Art is truly a beautiful way of expressing one’s own life. Artists can create whatever they like, however they want. These art pieces can be seen as light-hearted and fun, to sad and depressing. Others can be seen as dark and hideous.
“The Ugly and the Grotesque” is an art exhibition at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater’s Community Engagement Center was put together by Crossman Gallery Director Ashley Dimmig and Student Curator Jessica Lacki, a senior BFA student at Whitewater. The exhibition features paintings and sculptures by multiple artists, including some UW-Whitewater alumni.
“This gallery has been a little bit latent for a while,” Dimmig said. “With my starting here just last year, we wanted to start reviving this space a little bit. Jessica was my first independent study student, so I let her have fun with it and explore our permanent art collection that we have and see what came out of it.”
The exhibition featured artworks from artists such as Rudolf Schlichter, Guy Johnson and Karl Völkner, along with UW-Whitewater alumni. Most of the artwork seen at this exhibition came out of the World War II era, with images heavily influenced by war images.
“There were so many treasures that were hidden away, and I was like ‘We should show these.’ They’re beautiful, in a weird little way,” said Lacki.
One piece of art that stood out was the painting “Quietly Playing the Roles,” by Kristian Ferrell. It depicts a bird wearing a hood with rabbit ears and a talk box holding a house in its hand. The painting “reflects Ferrell’s struggle to fit into her childhood home and being forced to play into a role that was not true to herself.”
Another piece of art was a sculpture called “Hell’s Many Crevices” by Ronald Cooper. The sculpture is a cow skull with demonic imagery and writings. Some of the writings say, “We will soon be bone” and “I can’t believe devil’s riding mules.” The sculpture touches on the dark nature of humanity.
Art can be depicted in many different forms, whether that be paintings or sculptures. They can also depict different emotions, such as fun and light-hearted, or dark and hideous. “The Ugly and the Grotesque” features artwork on the more hideous side of art. This exhibition is featured at the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater’s Community Engagement Center by Walmart, and it will be shown for an undetermined amount of time.
