In October, trees begin to drift to sleep while zombies awake from theirs. Milwaukee’s favorite quarterly two-day art event, Gallery Night & Day, is also undead and will be holding its final instantiation of 2014 on Oct. 17 (5-9 p.m.) and Oct. 18 (10-4 p.m.). Here are three of the many attention-worthy offerings.
The David Barnett Gallery (1024 E. State St.) presents “Animals in Art,” an exhibition whose common theme belies its uncommon scope. Contributing artists include famed ornithologist and painter John James Audubon, French Post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin, artist of 19th-century Native American life Seth Eastman, Brazilian soapstone by Canadian Iroquois artists, Haitian art, African art and much more. The show is up through Jan. 10, 2015.
To celebrate GN&D, the Harley-Davidson Museum (400 W. Canal St.) will be presenting a screen-printed rock art show by Eric Von Munz. “Good Colors, Bad Decisions” likely refers to the look of the concert posters and the choices that are made at the concert. The first fifty attendees will receive a free Munz print. The exhibition is on display until Oct. 31.
Local painter, printmaker and 2013/14 Pfister Hotel Artist-In-Residence Stephanie Barenz will keep her Third Ward gallery (419 E. Menomonee St.) open for GN&D. Barenz has been hard at work on pieces based on Billy Collins’ poem “Vanishing Point” and images of alleyways. Stop by between 6 and 8 p.m.
“Legacy Lost & Saved: Extinct and Endangered Birds of North America”
Woodson Art Museum
700 North 12th St., Wausau
It’s a sad fact, but you will never again see a live passenger pigeon or a slender-billed grackle or a Carolina parakeet. These days our only access to these birds is through mounted specimens and artists’ renderings. The Woodson Art Museum’s “Legacy Lost & Saved” collects works, both contemporary and antique, which depict birds of North America that have “run down the curtain and joined the bleedin’ choir invisible.” The exhibition runs through July 2015. Confer WAM’s website for information concerning the lectures, book signings, documentaries, gallery walks and open studios that will accompany the exhibition.
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.
“Cuentame un Cuento: Painted Stories by Francisco X. Mora”
MOWA On The Lake
1800 N. Prospect Ave.
St. John’s On The Lake boasts many great views. The Prospect Avenue retirement community looks out onto Lake Michigan, is close enough to Brady Street to see the drunks stumbling on Saturday night and has its own branch of the Museum of Wisconsin Art. Opening Oct. 16 at MOWA On The Lake is an exhibition of paintings from the brush of Francisco X. Mora. The artist derives inspiration for his whimsical works from the Mexican folk tradition of mask making for ceremonial dances and rituals. “Cuentame un Cuento” is on display until Jan. 7.
