Art rooted in cycles of the natural world and Wisconsin’s seasons at UWSP’s Carlsten Art Gallery

A new exhibition at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point's Carlsten Art Gallery features new and recent paintings as well as a video work by Milwaukee artist Peter Barrickman.

The exhibition "What Gave Us a Feeling About Time" opens on Thursday, Dec. 11, with a reception from 5-7 p.m. and runs through Jan 23. The gallery, located on the second floor of the Noel Fine Arts Center, is free and open to the public. Regular gallery hours are Tuesdays through Fridays from noon to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Please check the Carlsten Art Gallery's website for holiday and winterim hours.

As a multidisciplinary artist, Barrickman makes work in tandem with an archiving practice. Found images, observational drawing, recorded experiences, collected objects and materials guide the formation of the artist's subjects. Using a deliberate working method while painting, Barrickman embraces and elaborates on concessions, revisions and accidents to synthesize an observed reality with an imagined one. Expressionism and postimpressionism are found as stylistic influences toward paintings that reference episodes of a suggested contemporary moment. The artist's working methods have been heavily influenced by collaborative and social art making projects including music, film/video and collaborative printmaking, painting and drawing.

"Paintings can deliver a slow, quiet kind of news," said Barrickman. "I like that they are a handmade communication which seem to trust the audience to bring their own complex interior. My new work is rooted in the cycles and phenomena of the natural world. I think the distinct seasons of the Wisconsin climate are a continuous meditation on transformation itself and the residents of our region are the embodiment of that."

In creating a dynamic, responsive connection between the artist's studio and the Carlsten Art Gallery, Barrickman will produce a new video work to be added to the space each week of the exhibition.

The Green Gallery in Milwaukee and their team helped make the exhibition possible.

Barrickman is an associate professor in Fine Art + New Studio Practice at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. He is represented by The Green Gallery and Nathalie Karg Gallery.

His work has been shown at numerous galleries and museums internationally including The Whitney Museum of American Art, Hyde Park Art Center in Chicago, La Panaderia in Mexico City, Karma International in Zurich, The Tate Modern in London, and Cité des Arts International in Paris. He is also the co-founder of Mazzzagine, an artist-based initiative to produce editioned works in support of artists and the formation of new collaborations.

The Carlsten Art Gallery features a diverse range of exhibitions, from burgeoning student talent to internationally recognized artists, with themes that explore topics relevant to our campus and Central Wisconsin communities. Carlsten Gallery is a space for engaging displays and community-driven events. As part of UWSP's College of Fine Arts and Communication, the gallery fosters an environment of creative exploration and academic excellence, guided by a dedicated team of faculty, staff and scholars.