Portrait Society Gallery in Third Ward Features New Collections

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The Portrait Society Gallery in the Third Ward houses an impressive showcase of pieces from varying distinctive artists. With its national clientele and its extensive collection, the Portrait Society Gallery is one of Wisconsin’s most progressive art spaces. Featuring two new collections by Richard Knight and Lauren Semivan, the gallery is excited to highlight these different yet equally compelling artists.

The exhibition places emphasis on artistic and technical uniqueness. “They both work with found objects,” says Deb Brehmer, owner and director of the Portrait Society Gallery. The two artists vary in mediums and methods. In his first exhibition in six years, Richard Knight utilizes various found objects to create pieces that include elements of sculpture, painting, and drawing.

“Richard Knight gently alters found objects into formal compositions, wall sculptures, and paintings,” says Brehmer. His piece Flower Box is a mixed media project with dark line work. It uses various materials and features geometric shapes to create a striking emphasis to the viewer. “It is rewarding for the viewer to find and follow the repetition and reframing of various shapes and forms throughout the show,” says Brehmer.

Lauren Semivan is a studio artist and photographer. “Lauren's work is dreamy, romantic–rendering of memories, faraway places, remote and fading sensations,” says Brehmer. Semivan assembles her compositions and photographs them. The result is work that is otherworldly. The inspiration for the title of her collection, “A Map Both Distant and Concrete” is drawn from the poet Czeslaw Milosz. In giving a Nobel lecture, he described a poet as having a double vision when it comes to their work. Semivan found the same synchronism of the everyday and the eternal in her own work. She considers photography a “tool for escape,” “an instrument for self-knowledge,” and “a door into the dark.” Her work is soft, dramatic, and filled with meaning.

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The differing exhibits have some similarities, “Both bodies of work have a reverence for discarded artifacts.” Brehmer says. “There is a great deal of talent in our region and with gallery visibility and support, these artists' careers can be nurtured here and then grown into a national scope.”

The Portrait Society Gallery is located on the fifth floor of the Marshall building, 207 E. Buffalo Street, in the Third Ward. The exhibition runs from June 3 to July 30. The gallery is open Thursday-Saturday, noon-5 p.m. For more information, visit portraitsocietygallery.com/richard-knight-lauren-press-release.