It's a little known fact that UW-Madison owns some great works of art, not only by students and faculty but also by some of the greatest artists of all time. The Elvehjem Museum of Art is the best-known university gallery, but art lives elsewhere on campus.
The School of Human Ecology boasts the Gallery of Design, and the Humanities building is home to the Seventh Floor Gallery. A short walk from the Elvehjem is the 734 Gallery on University Avenue. And tucked into the hustle and bustle of campus social life, on the second floor of Memorial Union, is the Porter Butts Gallery.
The Porter Butts Gallery and the adjacent Class of 1925 Gallery is currently exhibiting Highlights from the Wisconsin Union art c ollection in celebration of its 75th anniversary. The show, which runs through Feb. 22nd, features some of the little known gems of the Wisconsin Union art collection, with works by notable artists such as Joan Mir??, Diego Rivera, Warrington Colescott, John Steuart Curry, Al Hirschfeld and Dudley Huppler, among others. Owing to the nature of the Wisconsin Union's usual method of displaying artwork-on the walls in the hallwall-the exhibition is composed entirely of paintings, prints, drawings, and one photograph. A warning: there are no dates listed on the gallery labels, so if you want to know more about a piece, you'll have to contact the Wisconsin Union Art Directorate.
Some highlights:
This painting is dark and rich with a soft luminosity that contradicts its subject matter. There's very little black at all in the piece; it's rendered in grays, browns, and pinks. The folds of the dress are subtle, but well rendered, as is the intricate lacework at the neck of the dress. It's an old-fashioned dress, and the palette and dark, rough frame of the work lend it an air of dark nostalgia.
The namesake of the Elvehjem Museum and former university president is brought to life in painted pseudo-collage. The painting is obviously a tribute to the late Elvehjem (pronounced LVM), as it depicts several elements of his life as though they had been gathered together in a makeshift shrine. It's a fitting nod to the man who commissioned an important university and community art identity.
One of the more contemporary pieces, Amalia has a sense of humor that is lacking in other works in the exhibition.
The subject is a close-up of a girl making a funny face; the lovely textural blobs of paint draw the viewer in, and the scale of the work pushes the viewer back out, so it's a constant in -and-out interaction with the piece. It's also huge, and warrants more wall space than it gets.
This intaglio features an amalgam of twisted American imagery: bulky football players, a plane crash, soldiers marching to war, half-nude cowgirls, and white women and Native Americans engaging in lewd acts. Arching over all of it is a highway system, with cloverleaf exits and overpasses galore. Done in a dark palette of green, purple and black, the print suggests the dark side behind our preferred rose-colored glasses view of the American West.
The on-again, off-again husband of Frida Kahlo depicts himself uncomfortable and defiant, meeting the viewer's gaze directly. His lip is slightly curled into a hint of a sneer, as if daring us to take him seriously. After all the attention his wife received, it's a just expression.
The portrait is a beautifully loose gestural drawing that makes use of hatching to convey the expressions and emotions of the pair. It's an uncomfortable pairing and suggests that the mother is aloof and overbearing at the same time.
There are several great works, too numerous to list here. But now is a great time to visit the Porter Butts Gallery and acquaint yourself with some of the great art available here on campus.
