So frequently are we presented with bad alternatives that numerous colloquial expressions have been cast to designate the situation: being between a rock and a hard place, between the devil and the deep blue sea, between Scylla and Charybdis, a Sophie’s choice...
How refreshing, then, that Port Washington’s Gallery 224 has devoted its new exhibition to “Good Alternatives.” Opening with a reception from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14, “Good Alternatives” collects the photography of four contemporary shutterbugs, each of whom opts for an unorthodox approach—a good alternative, one might say—to the medium.
Carissa Heinrichs’ shots, for instance, modernize such archaic photographic processes as cyanotypes (blue-hued) and printing with Van Dyke Brown (the brown of the photos resembles that of Flemish Baroque painter Anthony van Dyck). When Hal Rammel isn’t hosting his WMSE radio show (“Alternating Currents”), inventing musical instruments or generally seeing to the health and welfare of Milwaukee’s improvised music scene, he’s thoughtfully filtering light through the pinhole of his camera. The pinhole camera also figures into the arsenal of Uruguay-born and U.S.-based photographer Martin Morante. From 9-10 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 15, Vicki Reed will explain the processes of encaustic, hand coloring, photogravure and lumen printing that she used to create her exhibited works.
Managing Trees: A Walk Around Lynden with Bob Retko and Todd Johnson
Lynden Sculpture Garden
2145 W. Brown Deer Road
Where should the artist turn for inspiration? The art museum? Not necessarily. Quoth Van Gogh: “It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to...for reality is more important than the feeling for pictures.” Nature will be on resplendent display during a brisk, guided stroll around the Lynden Sculpture Garden, 2:30-3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 16. Bob Retko, Lynden’s senior groundskeeper, and Todd Johnson, consulting arborist at Davey Tree, will train the eye to appreciate arboreal beauty and enlighten the mind concerning current topics in tree management.
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.
Meet the Artist: Robert W. Ebendorf
Racine Art Museum
441 Main St.
Robert W. Ebendorf is one of the most illustrious jewelry makers and metalsmiths of our time. The numbers speak for themselves: The Smithsonian American Art Museum has four of his pieces, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has five and the Museum of Arts and Design has a pair. You’ll find glimmering Ebendorfs in many other institutions of repute, including the Racine Art Museum. Coinciding with the exhibition “The Life and Times of Robert W. Ebendorf: Jeweler and Metalsmith” (through Jan. 18), RAM has invited the man himself to reflect on his five decades of beautifying fingers, wrists, necks, earlobes and the world generally. The event takes place from 6-8:30 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 14. Admission is free for RAM members and $10 otherwise.
