Debra Brehmer | Page 2

Debra Brehmer

Debra Brehmer, an arts writer and curator, owns and operates Portrait Society Gallery, a contemporary art space in Milwaukee. She was also the former editor and publisher of Art Muscle Magazine and teaches part-time at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.


July 29, 2014Events

One-Horned Wonder

imothy Westbrook moved to Milwaukee in March 2012, when he became the first out-of-state artist selected for the Pfister Hotel’s yearlong residency program. He was 23 and had recently completed a degree at Syracuse University.Shortly after he arrived in Milwaukee, and unpacked his foot treadle sewing machine and weaving loom, a friend sent his profile to scouts at the fashion competition TV show “Project Runway.” They contacted Westbrook and invited him to audition, and he became one of season 12’s 16 contestants. By the second episode, though, it was obvious Westbrook was cut from a different cloth. The design theme…

June 2, 2013Events

Wild Ink

Maybe it comes down to the primal urges of fear, desire and hunger. “The Beast Within: Images of Animals in Tattoo and Contemporary Art,” curated by artist Fred Stonehouse, looks at the influences of tattoo practice on artists. Tapping into the timeless human fascination with animals as metaphors of power, freedom and virility, these images act as totems of mythical strength and mystery. Artists such as Mike Noland and the great CJ Pyle, obsessive master of the ink pen, never fail to pack a visual wallop. Throw in Milwaukee tattoo artist Jon Reiter alongside the eminent California-based tattoo artist Don…

June 2, 2013Events

Powerful Provocation

“30 Americans” is a thorny traveling survey of contemporary black artists’ work culled from idiosyncratic Miami collectors Mera and Don Rubell. It’s about time. The show feels like a great, unruly party with Nick Cave’s awe-inspiring Soundsuit, a riveting, strange, Baroque performance costume; Kehinde Wiley’s 25-foot revisionist painting of a homoerotic seminude black male; and Gary Simmons’ powerful installation Duck, Duck, Noose. Even as this show anchors and defines aspects of black art production, the curatorial premise – based solely on race – has been criticized for lacking historical context. But if the show generates interest and discussion, maybe that’s…

June 2, 2008Magazine

Michelangelo in Milwaukee

One of Michelangelo’s first major works was his Pietà. He finished it in 1500 when he was 23 years old. His colleagues in Rome greeted the new sculpture with disbelief that such a young and relatively unknown artist could create such a remarkable work. Michelangelo’s reaction was to return to the piece and chisel his name broadly down the sash that runs between Mary’s breasts. “Michelangelo Buonarroti made this,” he wrote, a quattrocento version of “screw you.” It was the only work he ever signed. This sculpture is considered a masterpiece, but had never grabbed me in any particular way.…

January 25, 2008Feature Story

Artful Dodger

On a warm Gallery Night in October, lots of people are out meandering. Michael Lord Gallery on Milwaukee Street acts like a beacon, with its large front windows reflecting emanations of the enticing, brightly lit white interior. On this night, the main space downstairs is devoted to mid-career local artists, all seasoned art faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee: John Balsley’s wood and metal sculptures, Lisa Moline and Lane Hall’s books and Leslie Bellavance’s photographs. The pristine formality of the gallery space itself makes their work look important and expensive. There may not be another gallery in town that quite…