Timothy Cobb Fine Arts’ latest exhibit brings together Indian-born Narendra Patel and Mexican-born Francisco X. Mora who, together, claim decades of residence in the Milwaukee area. They share a profound respect for nature in their artworks, a reverence for both their natal and current homes and long pedigrees in arts education.
According to Cobb, “Both are immigrants to the U.S., having 80 years between them of making art and teaching.” Mora creates original paintings and verse for children’s books, while Patel served as head of the sculpture department at UW-Milwaukee for nearly 30 years. Cobb continues, “I think this is an important point given the political atmosphere around the offerings of immigrants. Patel and Mora have spent the majority of their lives contributing to the health and welfare of art and its followers in Wisconsin.”
Patel’s “Indian Aesthetics, American Spirit” features sculptures in Carrara marble, carved elm and rosewood, and bronze—including examples of the artist’s groundbreaking liquid metal techniques—as well as rare pastel drawings. Mora’s “The Merriments of My Hometown” includes watercolors and oil paintings.
Patel’s playfully named Venus De Millioke, a mixed-media female form with a single red bottle cap eye and nails in place of hair pays thoughtful but lighthearted tribute to our industrial town. Many of his other subjects are birds. The whimsical Crow, likewise created partially from found objects, has a carved pine body and a sink faucet for a head. Sarus is a stirring depiction of a sarus crane made from electroplated copper and nickel in brass. Native to India, the sarus stands as a symbol of marital fidelity. Stylistically, the work is abstract—an extended piece of metal with sharp edges and ends. Liquid metal forms of circles and pointed, beak-like lines adorn the sides. As in Cubism, the viewer is treated to the sense of seeing flashes of the creature in motion from different angles simultaneously.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
Asked about the significance of birds in his artwork, Patel says, “Birds are always coming and going. I admire all the birds and in my conversations with my wife we often compare different types of human behavior to different birds’ behavior.”
Mora’s works likewise often take animals as subject matter. He explains, “There are often insects and animals in my paintings that will try to tell you a story. I’m very much interested in narrative painting and figurative painting.” His animals are always, on some level, self-portraits. “The stories that they’re telling are my stories,” he explains, but also cites the Mexican belief that “animals are of the same level and stature as people; we just don’t understand what they’re trying to tell us. If you start talking to animals and listening to them and learning their language, there are a lot of things to learn.”
A watercolor such as Joy Overflow, in which we find a man holding a tiger above his head who vomits fruit, fish and candy, tells an intriguing story of humanity’s bestial vices and their results. Likewise striking is Don’t Hold Me So Tight Don Jose, in which a woman dances with a man wearing an alligator mask and tail. Who’s to say a wolf makes the best metaphor for deception and power plays within intimate relationships? Mixtecan Appetizer ruminates in a lighter direction with a table full of brightly colored geometric food beset by green crickets and a lizard. The vibrant, orderly formation of insects provokes more questions than answers, and the next step—as in many of this master illustrator’s works—seems to be finding out what these creatures are up to and what they have to teach us.
Through July 28 at Timothy Cobb Fine Arts, 207 E. Buffalo St., Lobby. Open by appointment only through July 11; regular gallery hours resume July 12. For further information call 414-271-4150.
