Photo Courtesy of Crawford Collective/Cassie Genc
Painting by Cassie Genc.
A St. Francis gallery space will host a brilliantly hued, playful art exhibition later this month.
“The Monotonous Life of Roy G. Biv,” curated by Milwaukee artists Anna Rodriguez and Amanda Stein, will be held in the Crawford Collective, 2525 E. Crawford Ave., Friday, Oct. 18, from 5 p.m. to midnight. The exhibit will feature 15 artists, including Rodriguez, who work in a variety of media and who focus heavily on coloration in their work: Cassie Genc, Cecilia Palacios, Milan Zori (aka Dwellephant), Gregory Rodriguez, Sarah Kennedy (aka Wazaloo), Tom Stella, Matthew S. Bailey, Nicolaus Ortiz, Jen Boyle, John Kowalczyk, Reid Sancken, Allison Smith and Alonzo Pantoja. Each artist has been “assigned” a specific color (including black) and will present paintings in that color. All artwork will be for sale.
Performance artist “Roy G. Biv,” an acronym taken from the seven colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet), will keep gallery visitors entertained.
Stein graduated from the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD) in 2015 with a degree in sculpture. “One of my favorite school projects was a show based on a monochromatic color scheme,” she says. She and Rodriguez, who has a background in drawing, decided to collaborate on an exhibit centered around all the “vibrant and extraordinary” colors of the rainbow.
Rodriguez says that she and Stein have been planning the exhibit since April. “It’s been a long passion project,” she adds.
Local artists Bucko Crooks and Lulu Rader, as well as engineers William Pariso and Michael Francis Cook, opened the Crawford Collective, a DIY venue, under the name Gold in the Fridge last October. Rodriguez joined the Collective shortly after that. The venue has hosted several live music events. Several months ago, Rodriguez decided to change its original name to something “more palatable.” “We wanted to make it more accessible to people,” she explains. Located in a former warehouse with 28-foot ceilings, the Collective contains eight studios and a gallery area. “We all managed to coexist this long. We are doing pretty well,” Rodriguez says of the space’s tenants.
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Both Stein and Rodriguez enjoy highlighting the work of other artists. Rodriguez has organized several art events, including a holiday art and craft show with fellow artist Timothy Westbrook in 2013 and an outdoor weekend craft market at Milwaukee School of Engineering in 2014. She has also donated her time and talent to Bay View Art in the Park.
Stein has curated several shows, including October 2018’s “Abby Jeanne’s Cosmic Weekend,” an event dedicated to Milwaukee soul singer Abby Jeanne (“it was absolutely epic,” said Rodriguez) and “Red Light District,” an exhibit held in Shaker’s Cigar Bar in 2016. “I love to transform a space,” says Stein. “Curating an installation is art for me. It’s something I really enjoy.”
Besides colorful art, the event will feature savory and sweet pastries and pies from New Zealand-style food truck Drift.
