Posted inColumns

Where Design Lives

Generally, designers are an anonymous lot. They almost never receive acknowledgment from their clients, and they almost never sign the works they create, yet they are responsible for much of our visual and material culture. Brett Vladika and Michael Nickel. Two designers. Two Riverwest residents. Remarkable contributors to the rich fabric in our neighborhood.

Posted inColumns

Affordable Art at Hotcakes Gallery

hotcakes-owners-.jpg

by Mark Lawson

A new gallery opened in Riverwest on the evening of Friday February 6 to a packed and appreciative opening night crowd. Hotcakes Gallery, at 3379 N. Pierce St., is operated by Mike Brenner and Susan Kriofsky. In a conversation with Mike before the opening, he told me that a major aspect of their business philosophy is to bring quality art to the neighborhood at affordable prices.

Posted inColumns

Arts & Politics

dossierproject.jpg

by Mark Lawson

There has long been a debate whether art and politics should mix. Can art still be relevant when it has a political message? Conversely the question is asked, is any art relevant than doesn’t have any political overtones? Is it even possible to make any sort of art without political over tones? These are all questions that are at the core of the many issues surrounding this subject.

Posted inColumns

In Memorium: Marvin Hill, 1952-2003

MarvinHill1991.jpg

by Mark Lawson

Perhaps no other artist has been so closely identified with the Riverwest community as printmaker Marvin Hill. Marvin passed away on December 2 after a five-year battle with lymphoma. His graphics for Artwalk posters, T-shirts, and pins throughout the 1990s gave the event a highly recognizable style with a humorous, down-home character. A prodigious artist who often sketched even while eating in a restaurant or working at one of the countless art fairs he participated in with his wife Wendy, he produced hundreds of different prints in his lifetime.