The Artist's Eye breaks new ground through surprising juxtapositions of traditional botanicals, abstract art and history as a lens artists use for inspiration and subject matter.

Pomologicals, Botanicals, Landscapes, Portraits, Artist’s Books, Architectural Designs, Cutouts and more fill the over 1500 square feet of gallery space found in the four rooms of Galaudet Gallery in downtown Eau Claire, Wisconsin. 

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Each of the four rooms is dedicated to different ways artists see our world.  The Tower Room named for its 3 story curved tower shows the Artist as Visionary with Picasso’s three visions of  peace, O’Keefe’s visions of nature and other artists visions.

The Bay Room named for its wonderful bay window looking south over Seaver St. holds the Artist as Explorer part of this exhibit with Fine art prints and originals of Pomologicals[i], Botanicals[ii] and Flowers painted by American Artists from 1820—2017 that are aesthetically pleasing, historically significant, and  visually exciting.

The Studio Room named for its present-day use as an artist studio shows the Artist as Seeker with energetic originals from Vicki Milewski’s Pipestones Collection and her small, gently priced canvases of flowers from her Secrets They Have Shared with Me Collection

The Artist Eye begins Galaudet Gallery’s Year of 21st Century Realities with shows that seek new visions and views of our 21st Century lives.  After their inspiring Year of the Rebel shows in 2016, the gallery now explores the place we find ourselves after rebellion.  Galaudet Gallery co-owner Mike Milewski explains, “We plan our shows several years in advance leaving small spaces for new work.  We look at the year in a thematic way and then also connect those yearly themes to larger narratives that drive our work and place the artworks into a larger conversation about art and art making.  This year we will have two major calls for artists that will also add to our understanding of the 21st Century Realities theme.”

“We are also honoring the passing of John Berger (1926–2017), whose book and series  Ways of Seeing inspired this particular show and his correspondence with us several years ago during the planning stages of this show helped us to realize what we offer here today.”

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Notes

[i] Pomologicals are paintings done bringing to light the area of Pomology which is the science of fruit breeding and production.  Pomology has been an important area of research since the early years of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).   During the mid-1800s, farmers were expanding fruit growing programs in response to rising demand. At the same time, horticulturists from USDA and agricultural colleges were developing new fruit varieties, often incorporating specimens from foreign plant collection expeditions.   In response to this increased interest and activity, USDA established the Division of Pomology in 1886.   An important focus of the division was to publish illustrated accounts of new varieties and to disseminate research findings to fruit growers and breeders.  The Pomologicals document fruit and nut varieties developed by growers or introduced by USDA plant explorers around the turn of the 20th century.

[ii] The Botanicals of this exhibit are from the Flowers of the Royal Garden of Kew which was a well traveled exhibit in the late 1980’s showcasing watercolors and engravings of plants and flowers from Kew which had been published by William Curtis’s Botanical Magazine since its inception in 1746.  Each of these wonderfully characteristic flowers takes on an inner life and light from the hands of some great English Artists. Botanical illustration is the art of depicting the form, color, and details of plant species, frequently in watercolor paintings. They must be scientifically accurate but often also have an artistic component and may be printed with a botanical description in book, magazines, and other media or sold as a work of art.