Landscapes and Mindscapes at Gallery of Wisconsin Art

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“Landscapes: Then & Now” exhibition at the Gallery of Wisconsin Art

Does your idea of landscape art consist of a world confined by sky above, horizon line and our earth below? An exhibition at the Gallery of Wisconsin Art (GOWA; 303 Water St., West Bend) perhaps will tweak your preconceived notions. From now through Dec. 30, set yourself free during the gallery’s “Landscapes: Then & Now” exhibition. Thanks to the curatorial courage of the owner, Ric Hartman, the 5-month-old venue is well on the way to becoming a destination point. 303 Water Street will get you there.

When 60 (plus) artists conceptualize about the land they inhabit, the results are quite diverse. Wisely, the exhibition is neatly divided and avoids confusion. On the main level, the landscape selection is traditional and the work is primarily, but not exclusively, by artists no longer among us. The lower level gallery houses contemporary works (paintings, drawings, sculptures, prints). This is where you can set yourself free, perhaps by taking a painterly hike with artist Jane Gates. Her colorful canvas is a tangle and snarl of lines and shapes, culled from her many hikes on the Ice Age Trail near her home in Milton, Wis. Nearby, is a dreamy landscape by her former UW-Madison professor, Richard Lazzaro. It’s as if the professor flew over the Wisconsin ’scape.

What’s this? A small painting of a possum out for a nocturnal snack on a cob of corn. The artist, Valerie Mangion, perhaps was thinking of a critter’s place in the Wisconsin landscape. In any event, critters are, for the most part, far less invasive than Homo sapiens.

It wouldn’t be an exhibition about Wisconsin landscapes without at least one painting of a cow. And the bovine I reference has a crow atop its head. From my perspective, GOWA has lots to crow about.