Trina May Smith's Fire 5.
Urban decay or suburban monotony? Dystopia is in the eye of the beholder. Artists offer their own vision of our current state of affairs in "Dystopia Now," an exhibit by Wisconsin artists at Madison College's downtown campus. The installment prompts visitors to ponder their own role in society.
Despite the gloomy-sounding subject, some artists featured in "Dystopia Now" offer playful visions for the future, creating images ranging from traditional suburban homes to machine-human hybrids. The exhibit includes pieces from Wisconsin-based artists Kelli Hoppmann, Richard Jones, Don Kauss, Kay Myers, Ryan Myers, Ann Orlowski, Gregory Schulte, Trina May Smith and Jonathan Wilde. Gallery 211's first show of 2015, it runs until March 12.
Ann Orlowski, assistant art director of the Artisan Gallery in Paoli, curated "Dystopia Now." She says she challenged the artists to focus on dystopia to call attention to contemporary issues. "We want to shine a light on challenging issues in the hopes that we influence people to make the changes necessary to perpetuate a future they would like to see," says Orlowski. "Humanity is a collective, and we are working together whether we are conscious of it or not. The future is shaped by every choice we make. It may be small things such as purchasing sustainable goods, or larger issues such as influencing the choices our political leaders are making, but these choices carry weight."
The exhibit offers a striking array of approaches, with media ranging from traditional oil paint on canvas to experiments in digital photography, glass, metal and bone. Hoppman's oil-on-metal works stand out for their more straightforward dystopian subject matter. Viral Love, reminiscent of Grant Wood's American Gothic, features a woman in a surgical mask and a man in a gas mask staring eerily back at the viewer.
Kauss' multimedia sculptural works play with the comfort level of the observer, and include a dress form mounted with antlers and a skull, stabbed with kitchen knives.
Orlowski's own work features monochromatic homes, prompting us to consider the monotony of suburban life. And Trina May Smith's Fire series depicts desolate homes engulfed in flames. She says she hopes the subject matter will inspire people to action "Everything we do, or don't do, can bring us closer to a future we want to see or the future the exhibit's artists have depicted."
New kid on the block: Gallery 211
Gallery 211, a new exhibit space at Madison College's downtown campus, functions as a traditional gallery setting and a campus community lounge space. The college designed the space for optimum flexibility, with movable pedestals, glass cases and walls to accommodate a variety of media and exhibitions ranging from intimate to expansive.
The gallery officially opened last fall with a Madison College faculty exhibition and anticipates featuring six exhibitions annually, culminating in a year-end display of student work. It also plans to offer daily events, like an art film series.
