Ran from Oct 4, 2005 to Oct 29, 2005
Layton Gallery

New From the Seventh Floor, an exhibition of paintings, drawings, mixed media and installation by 10 of Milwaukee's most promising young artists, opens October 4 at MIAD with a reception for the artists Friday Oct. 7 from 6-8 p.m.

The exhibit is in the Frederick Layton Gallery, located in the college's Jane Bradley Pettit Building, 273 E. Erie St. It continues through Oct. 29 and is open Tuesday through Saturday 10 a.m. -- 5 p.m. Admission is free.

The Seventh Floor Studio artists draw their name from the location of their spaces on the seventh floor of a former South side factory building. They work in a variety of media and subject matter, but all share an intense commitment to studio work and have produced a sense of community within the group based on that principle.

The exhibition includes more than four dozen recent works by group members.

Mary DiBiasio: Drawings, prints and mixed media work that speaks to the balance between conflict and harmony within human communication. DiBiasio is a Chicago native and currently a senior printmaking major at MIAD. She has exhibited in Milwaukee and Chicago and within the past year has been involved in several multimedia collaborations.

Stephen Hambsch: Oil painting in which images from everyday life take on a sense of mystery through color and mark. Hambsch is from Kansas and is a senior painting major at MIAD. He has exhibited in Milwaukee and has done collaborative work with studio mates Mary DiBiasio and T. Oliver Sweet.

Susan Kriofsky: Painting and mixed media using materials such as Plexiglas to manipulate the perception of space. Originally from California, Kriofsky holds a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art and has split her time over the last 10 years between Milwaukee and the west coast.

John Lech: Large-scale oil painting. Lech is an Illinois native and a MIAD graduate in Painting from 2002. He spends the majority of his time working in the studio on his complex cityscapes that act as windows to deep, structured space.

Keith Nelson: Minimalist encaustic and mixed-media painting using grid and linear patterns and temperature and value shifts in color as primary formal issues, setting up a subtle tension between its elements. Nelson is a Raymond, WI native and a 2000 MIAD graduate in Painting. He is one of the founding fathers of the Seventh Floor Studios and has exhibited regionally, including recent shows at the Michael Lord Gallery.

Dorota Biczel Nelson: Serial abstract painting diptychs that address the relationship between perception and knowledge. Nelson was born and raised in Poland and received her MA in printmaking from Warsaw Fine Arts Academy. She has exhibited both in Poland and the Midwest, including a solo exhibition in Madison at the Overture Center in August 2005.

Michael Roberts: Mixed media, sculpture and photography using natural elements like rust as both an image and a symbol. Roberts is from Michigan and is a 2003 MIAD graduate in Drawing. He has exhibited throughout the Midwest.

Paul Stoelting: Drawing produced by varying line qualities from chaotic to machine-like in order to produce compositional structures. Stoelting is from Kiel, WI and is a 2003 MIAD graduate. He has exhibited throughout the Midwest and is co-director of Tile Company, which produces and promotes local visual and performing arts events. He will also be showing work completed in collaboration with former Seventh Floor member and 2003 MIAD graduate Renee Staeck.

T. Oliver Sweet: Drawing and relief prints, often pulling images and symbolism from mythology to produce simple narratives. Sweet grew up in the Milwaukee area and is currently a MIAD senior printmaking major. He works collaboratively with Mary DiBiasio and Stephen Hambsch, his studio mates, and has shown consistently throughout the city over the last four years.

Lindsey Wolkowicz: Painting, drawing and mixed media assemblage that creates a sense of an absence and presence of the figure simultaneously through the displacement, transparency or constructed nature of the image. Wolkowicz is originally from the Detroit area and graduated from MIAD in 2003 in Painting. She has exhibited throughout the Midwest and is also a creative/ freelance arts writer.

Call 414-276-7889 for more information on the exhibition.