Upon walking into the broad expanse of the Chazen Museum of Art, I can feel an immediate sense of connection to the arts community of the UW-Madison campus. Filled with aspiring students, knowledgeable professors and incredible works of art, I cannot help but feel a sense of awe inside the building. One recent exhibition in the museum, however, truly captured the spirit of our campus’ visual arts community: the Art Faculty Quadrennial Exhibition.
Upon walking into the exhibition, eyes are met with an enormous installation titled Start with the Wound by Lisa Gralnick, a piece artfully strewn with a brightly colored mix of oversized ceramic chains and hardware. Looking to the adjacent wall, there is a provocative collection of wooden cutouts and drawings of demon-like figures, beautifully illustrated in a manner that makes one feel both intrigue and mild disquietude. The figures are part of an untitled work by Fred Stonehouse. One piece in the collection includes the imposing form of a plague doctor holding the leashes of demon-like figures labeled “Can’t,” “Won’t,” “Shouldn’t,” and “Don’t,” confronting the viewer with the idea of modern medicine and its limitations.
Contained within multiple rooms on the first and second floor of the museum, many more extraordinary pieces inhabit the exhibition, particularly video installations. Lift/Carry/Hold by Douglas Rosenberg is particularly captivating, displaying a grown man picking up and cradling other people in his arms in slow motion, holding them for a few moments, only to then release them and carry another one. Perhaps illustrating the process of parenthood, and the care and ultimate release of responsibility that occurs, its image absorbs the attention of any passerby. Upstairs is an interactive exhibit entitled Careless Whispers for Plants: Winter Solace by Meg Mitchell. The piece causes the audience to scramble around the dome-like installation, crouching next to the blooming, wooden megaphones attached to it, to hear a quiet, broken story told by the author in her own voice. Overall, the entire exhibition provided an excellent and varied array of intriguing artwork and is absolutely worth the trip.
The Art Faculty Quadrennial Exhibition connects its viewer closely to the spirit of UW-Madison’s art community, and shows off the broad range of media, talent, and inspiration our campus’ arts faculty employs in their work. The very people who motivate the future artists of UW-Madison and cultivate their skills and style are put on display in the Chazen’s exhibition, bursting with color, emotion and expertise. Including a wide array of media from sculpture to video to paintings, as well as mixed media, the exhibition discusses an array of subjects and issues. Pieces discussing personal relationships, deep-seated memories, and political injustice can be seen throughout the exhibition, illustrating some prominent themes addressed in the messages of the Madison arts community.
The wide range of media used and the fact that our own UW campus faculty created the art exhibition makes the Art Faculty Quadrennial Exhibition a must-see trip. Even those who are unfamiliar or inexperienced with art would be fascinated with the broad range of techniques and styles employed in the exhibition, and more experienced artists and art lovers will enjoy seeing pieces that capture the very heart of the UW-Madison arts community. The exhibition opened Jan. 29 and will be up through April 17. With the exhibition only occurring every four years, I think I’ll make another trip myself.
