New Wriston Art Galleries Exhibition Opens March 29

Painter Rafael Salas and 2012 Lawrence University graduate Caitee Hoglund share the podium for the opening lecture of the latest Wriston Art Center Galleries exhibition Friday, March 29 at 6 p.m in the Wriston auditorium. A reception follows the lecture. Both events are free and open to the public. The new exhibition runs through May 5. The Kohler Gallery features Salas’ work entitled “You’re Invisible Now.” The series of paintings and drawings depicts the Wisconsin landscapes and moods the artist has observed and include natural occurrences as well man-made events and architecture which complement and conflict. An art professor at Ripon College, Salas uses non-representational and still life elements to emphasize the dichotomy between figure and ground, perception and feeling. His artwork communicates an aspiration of nobility, but often a failure of that aspiration. “Stripped Down: Understanding the Female Nude,” featuring works from the Wriston’s permanent collection, will be shown in the Leech Gallery. Designed by Hoglund, this exhibit explores one of the most ubiquitous subjects in art — the female nude — and analyzes the different types represented in the collection. Through presentation, discussion and interaction, this exhibition offers a new perspective on the female nude and its role in art history and gender politics. Milwaukee-based artist Sonja Thomsen presents “nexus” in the Hoffmaster Gallery. The installation features shelves of short sequences of images and play with shifting scale. The installation forces the viewer to weave back and forth within the space, triggering visceral awareness in conjunction with cerebral perception. The photographs of vast landscapes, domestic scenes and spectacular phenomena create the skin between the memory, place and the present. Wriston Art Center hours are Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Saturday-Sunday from noon – 4 p.m. The galleries are closed on Mondays