An upcoming PoetsArtists exhibition held at Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art derives its meaning from German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s ideologies on the concept of value. “Given that no absolute values exist, in Nietzsche’s worldview, the evolution of values on earth must be measured by some other means. This exhibition explores those values within each artist. What motivates, elates, exacerbates and ultimately pushes them to find a way to visually express their inner being,” says artist David Anthony Hummer, who co-curated the exhibition with PoetsArtists’ Didi Menendez.Brianna Lee, Dissonance, oil on panel, 20 x 16"

Facing the Universe: The Cosmos Within draws upon the works of seven artists of varying backgrounds—Brianna Lee, Sergio Gomez, Yunior Hurtado Torres, Kate Van Doren, Kara Lasiewicz, JuliAnne Jonker and Hummer. Each piece, entirely unique in its own right, has some hidden, deeper meaning that encourages us to contemplate and to search for.

For figurative oil painter Lee, who works in the realist tradition, her painting Dissonance shows a woman entranced by the music pouring from her headphones. She is in her own world as a different, equally complex world swirls and churns around her. “Dissonance is a painting about the ‘noise’ of social and digital media in modern life,” Lee reflects. “It depicts a woman with headphones, waiting at a Greyhound bus stop. On the bus stop post there is a clutter of posters, graffiti and stickers representing media and social media outlets, in addition to conflicting social and political imagery. Within the painting itself, there is a dissonance between the introspective woman and the chaos on the ‘post’ behind her...This painting isn’t so much about giving a specific message but rather encouraging us to pause and reflect on how the virtual world can affect our mental and emotional health.”Kate Van Doren, A Life Within Her, charcoal and pan pastel on paper, 15 x 12"

David Anthony Hummer, THREE, oil on canvas, 36 x 48"

Torres’ CIVILIZATION draws a different meaning from the somewhat recent rise of social media within the Anthropocene. The oil depicts a man wearing the well-known “like” symbol in the form of a necklace, with a jubilant crowd reflected in his oversized sunglasses. “Big globalization has created cultural exchanges and knowledge very quickly these days. The interesting thing about this phenomenon is the enrichment that it provides us without leaving aside the customs of each society. For this consequence, a new civilization arises where survival interests change for other needs and adapt within each social stratum. The piece is an expression of this phenomenon highlighting goals, development, communication, energies [and] the reflection of what we expect or need,” he says.Yunior Hurtado Torres, CIVILIZATION, oil on canvas, 71 x 71"

American figurative artist Van Doren, currently based in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, reflects on her piece in the exhibition, a charcoal and pan pastel on paper titled A Life Within Her. “I use different visual mediums every year to capture my girls for their birthdays. This year my youngest, Aria, turns 8 years old. Her internal and external world has always shown her connection to nature and animals, so I captured her in her element. Being a mother is a primal driving force in my life, and a continuing inspiration in my work,” says the artist.

Facing the Universe: The Cosmos Within is on view from February 25 to April 24, in person at the Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art and online at 33 Contemporary’s Artsy page. —

Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art  
309 McClellan Street • Wausau, WI 54403
(715) 298-4470 • www.wmoca.org 

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