The Wisconsin Artists Biennial is a hodgepodge of outstanding visual artistry, and that’s by design. That’s because the exhibition, held every two years at West Bend’s Museum of Wisconsin Art and facilitated by Wisconsin Visual Artists, is an open invite for artists statewide to submit recent work.
Out-of-state jurors rate out of five stars entries with no identifying details. Up until this year, jurors couldn’t even see the artist statement. Only the top-scoring make the cut. This even playing field yields a mix of familiar names and surprise talents.
It’s time to pick your Milwaukee favorites for the year!
Out of the 50 artists selected this year from over 1,200 entries, 36 are brand-new to the biennial. Seven are students, such as MIAD’s Marta Tereziya with As I Watched Her Fall, a mind-bending plank of drooping cherry wood. Returning Milwaukee artists include Aaron Boyd and Nina Ghanbarzadeh. The former’s Mary Turner, Her Talk Enraged Them pays tribute to a Black woman lynched in 1918 with suffusive watercolor, crayon, fabric and other materials. Ghanbarzadeh’s symbolic The Love That We Need and the Peace That Is Lost constructs insulation board into written Farsi and is one of the largest pieces in the exhibition.
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Paintings, sculpture, fiber art and even video installation are well-represented. But this diverse lineup wasn’t reached by clear consensus. This year, the jurors’ “opinions were just all over the board,” says Shannon Kupfer, WVA’s executive director. “They did not agree on everything, so it’s kind of neat to look at the data and see how that all comes together into the final choices.”
Only once the list is final does MOWA enter the picture to stage the exhibition. “We never know what these lists are going to look like until we get them,” deputy director Jane Aspinwall. “It’s a treat for us to have these pieces come. It can also lead to future shows at MOWA or at our satellite locations like Saint Kate or St. John’s down the road. So, it’s a little bit of a sneak preview for us as well.”
Case in point: The high-rated artist wins the MOWA Prize, which comes with $5,000 and a solo exhibition at the museum to run concurrently with the next biennial in 2028. Another $5,000 is spread among the second-, third- and fourth-place winners.
The origins of the Wisconsin Artists Biennial dates to 1900. Since then, the exhibition moved around before landing at MOWA in 2014. “A big purpose of (the exhibition) is providing that opportunity for the artist to be able to exhibit at a renowned museum,” says Kupfer. “It’s one of the best opportunities to get more eyes on their work since MOWA is so well–known.”
“For us, it’s a way to take the pulse of the Wisconsin art world,” says MOWA’s Aspinwall. What does that pulse read? Aspinwall notices a rise in assemblage works that “pull people in, slow them down, cause them to look a little more carefully.” WVA’s Kupfer, sees themes of feminism, identity and displacement emerge. With a scope so wide, the biennial is a great starting point for the art curious.
Wisconsin Artists Biennial: Feb. 7-April 19 at Museum of Wisconsin Art
