I have never
been to the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. In fact, before today I didn’t
know the location of this anchor point for the Madison art scene. As ashamed as
I am to admit that, I knew taking time to visit the museum during my “I have
never...” year would provide me a great experience that would offer a lot to
write about. As a result, I began doing some research on the Madison Museum of
Contemporary Art’s upcoming events, which led me to a unique event called
“Under the Influence” where a featured artist discusses their work over drinks,
food, and a group art project held inside the museum. With the event offering
so many unique and previously undiscovered experiences, I immediately committed
to attending “Under the Influence”, which gave me the opportunity to experience
the MMOCA for the very first time.
After
convincing Rachael to join me for tonight’s event, the two of us made our way
down to State Street in Madison to track down the location of the MMOCA.
Although Rachael was somewhat familiar with the museum’s location, I was very
surprised to find the MMOCA was actually connected to the Overture Center of
the Arts, which has served as the location for many of my “I have never...”
events over the past six months. A bit dumfounded by my oversight of the MMOCA
in all my years living in Madison, I entered the facility and immediately began
to look around. The museum space was sparsely populated with works of art, but
the flow of the setup made the works in the space stand out against the otherwise
stark backdrop. As we walked, Rachael and looked over several works hanging
around the space while a group of people milled about in anticipation of the
“Under the Influence” event.
Starting the event |
Within a few
minutes of us arriving, a MMOCA employee welcomed everyone and directed the
group to take a seat near the front of the museum’s main hall. Continuing, she
introduced the featured artist for the “Under the Influence” event, Gabriel Pionkowski, who promptly took his
position before the audience. For the next 30 minutes, Gabe walked the audience
through his background and the development of his creative process, speaking
specifically to the techniques and inspiration that went in to various examples
of his work hanging along the room’s featured wall. As he worked through his
presentation, Gabe provided insight on the idea of working with the entirety of
a canvas, which included the idea of working through the surface of canvas to
create perspective and uniformity in design. As he spoke of his work, Gabe
carried a highly expressive and enthusiastic tone about the finer details of
his creative processes, but he left enough room for interpretation as the group
gazed upon his works.
Gabe talking about texture |
A closeup of Gabe's work |
It was clear waves of curiosity and
inspiration were rolling through the group as Gabe brought his presentation to
a conclusion. With that, the group moved through the museum and into the onsite
art studio to begin our own collaborative paintings with Gabe, using many of
the concepts he discussed earlier in the evening. As we took our positions at
art stations on tables around the room, Gabe explained the blank pieces of
paper at each seat contained a backside covered with his work. Asking us not to
look at his work before completing our portion of the project, he advised us we
had creative license to paint the blank side of the paper as we saw fit, which
would precede the final task of cutting the paper and weaving the two sides of
the work together as one painting.
Gabe’s
concept provided me ample inspiration for my work, which began with the class
gathering paint for the artwork. After some thought, I decided my piece would
focus on bright colors with little design, which I thought would blend nicely
with the assumed pattern Gabe had painted on the opposite side of my paper. As
a result, I began painting freely and cascaded swaths of color across my paper
over the 30 minutes. With intent to make the project a symbol of this point in
my “I have never...” journey, I then proceeded to work the paint with wet
fingertips. The process permitted me to move color off of parts of the page,
revealing my purposed design of the number of days I have completed thus far in
my “I have never...” journey, 186.
Hard at work |
As I waited
for the paint to dry, Rachael and I enjoyed some wine and food offered by the
“Under the Influence” staff, which filled our stomachs and enhanced the overall
experience. After a brief wait, I then set work slicing my paper under the
direction of Gabe and weaving the sections of the work through one another. As
I did, a pattern of squares alternating between bold colors and a black and
white striped design began to present itself on the surface of the work. The
sudden shifts in color and contrast presented by the changing landscape of the
paper made a strange design that, despite the obvious differences in approach
on either side of the paper, came together as a form of fluid work. By the time
I was finished with the project, I was amazed to see how both sides of the work
came together in uniform design, which left me satisfied and Gabe excited about
the outcome.
Our finished works |
By the time
this evening’s event drew to a close, each participant in the “Under the
Influence” event had an uncommon piece of artwork that blended the work of us
amateurs with the professional talent of Gabriel Pionkowski. Of the works created, Rachael’s received particular
attention from Gabe given the transitional phase the work presented as it moved
across the page. It was clear our projects were a success, and the best part of
the outcome was the highly unique new experience we gained from making good on
my desire to visit the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. When it waws all
said and done, the “Under the Influence” event gave us a way to interact with
the museum, with one of the museum’s featured artists, and with art in a way
that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. Those factors made today’s “I have
never...” experience one to remember, and I’m sure we’ll do just that each time
we look at our new works of art hanging on our wall.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.