Unlike My Image: Paintings by Steve Burnham, and, Who Built the Burning House: Drawings by LaNia Sproles

Opening reception: Friday, December 7, 6 to 8 p.m.

Exhibition dates: December 7 through February 3, 2019

Gallery Night and Day: January 18 and 19

Gallery Night hours: 6 to 9 p.m./Gallery Day: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Contemporary painter Steve Burnham turned to the genre of portraiture several years ago. This new body of work bumps into art history while carrying contemporary references. It's about uncertainty, contingency, and process via the portrait and abstraction.

LaNia Sproles, a 2017 MIAD graduate known for her cut paper pieces, has created a new series of drawings for this show. The female figures in her mixed media work seek refuge in dream lands strewn with flora, fauna and burning angels. Notions of Edenic paradise are infested by oppressive realities. When she asks in the show’s title, “Who Built the Burning House?” she seems to embrace the entire history of racial oppression.

For additional information about the exhibition, please contact Portrait Society Gallery, 414-870-9930, portraitsocietygallery@gmail.com.

Portrait Society is a contemporary art gallery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, now celebrating its 10th year. It is located on the Fifth Floor of the Marshall Building in the Historic Third Ward, 207 E. Buffalo Street. Hours are Thursday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. and by appointment (414 870 9930).