Manitowoc Art Gallery
Art Gallery
The Founder’s Hall Art Gallery displays several art exhibits throughout the school year. Artists working with different media are invited to exhibit their work for 4-6 weeks. In December and May the gallery showcases student work from the previous semester.
The gallery is open Monday-Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Fridays until 4:30 p.m. For more information contact Berel Lutsky, Professor of Art, at 920-683-4735 or by email at berel.lutsky@uwc.edu
Past Exhibits
Michael K. Julian
November 1 - December 7, 2019
Artist Statement, October 28th, 2019
"I confuse easily. It’s not a good thing.
My perception of the world feels scrambled.
I have a hard time keeping track of everything going on around me.
Everything blurs together and disappears.
Memories coalesce and fade.
"My artwork is an attempt at clarity, immutability, the manufacture of a cohesive document, clear and concise proof of having been here. They are meditative, supportive, affirmation. While considered a form of non-objective abstraction, they feel as real to me as anything else I can remember from my life. They are as real as the people drifting in and out, as real as the places I’ve passed through and the multitude of events I have experienced. Without making them, my existence would be compromised."
—Michael K. Julian
Michael K. Julian is the new Associate Professor of Art & Design for UW-Milwaukee’s College of General Studies at Waukesha. He spent the previous 13 years as a full-time instructor and faculty in the Department of Art at UW-Rock County. He has also been a lecturer in Art & Design for the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, Waukesha County Technical College (WI), and UW - Washington County.
He received a MFA in Painting from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee in 2004, a MA in Painting from Minnesota State University - Mankato in 2000, and his BFA at the School of Design at Iowa State University - Ames in 1994.
His artwork has been exhibited and collected in Chicago, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, NYC, and Washington D.C. and has received numerous awards. In 2005 he was a recipient of the Mary L. Nohl Fellowship for Emerging Artists.
Michael K. Julian grew up in the northern Chicago suburb of Libertyville, Illinois, the fifth of six children in a family of engineers. He currently resides in Shorewood, Wisconsin with his wife, Jill, and son, Robin. If he isn’t working or making art, there is a good chance he is running around on a tennis court somewhere.
His love of pattern and order developed as a counterpoint to his continuous state of confusion in a seemingly indifferent world.
Andrew Musil
November 5 – December 7, 2018
The Mirro Aluminum Company's factory complex in the heart of downtown Manitowoc Wisconsin signified, for me, a prosperity of the town's manufacturing industry. In 2003, Mirro (owned by Newell Brands) finalized their outsourcing of production and closed its Manitowoc operations. The vacated complex was neglected for more than a decade, becoming an "eye sore" to the community until its demolition in 2017. The only remains are a concrete doorway, a monument to the history of the company.
The aluminum pots that were manufactured in the Manitowoc Mirro factories now serve as containers for this narrative: from the company’s success to the effects of the deindustrialization of the rust belt. In this exhibition, composites of images from the company’s past, recent images of the complex, and photographs from my pot collection, are used to express this signification.
Andrew Musil attended UW Manitowoc studying photography and printmaking before transferring to University of Wisconsin, La Crosse where he earned his BS in Printmaking in 2014, and then went on to get his MFA in the Photography and Integrated Media Program at Ohio University in 2018. His projects explore relationships of technologies and their users and impacts of innovations. His practice combines contemporary media with antiquated photographic and printmaking processes. He has exhibited works in museums and galleries nationally.
Stuart Howland - Last Works
October 3 - November 2, 2018
Stuart Howland, artist, father, husband, teacher, gardener, beekeeper, colleague and friend passed away last spring leaving behind family, friends and students who all felt, and still feel a profound sense of loss. Stuart also left behind a remarkable body of work done mostly in his last year. This work, a suite of twelve collages, are the core of this exhibition. It is within these final works that Stuart was able to piece together, literally, his overlapping interests in nature, the life of bees, and the art of Hieronymous Bosch.
Stuart’s long term interest in Bosch went beyond the usual and often facile fascinations with the seemingly surreal aspects (surrealism was not a “thing” in the 16th century) of Bosch’s paintings to a deeper level. Bosch’s works, seemingly chaotic, are actually carefully crafted tableaus of morality made for a church and culture in the midst of a fraught reformation.
Looking closer, as Stuart did, one sees that nothing is random. The imagery in Bosch is inspired by the Book of Revelations, reformation rhetoric, nature, and a strong moral compass. Stuart’s takeaway, fueled by his serious study, his visits to see Bosch’s work first hand, and numerous discussions and with friends, resulted in his having a deep understanding of Bosch’s process. It is this understanding that shapes and informs these final works. They are not in any way homage to Bosch, or re-hashing of his themes, but rather very original work based on Stuart’s determining how to pull together all of what he cherished in life into his work. I don’t believe that Stuart intended these collages as a legacy. He was not about dying, and neither is this work – in fact it is the opposite.
RESPONSE
September 1-30, 2018
Opening Reception: September 7, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m.
The artists in RESPONSE utilize a range of print media to express their views on the political climate of our time. Vox Populi Print Collective is a artist guild created to honor and promote printmaking as fine art. Joining the guild provides connectivity and offers future exhibition opportunities for the member artists.
The Vox Populi Print Collective was founded in early 2017 as a modern-day printmaking guild. The goal is not only to showcase printmakers, but to re-imagine printmaking as both a special and unique craft, providing a model for a new and perfectly timed voice for low-cost, low-risk group art making. The edition and the ease of transporting prints makes this all possible.
We suggest that the real “hidden” history of printmaking is that it is NOT a solely university-based curriculum, peripheral to the broader art world, but is a vital global voice against oppressive structures. Our guild is built on a simple concept, as we band together, greater opportunities are available to each of us. Large changes can be made from small beginnings and the beginning is now.
On Instagram @voxpopuliprintcollective
Contact Barry at bcarlsen@wisc.edu or Rachael at rachael.griffin@wisc.edu for more information and how to join.
Throwing Lines
April 2 - May 6, 2018
A portfolio of prints made for the 2017 Southern Graphics Council International annual conference.
This portfolio draws its title from Bryan Baker’s experiments in Line Throwing. Baker asked gallery viewers to attempt, as he did, to throw an ordinary pencil such that it would hit the wall and complete a full drawing before falling to the ground. The resulting marks inevitably fell short of Baker’s vision, but the practice of Line Throwing suggests a new appreciation for making marks and highlights some of the challenges facing us in creating prints.
This portfolio celebrates prints that embrace and highlight the tension between the hand-wrought and the mechanical, the artisanal and the digital, the historic technique and the innovative hybrid. Modern technology can mask the hand and the do-it-yourself sensibility that, for many years characterized the fine art print. The artists/printmakers included in “Throwing Lines” both honor the hand and challenge the medium with new technologies, to celebrate the mark and its possibilities.
Throwing Lines features nineteen, 15”x 22” prints, using the printmaking methods and materials chosen by the participating artists. In each print the hand “thrown” line/mark plays a pivotal role in the resolution of the image. Throwing Lines is an edition of 22 and is presented in an archival portfolio with a colophon created by the organizers, hand typeset and printed at the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum.
Throwing Lines was collaboratively organized and curated by Berel Lutsky and Katie Ries.
The “Line Throwers” are:
Rosalyn Richards, Jason Terry, Berel Lutsky, Lise Drost, Hannah Sanders, Katie Ries, Ben Rinehart, Guen Montgomery, Melissa Wagner-Lawler, Kelsey Stephenson, Freda Sue, John Driesbach, Sue Medaris, Beth Grabowski, Mike Sonnichsen, Veronica Ceci, Karla Hachenmiller, Eileen Wallace, Tatiana Potts
Brandon Bauer - The Euromissiles Crises Series
February, 9, 2018
The Euromissiles Crisis Series is a portfolio of twenty-two images creating a historical narrative of the Euromissiles Crisis and the nuclear abolition movement that arose in response to the crisis from 1977-1987. The nuclear abolition movement of this era, a movement that inspired the largest single-issue political demonstration in American history, is often overlooked in the history of social movements. The portfolio references cultural, political, and activist events of the era, and serves as an allegory of citizen involvement, as well as the power of everyday people within the political process.
Here is a link to a video about the work: https://vimeo.com/106388042
Brandon Bauer will be on campus to talk about his work, and the installation on March 14.
Throwing Lines
May 2017
Frank Zetzman
April 2017
Lynn Zetzman - "This Is One Woman's Work"
March 2017
I began sewing when I was nine years old. One of my grandmothers was a milliner in the nineteen teens. She taught me to make hats and lampshades when I was in middle school. My other grandmother taught me to make draperies. I took Tailoring class in high school and made my father suits and clothes for myself right down to my underwear with new fangled fabrics, threads, and needles for the home seamstress in the 1960’s and ‘70’s.
At UW Eau Claire in the mid 1970’s while I was pursuing a double major in Studio Arts and Art History a professor told us that “the best art was personal but touched the universal.” At that time I reflected on what made me “me” and my love of fabrics/textile techniques was near the top of the list. I made a conscious commitment in the ‘70’s to work with fiber materials. Women have historically been textile producers creating in both home and industrial environments across cultures. I did not want to break a glass ceiling I wanted to embrace and honor this history of making--creating work with fiber techniques as a valid expression of what it means to be human. This is not to negate the poor conditions textile workers have and to some degree still labor under—I acknowledge this—but for me in my studio it is joyful work. I am most at peace with the world when I have a needle and fiber in my hands—so for myself I consider this a form of prayer as well as art. I feel I am exuding peace through process.
Traditional tech education for youth in America may be a thing of the past. Today “tech” is almost exclusively computer/engineering based in secondary schools. Grandparents and parents rarely teach their children to make patterns/construct objects today. It is not that I am anti-industrial (that would be foolish) but I do have affinities with the nineteenth century founders of the Arts & Crafts movement. When one cannot make I feel one is impoverished to a degree. My students are thrilled when I teach them to use tools whether it is a hammer and saw or a needle and thread. The DIY movement at first related to the Arts and Crafts movement but more recently associated with current alternative/indie rock music scenes (internationally) blooms with an attitude to take back that impoverishment and move forward empowered by making. Conceptual inspiration/motivation does not have to suffer—it may be enhanced by craft process. Craft is not a limitation or dirty word in my book.
Over the past few years I have chosen to cheerlead for ceramic art with my fabric creations. Art is not a competitive experience for me. It is a celebration. When an artist wins a prize or sells a piece I feel it is good for all artists. I want to build community through creating.
I intentionally make big marks or big stitches to loudly announce the process/materials. Georgia O’Keefe once said she made her flower paintings bigger than life to call attention to them. That if she had made them life sized no one would have given them a second glance. Folk Art and Pop Art are also obvious influences on my work. It has to do with being in and of a culture. “Borrowed landscape” or including found textiles that promote my intention is a concept I learned during 3 stints teaching in Japan from gardeners. I am listening to an inner voice open to the gifts of my environment—hopefully giving back a gift. It is my pleasure if the audience smiles.
24 Hours of Art
February 11 - March 2, 2017
