Milwaukee Art Museum

We extend a heartfelt thanks to our friends at Milwaukee Downtown, BID #21 for honoring the Milwaukee Art Museum with the Illuminating Community Award at the State of Downtown awards ceremony on Tuesday, October 1. Under the leadership of Marcelle Polednik, PhD, Donna and Donald Baumgartner Director, and Scott Schwebel, chief experience officer, the Museum now illuminates the wings with an array of colors in celebration of community events and Museum happenings year-round. Drop by to see the lights! Every night, see the wings illuminate the Milwaukee skyline from sundown until 10 p.m. Images: 1. Photo by Eric Halverson courtesy of Milwaukee Downtown BID 21 2. Photo by Cleber Bonato

Robert Longo’s monumental charcoal drawings come to the Museum on October 25! Though based on images from various media sources, Longo’s meticulous drawings are not exact transcriptions. Instead, he combines, alters, and enhances multiple source images in an effort to create what he considers “a perfect image.” Through their monumental scale and technical precision, his drawings invite you to slow down and reflect. Plan your visit to the exhibition “Robert Longo: The Acceleration of History” here: https://lnkd.in/dz7bQWSf Image: Robert Longo (American, b. 1953), “Untitled (State of the Union, Washington DC, USA, February 5, 2019),” 2019. Charcoal on mounted paper. 96 × 146 in. (243.84 × 370.84 cm). Courtesy of the artist

We are thrilled to announce that the Museum is in the process of acquiring two more artworks by Robert Longo! Thanks to the support extended by donors including the Museum’s Contemporary Art Society, Sue and Bud Selig, Pace Gallery, and Robert Longo himself, these two ambitiously scaled, hyperrealistic charcoal drawings will join two lithographs by the artist already in the Museum’s collection: “Men in the Cities, Joanna” and “Men in the Cities, Larry.” See the new acquisitions at the Museum when “Robert Longo: The Acceleration of History” opens October 25. https://lnkd.in/dz7bQWSf Images: 1. Robert Longo (American, b. 1953), “Untitled (The Three Graces; Donetsk, Ukraine; March 14, 2022),” 2022. Charcoal on mounted paper. 96 × 147 in. (243.84 × 373.38 cm). Courtesy of the artist and Pace Gallery 2. Robert Longo (American, b. 1953), “Untitled (State of the Union, Washington DC, USA, February 5, 2019),” 2019. Charcoal on mounted paper. 96 × 146 in. (243.84 × 370.84 cm). Courtesy of the artist

OPENS NOV 15 | “True Story: Photography, Journalism, and Media” explores ways that photographers and artists have understood and wielded the power of images to convey the events of our world. Learn more and plan your visit at https://lnkd.in/gqMAcRpb Image: Robert Heinecken (American, 1931–2006), “Untitled,” from the series “Are You Rea,” 1964–68. Gelatin silver print. 5 7/16 x 7 1/4 in. (13.81 x 18.42 cm). Purchase, with funds from the Ralph and Cora Oberndorfer Family Trust, M2009.20 © The Robert Heinecken Trust, Chicago

The Art:Forward Gala honoring Robert Longo was a night to remember! Thank you to everyone who came out to honor artist, filmmaker, and musician Robert Longo, whose exhibition “Robert Longo: The Acceleration of History” opens October 25. More than 250 guests attended this special celebration, raising $1.2 million in support of the Museum’s mission to share extraordinary works of art, reveal their compelling stories, and create meaningful experiences to grow and inspire our community. We are grateful to the community supporters who make ground-breaking contemporary art experiences possible! Photos by Front Room Studios

Don’t miss next week’s Artist Talk with Tanekeya Word, multimedia visual artist and founder of the printmaking collective Black Women of Print. On September 26 at 6:15 p.m., Word will discuss the collective’s two portfolios, both in the Museum’s collection. Before the talk, enjoy a reception with light refreshments in Baumgartner Galleria. Learn more and plan your visit here: https://ow.ly/jV1i50TaYbL

Join us at this year’s Art:Forward Gala on September 21 to celebrate contemporary art and to appreciate the work of four featured artists—Gretchen Bender, Colin Hunt, Jon Kessler, and Billie Zangewa—identified by honoree Robert Longo for their compelling careers and practice. Learn more about the artists—and the most artful party of the year!— at https://lnkd.in/gyWV5FVN Images: 1. Gretchen Bender (American, 1951–2004), Total Recall, 1987. Eight-channel video on 24 monitors and three rear projection screens. 18:02 min. Installation view of Gretchen Bender: So Much Deathless at Red Bull Arts, New York, March 6–July 28, 2019. © Gretchen Bender Estate Courtesy of Sprüth Magers. Photo by Lance Brewer 2. Colin Hunt (American, b. 1973), Untitled (Morning), 2022. Egg tempera on panel. 24 in × 24 in 3. Jon Kessler (American, b. 1957), Lagoon, 2024. Stainless steel, bronze, copper, glazed stoneware, shell and porcelain figurines. 32 × 24 × 31 in 4. Billie Zangewa (Malawian, b. 1973), Body and Soul, 2021. Hand-stitched silk collage. 44.1 × 49.6 in, (112 × 126 cm)

This year’s Art:Forward Gala honors internationally acclaimed artist Robert Longo, whose major exhibition “Robert Longo: The Acceleration of History” opens at the Museum in October. Rising to prominence in the 1980s as a leading figure of the Pictures Generation, Longo first gained recognition for his “Men in the Cities drawings,” which quickly became some of the most recognizable artworks of the decade. Today, he is widely known for his ambitiously scaled, hyperrealistic charcoal drawings that reflect on the construction of symbols of power and authority. Learn more about the September 21 gala at mam.org/art-forward. Photo by Sophie Chahinian

What is it like to experience 8-by-12-foot carved wood panels and their prints?  Now on view, “Currents 39: LaToya M. Hobbs, Carving Out Time” presents a series of monumental artworks that were originally conceived as a set of carved wood panels. While planning the work, Hobbs’s husband, Ariston Jacks, encouraged her to make woodcut prints from the panels. This exhibition marks the first occasion when the panels and prints will be exhibited together.  Plan your experience here: https://lnkd.in/g2UM9e9y Images: LaToya M. Hobbs (American, b. 1983), Printed by BIG INK (Founded 2012), “Carving Out Time,” 2020–21. Woodcuts. Purchase, with funds from the Lucia K. Stern Trust, Kevin Fahey and Ray Grzebielski Fund, Cory and Michelle Nettles, the African American Art Alliance, Brewers Community Foundation, Angela and Virgis Colbert, Print Forum, and Gregory and Lisa Wesley M2023.282.1a-c–.5a-c   

A round of applause for the Museum’s conservators and art preparators as they put the final touches on the “Currents 39: LaToya M. Hobbs, Carving Out Time” exhibition! Installing these large-scale, delicate works on paper was made possible by their close collaboration and years of collective experience. Opening September 6 (September 5 for Members), this exhibition celebrates the Museum’s recent acquisition of the prints in the series “Carving Out Time.” It also marks the first occasion when the prints and carved panels will be exhibited together, offering the opportunity to marvel at LaToya M. Hobbs’s artistry in two forms. Plan your visit at mam.org/latoya-hobbs.