MOWA Exhibit Courts Next-Generation Artists

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Photo via MOWA - Facebook

Brennen Steines

Brennen Steines

Art speaks to the soul of its creator and, in turn, translates the essence of that soul through visual means to viewers that come to experience the result of its creation. It’s a dynamic made even more complex when infused with social and cultural influences that color the artist’s freedom of expression and the primacy of his or her output.

Milwaukee artist Eduardo Zavala may understand this dynamic better than most creators. Zavala, who received his BFA in New Studio Practice from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD) in 2022, uses multi-media art and photographic imagery to celebrate his queerness and propel social understanding of his beliefs into new directions, creating spaces and realities that exist free from the constraints of gender binary influences.

Zavala also is one of the “Ten at Ten” exhibition artists to watch, according to Laurie Winters, executive director of the Museum of Wisconsin Art. Part of a new exhibit designed to celebrate the 61-year-old West Bend museum’s 10th year in its current headquarters, Zavala and nine other Wisconsin artists represent what Winters describes as the future of visual art in America.

Diversity in General

“We really wanted to focus on the diversity of media, diversity in general, and different ways of thinking about issues both internal and external,” Winters says. “We wanted to highlight 10 young artists we all should be watching over the next 10 years.”

he artists all fall into the age categories of Millenials and Zoomers (think Generation Z) who bring their challenges, including the anxieties, aspirations, and eccentricities of their age groups, to their artistic output. The net result is unique styles and a new, more socially oriented attitude to their work.

The list of artists whose work is on display includes five with Milwaukee connections: Nykoli Koslow (BFA UWM); Brennen Steines (BFA UWM); Gabrielle Tesfaye (BFA UWM); Lindsey Yeager (BFA MIAD); and Zavala. The remaining five artists are Claire Kellesvig (MFA UW Madison); Meg Lionel Murphy (a Sturgeon Bay native who attended the University of Minnesota); Guzzo Pinc (MFA UW-Madison); Pranav Sood (MFA UW-Madison); and Johanna Winters (BA UW Green Bay BA and an MFA University of Tennessee-Knoxville).

“We give them all high marks because they’ve already found their original voices, which makes them pretty far along in their artistic trajectory,” says Winters. “They ask questions of themselves and look inwards, creating art that reflects their own identity. They are very self-aware and interested in how they fit into a larger social context.”

MOWA’s gallery reflects a riot of color and imagery on its black, white and gray walls. The images are abstract or impressionistic, the video footage experimental in nature. All the work reflects the curiosity and self-reflection of the artists executed with surprising sophistication and creativity. The exhibit’s collection represents a set of young artists destined to make their mark visually and, most likely, socially as well.

“I would like visitors to the gallery to be as interested in the artists and their work as we were,” Winters says. “What will these young artists be doing in 10 years? That’s an interesting question and I think we have provided a platform for them, as well as making a statement as to where Wisconsin art is headed in the future.”

The Museum of Wisconsin Art’s “Ten at Ten” exhibition runs through April 9 at 205 Veterans Ave., West Bend. Visit wisconsinart.org for more information.