If January is any indication, expect 2014 to be an exciting year for the arts in Milwaukee. The Tory Folliard Gallery, for its part, is welcoming the new year with a cluster of new exhibitions.
Rodger Bechtold’s “The Nature of Things” is less about things than it is about nature. The accomplished landscape painter captures the shifting color palette of the Midwest with an impressionistic flair.
Ben Grant’s “I’ve Got on With It a Little All the Same” is a delightful multimedia romp. Grant displays an interest in non-representational work that, through evocative colors and repetitive designs, still manages to communicate effectively.
Jeremy Popelka’s “Veiled Monuments” is “off the wall” in the phrase’s idiomatic and literal senses. Of course the glass sculptures fare best on pedestals, but his towers, vases, and bowls also confound one’s expectations of what a glass artist does.
All three exhibitions open Jan. 4, but will only stick around until Feb. 1, so waste no time in paying them a visit. The gallery is open Tuesdays-Fridays from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. and Saturdays from 11 a.m.-4 p.m.
AERIALS
Gallerie M @ the Intercontinental Hotel
139 E. Kilbourn Ave.
The mural appeals to people of varied sensibilities. Equally fond of the form are those who can’t get enough of a painting and those who can’t stand the sight of naked wall space. Young Milwaukee artist (and Shepherd Express graphic designer) Daniel Fleming has recently beautified a large swath of wall in the Intercontinental Hotel’s Gallerie M. While not merely derivative, the art suggests a synthesis of the styles of Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jackson Pollock and Paul Klee. Fleming’s name is one we’ll likely be hearing in the future.
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“Afternoons with Art”
Walker’s Point Center for the Arts
839 S. Fifth St.
Mother Nature has been generous with art supplies of late. It’s not for nothing that we say we’ve been canvassed with snow. But given the freezing temperatures, most of us are content to let dogs paint the town yellow. “Afternoons with Art” at the Walker’s Point Center for the Arts gives children ages 6-12 the opportunity to be both creative and warm. On Jan. 2 and 3, from 1-5 p.m., for a fee ranging from $5-$20, kids can keep their creative tools sharp during the winter break.
