There’s a whole lot of ju-ju at the Museum of Wisconsin Art. “Tom Loeser: It Could Have Been Kindling,” installed on floor two in the Hyde Gallery (through Jan. 11), is the spectacular result of a year of serious collaboration between the Chipstone Foundation and Loeser, a craftsman seasoned by 30 years of experience.
And so I speak to you about ju-ju of the good kind. Numerous visits to the exhibition convinced me that much of this work is rooted in African history. My perch on Chariot, his 2000 construction (thoughtfully provided for comfortable viewing), gives me a view of Very Large Bed looming in a nearby corner, beautifully carved and painted, and bold enough to invite jumping up and down on it before settling beneath a hand-woven Ashanti cloth coverlet. A magician with plenty of power surely sleeps here, for this is not a bed for a princess with a pea.
Loeser’s diverse objects (clocks, chairs, stools, chests, etc.) are the stuff of fairytales, but not of the Grimm kind. Playful, but dead serious about craftsmanship, in another area he’s launched skeletal boats. Unfinished, they suggest things past, conjured from the mind of this great artist who then asks us to ponder the possibilities of boats that move through water (or why not through air?), under their own volition. It’s marvelously theatrical—a bit like a set for an intriguing opera.
Outside the Hyde, a trio titled Roll Ups overlooks the Milwaukee River as it burbles and bends its way to Milwaukee. They remind me of Hostess Ho-Ho’s, but these are sliced just so to reveal felt, firewood and steel, elements melding history and technology.
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Ju-ju good! There’s more should you venture into the adjacent gallery where excellent curatorial efforts continue the magic. Compare and contrast Loeser’s work with that of Truman Lowe, then go to wisconsinart.org for a free digital version of what Loeser hath wrought. MOWA is a straight shot up Highway 45, exit on Washington Street (Highway 33), head east and you’re almost there.
