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Sculpture Milwaukee has announced the full roster of artists whose work was selected for the 2023 installment of this annual Downtown outdoor art gallery.
This year's exhibition – called "Actual Fractals, Act I" – is Sculpture Milwaukee's seventh. It is curated by local artist and gallery owner John Riepenhoff and takes place June 30-Oct. 31.
The exhibiting artists are Katy Cowan, Lars Fisk, Pao Houa Her, Nicole Miller, Mary Miss, Isamu Noguchi and Erika Verzutti.
Their work will be on view alongside the 2022-23 works, dubbed "Nature Doesn't Know About Us," which was curated by Ugo Rondinone.
"Having a world-class artist from our own community curate our globally unique – and globally recognized – exhibition highlights Milwaukee as an artistic center of excellence," says Sculpture Milwaukee Executive Director Brian Schupper.
"The exhibition John has curated invites residents, workers and visitors to use the lens of extraordinary public sculpture to reconsider our downtown urban environment and the many communities that call it home."
Riepenhoff, a Milwaukee native, co-owns The Green Gallery and runs The Open Fund and the Beer Endowment. He has also co-organized Milwaukee International and Dark Fairs. He also curates the ongoing John Riepenhoff Experience at a variety of locations, including Misako and Rosen, Tokyo;, Night Gallery, Los Angeles; and Good Weather, Arkansas.
“I'm thrilled to join the succession of artist-curators at Sculpture Milwaukee,” said Riepenhoff.
“After watching the organization innovate exhibition-making and engage the local and international scenes over the past six years, I am honored to help continue to grow its legacy with a new cohort of contemporary artists and community.”
For more information, visit sculpturemilwaukee.com.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He can be heard weekly on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories.
