VAR GALLERY
ON 2ND STREET

 

 
no time at all.
Stephanie Sara Lifshutz
 

RECEPTION JULY 15 2022 | 5PM-9PM
 

At Var Gallery on 2nd
 

JULY 15 - SEPT 24
 

Lifshutz’s work centers on communication and her real life encounters and conversations. Her work is a meditation on expressions she said or thought based on lived experiences that have been transcribed and revisited.  These excerpts from her writing have evolved as lockdown began in March 2020 for the Covid-19 pandemic and therefore interactions with friends, neighbors, and strangers took on a different reality.  No time at all. showcases these seemingly fragmented thoughts, allowing the viewer to decipher their meaning out of context, and eventually learn more about their origins.

Artist Bio: 

Stephanie Sara Lifshutz is an artist and educator residing in Brooklyn, NY. She first began working with glass and neon while attending the University of Wisconsin, Madison as a graduate student. While much of her work comes from a personal place as a female, Jewish artist, Lifshutz’s latest body of work has been about universal experiences and emotions. Lifshutz initially studied photography and printmaking at Franklin & Marshall College and became infatuated with portraiture. 

She began learning neon in earnest in order to make some new work in the medium herself, struggling to learn while appreciating the time and process as a reference to the tedium and meditative nature of the darkroom. Lifshutz’s studio practice first focuses on concept and subject matter before deciding which medium to realize the piece, and neon felt like a natural progression to edit down a concept to its simplest form - directly communicating it to the viewer.

Lifshutz’s work has been exhibited nationally, including the Phillips Museum of Art at Franklin & Marshall, Museum of Neon Art, and Aqua Art Miami. She has had work in the traveling show She Bends curated by Meryl Pataky, the first and only collective of womxn bending their own neon. Her work resides in various collections and keeps an active studio practice in addition to her teaching, and currently runs her own neon fabrication shop Pumpkin Studios.

VAR GALLERY
ON 5TH STREET

 

JUNE 18 - AUG 28
 

TEN YEARS LATER
AN ART SCHOOL REUNION EXHIBITION

 

RECEPTION JUNE 18 6 - 9 PM
 

Var Gallery is pleased to announce TEN YEARS LATER, a group exhibition of new works from 2012 Milwaukee art school graduates at Var’s 5th Street location. Exhibiting artists include Tegan Andrich, Katie Batten, Grace Bernier, William Carpenter, Kyle Diener, Allie Eichenhofer, Bradley Fiore, Josh Hintz, Samantha Joseph, Abby Malesyticki, Math Monahan, Emily Porter, Jennifer Romero, Rachel Sanders, Allyson Smith, Claire Smith, Ian Sonsyadek, and Allison Taylor. The exhibition opens Saturday, June 18th, 2022.

TEN YEARS LATER offers a check-in between artists and a moment to reflect on the passing of time, growth in art practices, and reconnecting with Milwaukee. Katie Batten shares, “This show has created such a lovely opportunity to reconnect and reconverge. Many of us, myself included, have wandered away from Milwaukee. It's been incredible to make new experiences and learn from new places, but I value so much all that I learned at MIAD, and even more so the friendships and community I've built through that funny little building in the Third Ward. It always feels like coming home.”

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While reunions often come with mixed emotions, these artists have returned to reminisce over good times past and the specialness of the art school experience. Brad Fiore shares, “I didn't go to my ten-year high school reunion, probably because I hated high school. But after getting the invite for this show I can't help but be a little excited. …You'd think I'd feel trepidatious, but not really. There's something about art school that was always comfortable to me. You could fall asleep on one of the dusty sofas in the painting studios for forty minutes, wake up, and not worry about whether you're being a weirdo. Though now that I think about it, maybe I was the only one sleeping on those sofas.”

The 20 featured artists represent a wide variety of mediums, styles and influences that speak to the larger arts ecosystem. Var Gallery Owner and Director Josh Hintz remarks, “I’m personally excited for this exhibition for quite a few reasons. Firstly, how great it is to bring so many old friends back together for a reunion exhibition. Secondly, it’s a testament to future fine artists looking for a tangible path in the art field.”

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