Event Review Guerrilla Girls

Guerrilla Girls- MIAD Talk
By: Ryan Cindric

The Guerrilla Girls are female activist artists who first came together in 1985. The group has consisted of over 55 people with dedication ranging from a few weeks to over a few decades. They have kept their identity a secret all these years through the use of gorilla masks, its also goes well with their name (pause for chuckle).  The Guerrilla girls, in their own words, "undermine the idea of a mainstream narrative by revealing the understory, the subtext, the overlooked, and the downright unfair. We believe in an intersectional feminism that fights discrimination and supports human rights for all people and all genders."

Going into the talk I only had a very limited idea of what the girls were all about, however my mind was blown by all of the different issues they shed light on. Throughout the duration of their talk the covered the basic background knowledge of themselves, but once we got into it ideas and issues started flying around like poop in the monkey enclosure. I had no idea that the art world was as corrupt as it was; museum board members having the museum buy their personal collections for millions of dollars. As well as this, i also never knew just how unrepresented female artists, and artists of color were in museums, sometimes not even having any representation at all. Lastly, the issue of women artists trying to make a living; it seems that to make a living, in the way that we picture some of the greats, you must be male; less than 3 % of artists in the Modern Art sections are women, but 83% of nudes are women.

This was an incredibly eye opening talk into a world that i clearly don't know much about. I am incredibly thankful I had the opportunity to go and am also incredibly thankful that the Guerrilla Girls exist to expose the corruption and misrepresentation in the art world.

Event Review - James Nares Lecture

In Conversation: James Nares

Saturday, January 28, 3:00pm  Lubar Auditorium, Milwaukee Art Museum
in conjunction with  Helen Levitt: In the Street | James Nares: In the City January 27 through April 16, 2017
by Kylee Diedrich

James Nares is a multimedia visual artist.  He was born in London, United Kingdom and went to school for Visual Arts.  He moved to New York City to work as an artist in 1974.  He creates thought provoking and intense works that force the viewer to be uncomfortable, hypnotized and engrossed in the viewing of his work.  His main themes reference movement, rhythms, and repetition. I think he works intuitively and spontaneously while also being precise and conscious of his process. During the talk, Nares discusses a wide scope of his work from when he started out to the most current projects, one called In the City which is showing in the Milwaukee Art Museum. He also has a project named Portraits up in the Paul Kasmin Gallery in New York City, NY. 

From watching his videos he seems to enjoy the balance between physics, art and rhythm. My favorite part of his talk was when he showed called Globe. The video was created in 2007 and is truly hypnotic with the music he chose. I could honestly watch this for hours and never become bored.  I found the video exhibited at the museum interesting, In the City, because he changes how people are viewed and breaks down a barrier between how people want to be seen, and how people are actually seen.  His video, Drip uses changes in sound and speed -- like all of his videos, they are hypnotic.  I feel as though I am in a trance when I view them, everything in the world goes away and I am placed in this other world.