Deb Brehmer and the White Cube

Deb Brehmer at Art Chicago

This week Lawrence University was lucky enough to host Deb Brehmer, the Director of the Portrait Society Gallery in Milwaukee. While I wasn't able to attend her lecture about the most recent exhibition gracing the walls of her gallery, I was able to have a deeply satisfying discussion about the successes and failures of the modern art gallery. Brehmer's gallery is currently comprised of a number of smaller rooms. This offers an intimate experience for viewers and also it creates an encounter with art that differs from the norm presented by other galleries. Brehmer has the opportunity to expand into a new and very malleable space and discussed with myself and other Senior Seminar members what she should do to appeal to art audiences while still breaking with the idea of the White Cube as a gallery template. Among the ideas thrown out by myself and other students were ideas of interactivity and food or drink to make the gallery experience a more social affair. I'm looking forward to seeing the space once Deb is able to construct her new space.

© Hillary Rogers

I was also able to do a one-on-one critique with Deb. I showed her a number of prints that I did last term for an independent study course. My photos focused on the formal aspects of the human figure that evoke the great works and personalities of antiquity. I had a difficult time figuring out what the viewer was supposed to get from the experience, but I found Brehmer's remarks extremely helpful. She enjoyed my combination of classical and contemporary, but had some words of wisdom to help me to further develop the concept of my work. As an art history professor and gallery director she was able to advise me to discover why I am as fascinated as I am with the subjects I choose to photograph. As I continue this photo series, I plan to step away from the figure study approach I had been taking and focus on the historical personalities that I am so drawn to and feel the need to document.