Three new exhibitions open at the Museum of Wisconsin Art on April 14, demonstrating yet again the range and vitality of the state’s contemporary art scene as well as the historical interest of the state’s industry.
“There is no bad weather, only bad gear,” a colleague once replied to my surprise that a bicycle was still his preferred transportation during the unforgiving winter months. This sentiment could well be emblazoned on Trek’s coat of arms. Since 1976 the Trek Bicycle Corporation has manufactured bikes for various terrains—mountains, roads, even the South Pole—winning a sterling reputation along the way. “Joy Ride: Designing Trek” examines the Waterloo, Wis.-based company through a selection of its creations, including an original 1976 steel road bike, the celebrated stallions of victorious professional athletes and a psychedelic Grateful Dead inspired mountain bike custom built for the legendary Gary Fisher.
Daniel Gerhartz is an unreconstructed traditionalist, frighteningly proficient in the Realism that was in vogue in the 19th century; so proficient, that if he were diabolical in character, he could make an illicit living forging works of painters past. No doubt Gerhartz encountered the abstractions of modern masters during his years at the Academy of Art in Chicago, but his heart beat to the portraiture of John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), Joaquín Sorolla (1863-1923) and Anders Zorn (1860-1920). “Daniel Gerhartz: The Continuum of Beauty” presents 31 of the artist’s works, paeans to a past (but not passé) conception of beauty and the good life.
Much of Jenie Gao’s work depicts animal-tool hybrids, rendered with such imaginative precision that one will forevermore see an angry Alsatian with a gun barrel snout. “Jenie Gao: Survival Tools” is a site-specific installation featuring two of the Madison artist’s favorite images, the gundog and the bullhorn dog, representing violence and protest, respectively. The installation is Gao’s idiosyncratic and illuminating take on our contentious contemporary public stage.
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All three exhibitions open with a reception from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday, April 14. Each exhibition also features an artist discussion and other supplementary events. Visit wisconsinart.org for dates and details.
“Native Voices”Walker’s Point Center for the Arts
839 S. Fifth St.
“Native Voices,” April 6 through May 19 at the Walker’s Point Center for the Arts, features contemporary American Indian art that references long-standing traditions while connecting the artists’ experiences to the Milwaukee community more broadly. Comics, beadwork, clay and mixed media are featured alongside paintings, films and photographs. “Native Voices” is the latest in a series of WPCA exhibitions focusing on social dialogue and community engagement.
