James Watrous Gallery
As an artist, a curator, a mentor, and a seeker, Nirmal Raja has made an indelible imprint on Milwaukee, where she has lived and worked for the last 24 years.
Join Nina Ghanbarzadeh, Maureen Fritchen, and Wisconsin Academy staff to celebrate the opening of the exhibitions Tales of the Seated Cat and See Foam at the James Watrous Gallery. These paired solo exhibitions will be on view from November 1, 2024 through January 12, 2025.
Guest curated by Amal Azzam and Nayfa Naji, the exhibition Wherever Home Is explores the multifaceted concept of home, a feeling that transcends physical spaces and material possessions. It invites reflection on what it means to truly feel at home, whether in one's person, a place, an object, or a memory.
Nina Ghanbarzadeh’s art practice is rooted in the desire to share her personal experiences and understanding of the culture and history of Iran, where she was born. She often works with geometric patterns, calligraphic letters, clay, and the color turquoise, inspired by their importance in the history of Iranian art. “Living between two cultures (American and Persian)," says Ghanbarzadeh, "I find myself in constant translation. Culture is so much more than language. It is a shared visual sensibility, humor, music, rituals, past times, food, spiritual commonalities, shared history and understanding. I draw inspiration for my art from all of this and from the limitations inherent in language. I search for the universal abstractions of lines, curves, dots that are the building blocks of the symbols that make any language and that help to describe a culture.”
Maureen Fritchen’s exhibition showcases the impact of consumerism on our environment. Fritchen uses industrial waste materials as her principal medium, repurposing non-biodegradable polyethylene foam (PE) used in a wide variety of packaging. While PE is technically recyclable, in practice there are very few options for collection and most PE ends up in landfills or the natural environment. The biomorphic shapes and forms Fritchen creates are beautiful and sensual, in bright happy hues of pink and turquoise. They are both alluring and disturbing.
In 2018, Madison artists Brenda Baker and Bird Ross set out to see if they could do their part to bring more financial equity to women visual artists right here at home.
Join artist Nirmal Raja, guest curator Ann Sinfield, and Wisconsin Academy staff to celebrate the exhibition Asking Questions of a Thread at the James Watrous Gallery.
Behind-the-Scenes Open Studio Day! Visit the artist studios of three Forward Art Prize Winners in Madison as part of the 5-10-100: Women Artists Forward exhibition.
Jayne King’s porcelain vessels explore the nature of memory, nostalgia and personal narrative, and how Jewish tradition informs their relationship to their family’s past and present.
Lisa Marie Barber’s dense, large-scale ceramic assemblages command attention, spilling vivid imagery and bright colors across the gallery floor.
- ‹ previous
- 2 of 19
- next ›
Wisconsin Academy Offices
1922 University Avenue
Madison, Wisconsin 53726
Phone: 608.733.6633
James Watrous Gallery
3rd Floor, Overture Center for the Arts
201 State Street
Madison, WI 53703
Phone: 608.733.6633 x25