October 10, 2008-January 18, 2009
GREATER MILWAUKEE FOUNDATION'S MARY L. NOHL FUND
FELLOWSHIPS FOR INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS 2007 EXHIBITION
Established Artists
Gary John GRESL
Mark KLASSEN
Dan OLLMAN
Emerging Artists
Annie KILLELEA
Faythe LEVINE
Colin MATTHES
Kevin J. MIYAZAKI
Opening reception: October 10, 6:00-9:00 pm
Gallery talk with Inova curator Nicholas Frank begins at 6:30 pm
Established Artists
GARY JOHN GRESL - top
Gary John Gresl exhibits works “made up
of objects having personal meaning, experiential and intellectual associations from my
life and observations. In assemblage sculpture I combine the drives to collect, to revisit my experiences,
to experiment with objects familiar and non-, to articulate ideas relative to our human place on earth,
and to organize materials into expressions I have not seen before. In objects there is a directness,
a tangibility; they offer palpable clues to other cultures and times while creating metaphorical surprises.
Assemblages are palimpsests and middens, filled with hidden layers and rediscovered castoffs...as are
our minds. Life, death, intellect, intuition and instinct...all embedded.” His installation will
explore the tension between the clean gallery space and his rustic materials. In addition to new and
recent large assemblages, Gresl will display a new series of color photographic prints documenting
his “outstallations,” or
outdoor assemblages.
On November 5, Gresl talks
about found or selected objects utilized in assemblage sculptures, and in particular the evolution,
collecting and use of these materials in his work. The talk, Synthesis of Four Dimensions: Objects,
Collecting, Creating, is
part of the Artists Now! lecture series.
Born in
Manitowoc, Wisconsin, in 1943, Gary John Gresl received a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens
Point and an M.S. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He began as a teacher in the Brillion (WI)
public schools, and later managed and owned the Milwaukee Antique Center for 31 years. Gresl served
four terms as president of Wisconsin Painters & Sculptors,
Inc. and was on its state board for over two decades. Working with the Museum of Wisconsin Art and the
Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, Gresl originated the Wisconsin Visual Art Lifetime Achievement
Awards in 2004. He has contributed to Art in Wisconsin and
other publications; served as a juror and panel member on numerous occasions; participated in over 100
exhibitions; and received several awards.
MARK KLASSEN - top
Mark
Klassen addresses our post 9/11 preoccupation with issues of safety and personal connectedness.
His work suggests that we are protected by the most banal elements in the world around us: although these
elements don't protect us from terrorism they do protect us from things that are more real. Klassen
is creating a sculptural installation that explores these topics. Elements include artificial
florescent lighting fixtures; New Jersey Toll Plaza, a
floor sculpture; and Safety Now!, a
series of wall-mounted airbags timed to explode throughout the exhibition.
On
December 11, Klassen gathers a panel for A Conversation on Safety & Security
Mark Klassen received his B.F.A. from Minnesota
State University-Mankato (1995) and his M.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1998). Klassen
exhibits both nationally and internationally. This past year, he completed a series of screen prints
that were included in the Armory Show in New York and designed an edition of artwork for New York-based
North Drive Press. His work is included in the permanent collections at Minnesota State University, the
University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Klassen is chair of
the Department of Art and Art History at Beloit College. His website is www.markdklassen.com.
DAN OLLMAN - top
Dan
Ollman sees film as an important instrument for reaching the masses: “Narrative or documentary,
serious or funny—everybody wants to see a movie.” He explores social justice issues in
his films, and hopes to reach as many people as possible with his work, to construct a relationship “that
allows all of us to be in touch about what’s really happening in the world.” Ollman completed
three films during the fellowship year. Two of these films will be screened on the Locally Grown series
in the UWM Union Theatre during the course of the exhibition: The Life Over There: The Black Neighborhood is
the first in a series of sociological studies, film portraits of specific neighborhoods and a few of
the people they have produced (November 13); World War Whatever is
a film about one of the many interesting conversations enabled by technology (December 4). Ollman’s
collaboration with Paul Finger, Everything You Love is Going Away,
screens at Discovery World on December 9.
For
his gallery installation, Montevideo Presents, Ollman
creates a comfortable, homey viewing area for a selection of programming from his production company,
Montevideo Films.
Dan
Ollman was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. His various forays into film include The World’s
Most Greatest Eagle (2006), Suffering
and Smiling (2006) and The Yes
Men (with Sarah Price and Chris Smith,
2004).
Emerging Artists
ANNIE KILLELEA - top
Filmmaker Annie Killelea shoots
and records her own media, “but I feel more like I am collecting objects. I put these objects
aside and then glue them back together later, when they become relevant. This is an ongoing part of
my existence and a conscious decision never to throw anything away.” Killelea is screening an
excerpt from Faces, a 16mm film
she began shooting in 2008 and hopes to complete in 2010.
Faces is
a mystery film, and its outcome remains a mystery to the filmmaker. As an ongoing experiment, Killelea
will make questionnaires available in the gallery throughout the run of the exhibition for those who
want to make plot suggestions. On
January 9, she invites everyone back to the gallery for My Questions Answered, to
view a new edit that takes some of these suggestions into account.
Killelea
will also screen Subtitle Trilogy (9
min, 16mm and Super 8, 2007), a three part film exploring the use of subtitles in daily life,
on the Locally
Grown series at the UWM Union Theatre
on December 4.
Annie Killelea is a filmmaker and musician based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She received a B.A. in
English
literature from Yale University in 1993 and an M.F.A. in film production from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
in 1998. In addition to making 16mm films, Killelea plays bassoon and flute with a variety of independent
music groups. She also organizes and participates in conceptual projects that have included fashion
shows, soundtracks and dramatic collaborations. Her most recent film, Subtitle Trilogy,
screened at the White Columns Gallery in New York and the Wisconsin Film Festival in 2007. Previous
venues have included the Donald Young Gallery in Chicago, Drake Hotel in Toronto, the Milwaukee Art
Museum, Oberhausen Short Film Festival, the Telluride International Experimental Festival, and the
Montreal International Film Festival.
FAYTHE LEVINE - top
Faythe Levine’s work encompasses her interest and investment in community, creativity and activism.
She not only embraces a DIY (do-it-yourself) lifestyle as a form of empowerment—“It is a
reminder that I have control over my life, not only through my artistic choices, but also in all mundane,
day-to-day decisions”—but has worked steadfastly to promote and illuminate the networks
of DIY-ers spread across the nation. Her installation, Handmade Nation, takes its name from her recently
completed book and the documentary film she is making on the rise of DIY art, craft, and design in the
United States. Designed to resemble a booth at a craft fair, the installation will include, among other
things, a monitor displaying excerpts from her film and some of Levine’s own work: four panels
composed of commissioned crochet runners and hand embroidery. Their titles--Craft Is Powerful, Craft
Is Political, Craft Is Personal, Craft Is Possible—summarize Levine’s creed.
Levine talks about craft, activism and community on the Artists Now! lecture series on October 22
and screens a 20 minute work-in-progress from Handmade Nation on the Locally Grown series in the UWM
Union Theatre on November 13.
Faythe Levine is an artist and organizer based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is the founder and
coordinator of Art vs. Craft, co-owner of brick and mortar space Paper Boat Boutique &
Gallery and she does freelance curating and design. Levine recently completed her first documentary
film, Handmade Nation, scheduled to premiere in 2009. She is the co-author of a book of the same title
published by Princeton Architectural Press in 2008. Levine also plays the musical saw in the experimental
musical group Wooden Robot. Her work has been discussed and reviewed in The New York Times, Utne Reader,
Paper Magazine and American Craft Magazine.
COLIN MATTHES - top
Colin Matthes unveils a new project, War Fair: Occupation Games for Citizens and Non-Combatants.
It includes a participatory sculpture, a series of drawings, a new zine, and two wall drawings. The
work emerged from his experiences at the county fair in Jefferson, Wisconsin, where he has worked with
his father as an electrician for the past sixteen years. Matthes, who professes a fondness for the “chaos
and scrappy order” of the fair, was disturbed by an increasing military presence—Army recruitment
tents and displays of child-sized Hummer vehicles—disguised as light-hearted entertainment. War
Fair transforms the viewer into a game player and asks, “How real does something have to become
before you will not play (pay) anymore?”
On November 20, Matthes invites the public to participate in a special game night in the gallery.
The first fifty participants in War Fair will receive a free coupon to play Matthes’s carnival
game, Fire in the Hole (“Try your luck and kill the insurgents!”).
Colin Matthes makes drawings, prints, installations, sculpture and zines. His artwork has been exhibited
in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Denmark, Spain and Austria. Matthes self-publishes the art zine Ideas
in Pictures, included in the upcoming exhibition “Heartland” at the Vannabemuseum, The Netherlands.
He works on collective art projects including SAW (www.streetartworkers.org), Cut and Paint (www.cutandpaint.org),
and Just Seeds / Visual Resistance (www.justseeds.org). His website is ideasinpictures.org
KEVIN J. MIYAZAKI - top
In Camp Home, Kevin Miyazaki exhibits photographs made during two trips to Tule Lake in Northern
California, trips spent documenting buildings used to incarcerate Japanese Americans during World War
II. Following the war, the barracks were re-allocated to returning veterans through a homesteading
initiative. Miyazaki’s quest is both personal—his father was interned during the war, and “camp” was
the common name for the internment experience used by Japanese Americans of his father’s generation—and
dispassionate, depicting details of lives lived in houses, barns and outbuildings belonging to local
farmers. Each of the photographs bears a numeric title: an amalgam of each homesteader's land number
(still in common use by locals) and “19617,” the internment camp family number assigned
to Miyazaki’s family. “It is the continuation of lives lived within the space that I choose
to document, and the connection to my own family and its stories lies somewhere just below the surface.”
On January 15, Miyazaki offers a presentation on his project, Camp Home: A Transformation of Home
and History.
Kevin J. Miyazaki is a photographer based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He earned a B.A. in graphic design
from Drake University. His editorial portrait and travel work appears in national magazines
Ancillary Events
These programs take place in Inova/Kenilworth unless otherwise noted and are free and open to the
public.
Friday, October 10 at 6:30 pm
Opening night gallery talk with Inova curator Nicholas Frank.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 7 pm
Faythe Levine: Crafting Your Life: Constructing a Creative DIY Community
Arts Center Lecture Hall, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd. on the UWM campus
Artist and organizer Faythe Levine talks about craft, activism and community--from your home, to
the gallery, and into the street. Levine will examine local and national Do-It-Yourself movements, consider
the role of DIY in arts-based initiatives, and engage you in a discussion of alternative ways to structure
your life, create community and use your creative skills for personal exploration or direct action.
(Artists Now! Lecture Series)
Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 6 pm
Talks by 2008 Jurors
The three jurors who will be selecting the seven recipients of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation’s
Mary L. Nohl Fund for Individual Artists Fellowships (2008)—Laurel Reuter, director and chief
curator of the North Dakota Museum of Art; and Eva González-Sancho, director of the Fonds Régional
d'Art Contemporain - Région Bourgogne (FRAC Bourgogne) in Dijon, France--will give a public talk
about their institutions and curatorial interests.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008 at 7 pm
Gary John Gresl: Synthesis of Four Dimensions: Objects, Collecting, Creating
Arts Center Lecture Hall, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd. on the UWM campus
Gary John Gresl, sculptor and collector, talks about found or selected objects utilized in assemblage
sculptures, and in particular the evolution, collecting and use of these materials in his work.
Thursday, November 13, 2008 at 7 pm
Locally Grown: The Nohl Fellows/Program One
UWM Union Theatre, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd., second level
A screening featuring a 20 minute work in progress from Faythe Levine’s Handmade Nation: The Rise
of DIY Art, Craft and Design, a documentary exploring the rise of DIY art, craft, and design in the
United States. Also showing will be the premiere of Dan Ollman’s The Life Over There: The Black
Neighborhood (80 min., 2008), the first in a series of sociological studies, film portraits of specific
neighborhoods and a few of the people they have produced.
Thursday, November 20, 2008, 6 pm
Colin Matthes: Fire in the Hole!
Come one, come all to a special game night at Inova/Kenilworth! The first fifty participants at Matthes’s
War Fair installation will receive a free coupon to play his carnival game, Fire in the Hole. Try your
luck and kill the insurgents.
Thursday, December 4, 2008 at 7 pm
Locally Grown: The Nohl Fellows/Program Two
UWM Union Theatre, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.
Tonight’s program will feature the premiere of Dan Ollman’s World War Whatever (80 min,
video, 2008), “Technology has allowed for many interesting conversations, and World War Whatever
is a film about one of those conversations.” Also showing will be Annie Killelea’s Subtitle
Trilogy (9 min, 16mm and Super 8, 2007). The Subtitle Trilogy is a three part film exploring the use
of subtitles in daily life.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008 at 7 pm
Dan Ollman: Everything You Love is Going Away
Discovery World, 500 N. Harbor Dr.
Everything You Love is Going Away, Dan Ollman’s collaboration with Paul Finger, documents a disappearing
Milwaukee.
Thursday, December 11, 2008 at 6 pm
Mark Klassen: A Conversation on Safety & Security
Mark Klassen gathers a panel to discuss issues of safety and security.
Friday, January 9, 2008 at 7 pm
Annie Killelea: My Questions Answered
As an ongoing experiment during the Nohl exhibition, Annie Killelea will make questionnaires available
in the gallery. Audience members are invited to make plot suggestions about her contribution to the
exhibition, an excerpt from Faces, a 16mm mystery film she began shooting in 2008 and hopes to complete
in 2010. On January 9, she invites everyone back to the gallery to view a new edit that takes some of
these suggestions into account. The gallery will re-open at 6:30 pm for this event.
Thursday, January 15, 2009 at 6 pm
Kevin J. Miyazaki: Camp Home: A Transformation of Home and History
Kevin Miyazaki offers a presentation on his Camp Home project.
October 17-November 7, 2008
CROSSING OVER
Opening reception, October 17, 5-8 pm
UWM Union/UWM Peck School of the Arts
UWM Union Art Gallery, 2200 E. Kenwood Blvd.
Hours: M-W & F-Sa, 12-5 p.m.; Th 12-7 pm.
FREE
Information: (414) 229-6310
The annual invitational Scholarship/Fellowship exhibition, featuring the work of graduate and undergraduate students in UWM's Department of Visual Art.
