"After Duchamp: 23 Works of Art from US Artists"
2004-04-10 until 2004-04-30
Gallery 218
Milwaukee, WI, USA United States of America

Artists from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and from around the United States have answered the call to an open exhibition entitled, "After Duchamp" which features 23 works of art inspired by and eluding to the French born, American artist,"breather, fenętrier",designer, art consultant, cheese dealer, and chess player, Marcel Duchamp. The exhibit which takes place April 10-30, 2004 at Gallery 218, located at 218 S. 2nd St., Milwaukee, Wisconsin, consists of "Ready Mades", Assemblage, Altered images, and Prefabricated Objects which incorporate photography, painting,digital imagery and sculpture.

The "players" or Artists exhibiting (in no particular order, of course) are: Elaine Fisher, (MA), Florence Alfano McEwin (WY), Thomas Kovacich (WI), George Jones V.(WI), Fred Stein (WI), Ron Koehler (MS), Carl S. Richards (MA), Jean Sobon (WI), Helen Zajowski (CT), Laura Lee (WI),Julie San Felipe (WI), Saul Melman (NY), Brian Tolbert (WI) and Judith Hooks, as "generateaur-arbitre"

A lively soiree is planned for Gallery Night, April 16 from 7 to 10 p.m. Contributing artists will be on hand as well as an on-going chess match in which visitors may participate.

Every piece in the exhibit will require some thoughtful consideration. Duchamp used irony and humor in his works and many of the exhibited works contain these elements. Other works are assemblages or "ready mades" -another Duchampian concept. Hooks says that she looks forward to Gallery Night when the artists will be present to discuss their work with each other and the gallery patrons. "I think there will be a lot of interaction going on, which would be in the spirit of Duchamp who believed that the viewer was a co-partner in the creative process."

Some examples of art on display:

The mixed media pieces of Milwaukee artist George W. Jones. One entitled "Sureality is Breakable" contains a lamp which shines on headless red victorian figures taking a stroll.

"Brushes with objects" is a selection of hand carved brushes and tools from wood. The artist Ron Koehler, (Cleveland, Mississippi) has been creating his own "mass production" of 3,000 pieces and counting.

Joan Sobon's (Milwaukee) entries of cheese boxes and hand made book play with memory and motion. Saul Melman's photographs document the "Johnny on the Spot" project, soon to be a documentary film.

"He identifies the means of working, the creative enterprise, with life itself, considers it to be as necessary to life as breathing, synonymous with the process of living."-from ŚMarcel Duchamp Anti-artist', see View, series V, n. 1, 1945, pp. 19-54

IMAGE
George Jones V
Surreality is Breakable

Related Links:

Indepth Arts Resources for the State of Wisconsin

Other Important Exhibitions in United States