Treasures of Art Nouveau

On view: 05-Sep-2019 23-Nov-2019

Treasures of Art Nouveau

Curated by Annemarie Sawkins

On view Sep 5 - Nov 23, 2019 

This very special exhibition comes from a private collection in Milwaukee, and has never before been exhibited outside of its home city. Art Nouveau and its related movement, Arts & Crafts, developed in the late 1800s as a reaction against previously popular academic styles and the heavy ornamentation of the Victorian era. Instead, these movements emphasized handcrafting and design inspired by nature, most notably an appreciation of flowing lines and contours. The exhibition features decorative objects and furniture, sculpture, prints, and paintings from the 1890s – 1930s that capture the spirit of this stylistic era and demonstrate how it permeated all types of art and design. 

Highlights of this exhibition include glassware and lamps by Louis Comfort Tiffany, cameo vases by Emile Gallé, European claret jugs, sculptures by Emmanuel Villanis and Charles Drouet, and a variety of wooden furniture. The exhibition also features a wonderful array of lithographs by Alphonse Mucha, Paul Berthon, Emile Bertrand, and Eugène Grasset among others, plus paintings, drawings, and other prints of the era.

Thumbnail: Eugène Grasset (French, 1841-1917), Encre L. Marquet (L. Marquet Ink), 1892. Color lithograph with blind stamp. Courtesy of the John S. Winkowski Collection.

Synthesis: Art and Nature in the Post-Digital Age

On view: 12-Dec-2019 08-Feb-2020

Synthesis: Art and Nature in the Post-Digital Age

On view Dec 12, 2019 - Feb 8, 2020 

As our technology advances it is easy to believe that we have grown very far from our natural selves. Many people fear the state of our Post-Digital world, consumed by screens and distracted by an inundation of targeted advertisements and social media, consumer technology becoming more completely integrated into our everyday lives. The artists in this exhibition look past the blip of the magnetic screen and into the future - a future in which the boundaries between nature and technology blur completely. These artists have looked to nature to guide their work, whether it be in the algorithms of growth, the vectors of fluid movement, the physics of soft bodies, sound visualized as color and particles, and even the human psyche as it is shaped by limitless access to infinite information. Artworks in this exhibition include special effects animation, digital art, 3D printed sculpture and wearables, Virtual Reality, traditional paper collage, and various data-driven media.

Thumbnail: Laura Splan, Dual-Pronged Approach, 2012, cut paper collage.