Art galleries, museums, music venues and theaters may have closed their doors during the COVID-19 pandemic, but they have opened access to art, music and theater online. And, in the case of Arts + Literature Laboratory, or ALL, they have opened windows to art and film.
Passersby can see “Fell Into the Honey,” an MFA exhibition by Ashley Lusietto, in early June in the windows of ALL at its new location, 111 S. Livingston St. Inspired by ancient funerary processes, “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” and the artist’s childhood memory of receiving a box of brand new dolls in the mail, Lusietto’s painted sculptures make a “twisted fairy tale” of her slow-burning nostalgias.
Overture Galleries had just opened four new exhibits, “Endgame,” “Altered Scapes,” “Unaccountable Abodes,” and “Earthly Kin,” March 10, just days before “Safer at Home” went into effect. Overture has extended the exhibits, making them available online at www.overture.org/galleries/overture-galleries.
The four exhibits explore environmental topics in honor of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and the UW-Madison Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. John Riggs uses photographs and Hannah Sandvold uses traditional printmaking to record landscapes of the Pacific Northwest in their Gallery I exhibit “Endgame.” Gallery II houses “Altered Scapes,” in which Ginnie Cappaert uses oil paints and cold wax, and Lynne Roark uses photography, to draw out the essential elements in the beauty of natural landscapes. “Unaccountable Abodes” in Gallery III features photo artist Robert Jaeger and mixed media artist Erin Liljegren [BFA ’07] presenting both human and animal inhabitants of Earth in manmade environments.
“Earthly Kin,” in the Playhouse Gallery, explores the mysteries, beauty and tragedy of the relationship between humans and our fellow living creatures. Artists featured in the exhibit are Amy Bethel, Monika Blazs, Thomas Ferrella, Toril Fisher, Lisa Frank [BS-Art ’79], Jenie Gao, Beverly Gordon, Jaeger, Kati Lambert, Daniel Leger, Liljegren, Sara Meredith, Richie Morales, Briony Morrow-Cribbs [MFA ’12], Eli Quinn, Beth Racette, Amy Rice [BS-Art ’82], Sylvie Rosenthal [MFA ’14], Barry Sherbeck, Sarah Stankey [MFA ’19], Robert Torres, Jackie Whiseant and Nick Wroblewski.
Get on www.facebook.com/ChazenArtUW in June to connect live with artists during “Our Kind of Happy Hour” every other Wednesday. Artist [and Professor of Sculpture] Sarah FitzSimons talks about her work in the “Faculty Exhibition 2020” and brings artist Renate Aller into the conversation from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Another artist from the “Faculty Exhibition 2020,” [Professor of Painting & Drawing] Fred Stonehouse, discusses his Gallery II installation 6 to 6:30 p.m. June 24.
The James Watrous Gallery is sharing short videos showcasing the artists whose shows have been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Local painter Comfort Wasikhongo will be featured in the first video that can be found on the gallery’s Instagram: www.instagram.com/watrousgallery.
“Collections and Connections: 150 Years of the Wisconsin Academy,” curated by Jody Clowes and Martha Glowacki [MFA ’78] for the James Watrous Gallery, honors the history of Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters with a recreated “cabinet of Wisconsin curiosities.” The exhibit was closed early, but viewers can experience it virtually through a 12-minute video at www.wisconsinacademy.org/gallery/collections-connections.