together aftergraduation, setting off to bite the Big Apple. After a year, they returned to Wisconsin.
Following their careers for 25 years temptsme to say that their show in the Koss Gallery at the MilwaukeeArt Museum(Aug. 14 through Nov. 30) will be the peak of their combined efforts. Theopportunity to exhibit 43 portraits of those who have passed through theirlives is indeed a mark of accomplishment and the show itself was two years inthe making. However, their accomplishments are so many and varied that todefine this event as the topper is a risk.
“Unmasked and Anonymous: Shimon &Lindemann Consider Portraiture” is the perfect tag for an event that blends thecontemporary and the historical. In Annin HerKitchen, we see a youngwoman wearing a filmy black negligee and mismatched socks. Posed in front ofher kitchen counter strewn with beer bottles, she could be any young womananywhere. Do we care that the kitchen is in Madison and the year is 1999? After all, theshutter clicks and Ann is history consigned to the realm of half-truths.
When Shimon and Lindemann exhibited theirphotographs at Chicago’sSarah Bowen Gallery, the accompanying catalogue was titled Observation is Not Knowledge. It’s a tease, but it suggests thatposers may be imposters. Are they? Portraiture, it seems, is more about fillingin the spaces the artistbe it painter or photographerleaves open forexploration. What’s genuine is the craftsmanship of this Manitowoc-based pair,which excels at control. To my eyes, they’ve never been stuck in numbing rut.Generous and open, these two are also unmasked and anonymous.
On sabbatical when the fall semester kicks inat LawrenceUniversityin Appleton, Shimonand Lindemann will return to teach both past and present photographictechniques.
“We have a blast teaching Digital Processesdespite our reputation for using early photographic processes,” says Lindemann.
Organized by the MilwaukeeArt Museum(in tandem with Shimon and Lindemann) and curated by Lisa Hostetler, theexhibit includes a 68-page catalogue with essays by Hostetler as well as Shimonand Lindemann. It will be for sale in MAM’s gift shop and also at the openingon Aug. 14 during a reception and book signing. An added plus is a generoussampling of portraits by both in-state and out-of-state photographers. Thosewho admire the best will recognize among the 26 stellar selections the best ofFrancis Ford, Diane Arbus, Stanley Ryan Jones and Larry Clark.
The time is now for the MilwaukeeArt Museum to make asolid commitment to its large collection of photographs, which have for toolong been shuttled about to various locations within the venue. I’ve neverunderstood this. Perhaps MAM’s new executive director, Daniel Keegan, will makethe right choice and give viewers a permanent and generous area to showcasethis dynamite discipline.
