An A-Z visitors guide to Milwaukee Wisconsin. Sponsored by Key Magazine Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/56553
Artists and artworks, left to right: Carlo Zinelli , Untitled, 1967 Rosemarie Koczy, Alva Bound/Nursing Home, n.d. August Walla, The Absolute Truth (Gericht!), 1990 Alfred Wallis, Green Sails, ca. 1939 Friedrich Schröder-Sonnenstern, The Demoness of Urgency (Die Dämonin der Eile), 1958 Scottie Wilson, Butterfly Palace II, ca. 1965–1972 The answer to that question remains evasive, but it gives visitors something to ponder as they wander through the exhibition. Many of the works contain measured lines and patterns – the theme consistently remerges throughout the exhibit – and the artists also routinely "break the rules," creating their own demonstrations of size, proportion and edging. The artists consistently fill the canvas with color, sometimes leaving only a face for respite. Blind in one eye, Madge Gill (English, 1882 - 1961) does this in her ink drawings. One piece, drawn with black ink on calico fabric, is amassed by checkered patterns and intricate lines – all except for a woman's face. The face materializes in her other works, the woman's prim pose betraying the chaos that engulfs the world behind her. A haunting series of drawings by Rosemarie Koczy (American/Swiss, b. Germany, 1939-2007) creates the same effect. Forced to stand between two narrow walls, the visitor is face-to-face with her eerie figures. Emaciated and naked with large sad eyes, the people in Koczy's sketches are representative of her experiences from being imprisoned with her family in a Nazi concentration camp during World War II. Not all of the creations are so dramatic. Some are funny, such as Friedrich Schröder-Sonnenstern's fantastical representations of "hybrid creatures," sexualized beings with sly eyes and snarky smiles. Or powerful, like those of Carlo Zinelli, a psychiatric patient. Zinelli's paintings showcase bold figures alongside a babble of graffiti that bares no meaning. And some are just damn good art, like Gerard Sendrey's primary-colored abstract faces, Andrew Litten's solitary subjects, Sylvia Levine's hazy pastel nudes, Justin McCarthy's expressionist painting of Old Hollywood, and James Lloyd's watercolor renditions of rural English life (on the cover of this issue). None of the artists' works fit into a box. But, that's the way these artists would want it. The exhibit, which runs through May 6, is already attracting critical attention in New York and Chicago. The Milwaukee Art Museum, 700 N. Art Museum Dr., is open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tues.-Sun., with extended hours until 8 p.m. on Thursdays. General admission of $15 for adults and $12 for students over 12, seniors and active military includes special exhibitions. Visit www.mam.org for more information. 9