Floating Worlds from nathaniel stern on Vimeo.

The Multiple from nathaniel stern on Vimeo.

Meninas from nathaniel stern on Vimeo.

At Sea from nathaniel stern on Vimeo.

Image courtesy of the Armoury Gallery

Night Work
March 27 - May 2
Armoury Gallery
1718 N. 1st St. 3N3
Milwaukee

Featuring Work by:
Sonja Thomsen, Nicholas Lampert, Shana McCaw & Brent Budsberg, and Nathaniel Stern & Jessica Meuninck-Ganger

“The Armoury Gallery is pleased to announce its 8th exhibition: Night Work. Focusing specifically on professional artists working as art professors and instructors in Milwaukee, Night Work is an exciting cross section of some of Milwaukee’s most talented and recognized artists; three of whom are featured in the Current Tendencies exhibition at the Haggerty Museum of Art at Marquette University. Night work includes two collaborative teams, Nathaniel Stern & Jessica Meuninck-Ganger and Shana McCaw & Brent Budsberg, as well as new 2D work by Nicolas Lampert and recent photographs by Sonja Thomsen.”

First time collaborative duo Jessica Meuninck-Ganger and Nathaniel Stern will present a new series of works. They hack and tweak, shoot and print, appropriate and remix, edit and draw. Playfully called “Distill Life,” this series incorporates technologies and aesthetics from traditional printmaking – including Japanese woodblock and engraving circa the 1800s, present-day etching, stone lithography, photogravure etc – with the technologies and aesthetics of contemporary digital, video and networked art, in order to create new forms.

Individually, Meuninck-Ganger and Stern have spanned art media including net.art, video, interactive installation, sculpture, printmaking, bookmaking, performance and more. Here, they capture and edit video from real and virtual worlds and download these onto hacked digital photo frames. The liberated screens from these frames are then placed behind or embedded within prints, drawings and sculptures. Sometimes, they just use a sharpie and draw right on the screen.

Hailing from South Africa, and currently studying for his PhD through Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, Nathaniel Stern joined the Milwaukee arts community in 2008 for his position with the Peck School of the Arts at UW Milwaukee. His work has been exhibited internationally, and he has a host of awards, residencies and fellowships to his credit. Jessica Meuninck-Ganger earned her MFA at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and currently teaches at the Peck School of the Arts, also having a host of honors, residencies and exhibitions to her credit.

The opening reception was Friday March 27, from 6:00 - 10:00 pm, and the attendance was great! You can view photos of the opening at the Armoury Gallery’s Flickr Set.

Rote Quest - 10" x 10" lithography, graphite on paper

“Rote Quest” is a work that consists of printed playing cards onto which I invited viewers to contribute their drawings (from memory) of various playing card designs. Ultimately the imagery symbolizes my beliefs regarding the delicacy of memory and life in terms of human relationships; and at the end I provide a place, or space, for viewers to participate and contribute their own ideas.

Amnesiophobia - 5" x 6" - lithograph & collage

Amnesiophobia - Recto View

Amnesiophobia - Verso View