On Oct.9, the Milwaukee Art Museum displaysEuropean ceramics, glass, furniture, metalwork and product design in “EuropeanDesign Since 1985: Shaping the New Century.” Amid more than 250 examples fromprominent artists and designers, the exhibit uses postmodern and modern traditionsto ponder whether artistic concept or function is the leading design principle.Gallery talks and lectures, including a Nov. 18 visit from renowned designerAlberto Alessi, enhance the exhibit.
Marquette University’s Haggerty Museum of Art is currently presenting stained-glassartworks in the exhibition “Let There Be Light: Stained Glass and Drawings Fromthe Collection of Oakbrook Esser Studios.” These elegant artworks span from the14th century to the present. Accompanying gallery talks and “Lunchtime Learning” lectures begin Sept.1.
Underthe umbrella title “Animal Magnetism,” JohnMichael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC) offers six themed exhibitions. The maingallery’s “Animal Instinct: Allegory, Allusion, and Anthropomorphism” opensOct. 17. Rolling Stone and Vanity Fair photographer Jill Greenbergpresents a JMKAC solo exhibition with “Monkey Portraits,” opening Sept. 26.
West Bend’s Museum of Wisconsin Art(MWA) holds a Sept. 12 receptionfor “Here at Last: African-American Artists Who Teach at Wisconsin Colleges,Universities and Schools.” The exhibition documents the rise of six prominentartists who influence Wisconsin educationthrough their creative visions. Information on complementary programming isavailable on MWA’s website, www.wisconsinart.org.
The Racine Art Museumintroduces an internationally known metalsmith to the Midweston Oct. 24 with “Mariko Kusumoto: Unfolding Stories.” Japanese artist MarikoKusumoto references the work of Joseph Cornell with intricately adorned boxesthat relate to the artifacts she observed at Buddhist temples in her childhood.This fascinating study integrates art and culture in a presentation by one ofthe top fine craft museums in the country.
Anoteworthy contribution to Wisconsin’s legacyis presented in the Charles Allis Art Museum’s“Wisconsin Masters: Bruno Ertz.” This exhibit of nature paintings opens Oct.13.
Tory Folliard Gallery debuts a solo showOct. 15 with “Robert Cocke: New Paintings.” Cocke’s intimate images mergedetailed landscapes with still life objects. Also at Folliard Gallery, renownedNew England artist Eric Ahoone of the nation’s top landscape artistsreturnsto Milwaukeefor “Eric Aho: New Paintings,” opening Nov. 19.
Dean Jensen Gallery recognizes modernabstract expressionist artists in the Oct. 15 opening of “Wisconsin Moderns.” The exhibition includes works by Carl Holty, KarlKnaths, Mark Tobey and Jon Schueler.
