Photo via MOWA - wisconsinart.org
Why Can't You Try Harder by Fred Stonehouse
Detail of 'Why Can't You Try Harder' by Fred Stonehouse featured in 'No Agenda' at MOWA.
When Milwaukee-born artist Fred Stonehouse attends staff meetings associated with his job as associate professor of drawing and painting at UW-Madison, he often finds himself disinterested in the administrative details being discussed. So, he does what any artist would do—he doodles.
Using whatever paper scraps or file folders currently in hand, the neo-surrealist continued exploring the unusual creatures that inhabited his inner mental landscape and play major roles in his prodigious artistic output. Unlike non-artists, he does not discard these casual efforts drawn sometimes out of boredom. He saves them, and now they form the core of “Fred Stonehouse: No Agenda,” a new exhibit at the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend.
Running through June 8, “No Agenda” features 160 phantasmagoric images drawn from the 200 pieces submitted by Stonehouse for the exhibit. Unlike his previously displayed works at MOWA and other museums, these images comprise raw output without the benefit of artistic editing or polishing that characterize the artist’s other work, and many have never before been seen, according to MOWA associate curator of contemporary art Anwar Floyd-Pruitt, who helped develop the exhibit.
Not for Exhibition
“What makes ‘No Agenda’ different than earlier Stonehouse shows is that these drawings were never intended for exhibition,” Floyd-Pruitt says. “Fred has been drawing all his life, so in a way, it’s just like breathing for him, something that he must do, something integral to his being and existence.”
Stonehouse grew up in a working-class Milwaukee neighborhood near 35th and Fond du Lac, crafting many of his earlier imagery based on the combined influence of his tattooed working-class neighbors and the Roman Catholic Church with its rites, rituals and imagery. Together, the influences were internally processed, resulting in the artist’s unique style and content.
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MOWA took a slightly different approach to this exhibit, the curator says. Some figures were digitally removed from the original drawings and blown up to six-foot vinyl wall stickers, allowing viewers to walk through Stonehouse’s inner mental landscape, bringing the artistic ethos at work closer for those who have come to see it. Those visuals are further augmented by short written paragraphs accompanying some images that depart from the world of faculty meetings and delve into his personal take on broader life themes, ranging from acceptance and forgiveness to the deep solitude of a 40-year studio practice.
Many Entries
“I find Fred’s work very approachable, in that there are many entry points for the viewer,” Floyd-Pruitt says. “The drawings might capture your attention. The text might speak to you. Even Fred’s choice of antique and thrifted paper has an appeal. His seamless combination of these elements creates poetic and surreal works of art that raise questions more often than they provide specific answers. There’s a sense of mystery in his work that’s very appealing.”
Despite the fact that a smattering of characters appearing in “No Agenda” may refer to certain fellow faculty members, most the characters and imagery reflect Stonehouse himself, the curator says. The devils, the skeletons, even the multi-eyed hybrid beasts are an outward expression of his inner life. These self-portraits often capture the artist’s reaction to faculty meetings, including one drawing in which he’s wrapped up by a constrictor-like snake, and others in which he’s kicking himself in the head, sweating profusely, or tied into a knot.
“You can take the artist out of the studio, but you can’t take the studio out of the artist,” Foyd-Pruitt adds. “Fred Stonehouse exemplifies this statement to a T.”
Fred Stonehouse: No Agenda runs through June 8 at the Museum of Wisconsin Art, 205 Veterans Ave., West Bend. For more information, visit wisconsinart.org
