In conjunction withthe night, and in what has quickly become a “can’t-miss” for arts patrons, the Milwaukee Art Museum’s“After Dark” series will present the “Wearable Sculpture Fashion Show” at 9p.m. Friday. Directed by George L. Sheppard, the show features 20 wearablesculptures by 15 artists with video and sound by Brooke Maroldi andchoreography by Simon Andreas Eichinger. It’s sure to be an evening ofoutrageous fun.
The whole night willbe full of attractions. Especially interesting should be “Disintegration,” agroup presentation examining the decline of history, memory and intelligence atMerge Gallery (207 E. Buffalo St., Suite 204). GalleryDirector Valerie J. Christell, along with Tori Tasch and Kathy Moss-Reeves,will present books, photo collages and paintings depicting the loss of identitywhen memories fade or are forgotten.
The Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design(273 E. Erie St.) will see the return of its popular “Culture in Transition”series with “Transitional/Transcultural: New Paradigms for a New Century,”described by MIAD as “an exhibition by eight artists whose work explores thechanging character of world culture and the complexity of their multiculturalidentities.”
"A product notonly of their past but of their current culture, the artists actively negotiatethese boundaries in their work,” explains Mark Lawson, MIAD director ofgalleries. “In doing so, they redefine viewers' perspectives both of Western,American culture as seen by others less immersed in it, and of theinterconnectedness of the larger culture of humanity that develops through suchinteractions.”
Finally, “Sculptureson Ice” involves local artists using the cold to their advantage between 10a.m. and 7 p.m. on Friday. Teams will carve 5-foot blocks of ice into creativepieces of art in Catalano Squarein the Historic Third Ward and in Cathedral Squarein East Town.
For a complete listof participating galleries, visit www.historicthirdward.org.
Other art events aretaking place this weekend as well. Argentina’s Jamie Paterno is among60 painters whose work will be on sale in the “Winter Trunk Show” at Landmarks Gallery (231 N. 76th St.). The vibrant colors of Latin America are her specialty, delicately spread acrosscanvases in figurative works and still lifes. The annual Landmarks “Trunk Show”is not another starving-artist-in-the-hotel-lobby sale, but a collection offine contemporary work assembled by international art dealer Hans Peeters. Theshow takes place from noon-5 p.m., Jan. 15-17.
