Tuesday, January 1st, 2008
Milwaukee’s Go-To Galleries
Excellent art can be found in more than just the city’s museums.
By Kristine Hansen • Photography by Troy Freund
Hotcakes Gallery Owner Mike Brenner
Artists exhibiting in Milwaukee often pin their hopes on the Historic Third Ward and downtown neighborhoods because it’s where most of the cities’ galleries reside. But the art is just as good off the epicenter. Gallery owners choose a broader range of art to fill their spaces; the parking situation is, in most cases, improved; and there isn’t as much competition from neighboring galleries. The bottom line: There are plenty of off-the-beaten-path places in Milwaukee where incredible art can be found.
Mike Brenner opened Hotcakes Gallery in the Riverwest neighborhood during the winter of 2004. Frustrated that the city’s art scene didn’t cater to younger collectors, he sought a space in which he could cultivate the idea that art should be accessible. It is this same idea that is at the root of the Milwaukee Artist Resources Network, which Brenner founded with five others in 2000.
To reflect the idea of accessibility, Hotcakes is a quirky 1,500-square-foot space that features a candy-dispensing machine that shoots out original miniature-sized, silk-screen prints of oil paintings set on refrigerator magnets.
“When people tell me they can’t afford art, I’m like, ‘Don’t you have two bucks?’” Brenner says. A retail area in back, where the walls are painted bubblegum pink, has clothing constructed by Milwaukeean Carrie Pasko (under her independent ScandalCat label), comic books, design magazines, candles and other inexpensive items, including Hotcakes T-shirts and buttons adorned with—what else?—flapjacks.
Through Jan. 13, Gregory Euclide, a Cedarburg, Wis., native now in Minneapolis, is showing landscape-inspired art at Hotcakes. “You look at that work and it screams West Coast. I’m trying to bring that here, to introduce it to artists in Milwaukee,” Brenner says. After Euclide’s show closes, “Phoenix in Milwaukee Art Exchange” debuts on Jan. 18; Arizona-based artists will visit the Midwest during the exhibit. And in May, Milwaukee artists will board a plane for Phoenix to do the same.
To engage the community and increase attendance at the gallery, Brenner thinks outside the box. In the past, he has brought in musicians during gallery openings, hosted yoga classes at the gallery and held a seven-week photography class. “I’m trying to jump around more, take more risks,” he says. “All of this is about raising the bar. Hotcakes is about not only showing artists what other artists are doing, but showing other art galleries in town how it’s done.”
Another Riverwest gallery, The Green Gallery has also taken an off-beat approach to introduce others to art. The fourth Tuesday of the month is Movie & Masala night, when attendees bring films and dine on freshly made masala at a warehouse space shared by artists renting studios. Owner John Riepenhoff, 25, is an artist himself and a Wauwatosa, Wis., native. His first gallery was in his apartment and was open while he was in art school. At his current space, he challenges visitors to see art in new ways with “The John Riepenhoff Experience.” Patrons climb a ladder to a 2-foot-by-2-foot, all-white box that serves as a mini-gallery. Sticking their heads inside the box is, according to Riepenhoff, a commentary on a gallerist’s ego.
Most of The Green Gallery’s works have a contemporary bent, such as found-object sculpture and acrylic on denim. During the spring of 2007, an exhibit titled, “The Sentiments of Linoleum” by Noah Brehmer examined the intricacies of the floor covering. In the summer, a show combining images with voice-overs was an example of the gallery’s intent to provide multisensory art. Committed to fostering local talent, the gallery also has an artist-in-residency program.
The nontraditional areas in Milwaukee are also popular because places like the Third Ward were getting overcrowded. “It was getting to be like an art mall,” says Gene Evans, co-owner of Luckystar Studio with wife Bridget Griffith Evans. In April, Luckystar relocated from the Third Ward to a Washington Heights neighborhood. The couple also cooperatively ran another gallery, M-80, in the Third Ward with 10 other artists, which survived just under two years before shuttering last year.
The new shop “is half the rent, twice the space, and we can finally move in the sculptors we’ve been trying to work with,” Gene says. “We just had our best summer ever, with lots of walk-by traffic.”
Karl Unnasch of Minnesota, who uses animal carcasses as the base for sculpture art, will be among the first sculptors to show in 2008. Another upcoming exhibit, “Monkey Business,” features contributors to Luckystar’s Web site, including local photographer Corey Hengen.
“We stay away from traditional art. We show what we like, such as pop culture or figurative work,” Gene says.
Faythe Levine and Kimberly Kisiolek opened Paper Boat Boutique & Gallery in the Bay View neighborhood during the summer of 2005. Levine is also founder of “Art vs. Craft,” a twice-yearly show that brings artists from around the country to downtown Milwaukee to sell their wares, which include apparel, handbags, stationery, jewelry and items crafted from recycled materials.
Paper Boat’s mission: to support eclectic art that’s affordable and can easily be displayed in a person’s home. Dozens of artists—and not just from Milwaukee—sell their crafts at the gallery. Earlier this year Paper Boat moved a few storefronts south on Howell Avenue to a larger space, one with room for rotating art exhibits.
In choosing artists to represent, Levine looks for those that utilize nontraditional techniques. Past gallery shows include Seattle artist Diem Chau, born in Vietnam in 1979, whose works include “Storytelling Crayons,” which are detailed figures carved meticulously from candy-colored wax.
It’s not easy to spot Peltz Gallery’s collection from the street. The 1885 Queen Anne Victorian home’s indigo exterior definitely attracts attention. But not everyone can determine there is an art gallery inside—at first glance, it resembles a quaint home. Owner Cissie Peltz curates six shows a year including the annual “Remarkable Women Show” (featuring 30 female artists) and an original Picasso print show.
Peltz has organized and operated the gallery since 1989, and there are works by 37 artists in her inventory, including Andy Warhol and Christo (best known for The Gates in New York City’s Central Park). Every two years, long-time Milwaukee resident John Sayers’ still-life paintings of floral arrangements are mounted, bringing a cozy feel to the historic home-turned-art gallery. In addition to paintings, drawings and sculptures, exhibits also feature lithographs, etchings and wood-block prints.
If you are visiting Milwaukee and want a look at some the city’s most cutting-edge galleries, be sure to extend your search beyond just the Third Ward. Down leafy streets and around hidden corners, you might just stumble across a masterpiece by one of the youngest, brightest artistes in town.
GALLERY GUIDE
Hotcakes Gallery
3379 N. Pierce St.
414-961-7714
www.hotcakesgallery.com
The Green Gallery
631 E. Center St., 3B
414-640-2595
www.thegreengallery.tk
Luckystar Studio
5707 W. Vliet St.
414-257-4640
www.luckystarstudio.com
Paper Boat
Boutique & Gallery
2375 S. Howell Ave.
414-483-8462
www.paperboatboutique.com
Peltz Gallery
1119 E. Knapp St.
414-223-4278
Once you’ve had your fill of galleries, head to some of Milwaukee’s major house collections that are also off the beaten path.
The Jane Bradley Pettit Building, on the main campus of the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (www.miad.edu, 414-847-3200), holds two in-house, nationally recognized museum galleries: the Brooks Stevens Gallery of Industrial Design and the Frederick Layton Gallery, both of which host professional shows and assist students in organizing shows throughout the campus.
Milwaukee School of Engineering opened The Grohmann Museum (www.msoe.edu, 414-277-6763) in October 2007. Some pieces in the 700-plus collection of Eckhart Grohmann date back to 1580 and is displayed on three levels.
This year, Marquette University Haggerty Museum of Art (www.marquette.edu/haggerty, 414-288-1669) will display illustrations commissioned for Harper’s Weekly, contemporary art focused on the issue of Mexican migration and photos by visiting lecturer Don Doll, S.J.
The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Institute of Visual Arts (www.uwm.edu, 414-229-5070) —also known as Inova—is celebrating its 12th year with continued looks at local, national and international artists. Exhibits focused on textile arts, paintings and narrative drawing are all on the 2008 calendar.
