On a Saturday afternoon in June at Peltz Gallery, visitors examined the poster created by the late John Wilde and Warrington Colescott for a special celebration titled 150 Years of Wisconsin Art. The poster pays tribute to numerous artists seminal in Wisconsin art history, of which the Peltz Gallery and owner Cissy Peltz, have assisted in creating because the gallery remains a long-standing Milwaukee tradition. This included an exclusive exhibition of the original watercolors painted by Colescott and used for printing the poster with the watercolors and poster for purchase at a reasonable price from Peltz Gallery. Colescott signed and dated the famous posters as well, another exclamation point in his long and renowned career. While Colescott was signing these posters and discussing the Wisconsin artists from the past, a fascinating discussion in itself, his wife Frances Myers was persuaded to discuss her own extraordinary art career. Myers had just opened her own solo exhibition the night before, June 3, at Chicago's Perimeter Gallery. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Art Professor found time to chat about her photography show titled “Post Mortem.”
What did the Post-Mortem in your title refer to with these particular photographs?
The “post mortem" title [Latin for after death] referred to Sterling Hall [on the UW-Madison campus], the building that suffered damage from the explosion during the protests on the campus in the 1970's when one professor died. The university is planning to strip the interiors and put in modern mechanicals, new heating and air conditioning. Sterling Hall has been around, was built, in 1917, when the physics department occupied it.
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What medium did you use to document the building?
I enjoyed rummaging around the building with my tiny digital camera. I originally had about two dozen photographs that I manipulated a little, and then we used approximately 18 for the exhibition in Chicago. Several were large scale, 30 inches by 50 inches, and added to others that were smaller in size.
What did you find so interesting about this dilapadated building?
I could come and go as I pleased throughout the building, morning or evening, and catch the light and shadows at certain times. Only two real classrooms remained and often plaster could be hanging from the ceiling. Others had metal tables remaining in them from past science experimentation, that looked odd and eerie. One time I opened a door and the room, it was completely gutted, there was nothing left. Like ghosts. The building became so mysterious, the contents, or lack of contents, exactly like a ghost. .
What's the next exhibition on your schedule?
I'm going to be working on the Faculty show [UW-Madison] planned for 2012. I'm not sure what medium I want to use but the subject will reflect financial issues, and I've got some ideas ruminating in my head. I enjoy my summers to just work on these upcoming exhibitions. Maybe I'll use photographs, prints, etchings. We'll see. The show will be in the new addition to the Chasen Museum [in Madison], and there's always a little more pressure to produce for these museum shows. Yet, I'm excited to be working on my art in the summer.
(To view Frances Myers current work click www.perimetergallery.com. The gallery is located at 210 West Superior Street, Chicago. Or visit Milwaukee's Peltz Gallery to view her beautiful aquatints designed from Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings.)
