Gallery Marzen teams up with Next Door Brewing Co. to re-release the märzen bier, dubbed the Nextdoorberfest, for its fall debut! Best known as an Oktoberfest beer, this style of beer was traditionally brewed in the spring and put into underground cold storage until Oktoberfest, where it was officially released. Last spring Gallery Marzen held a fundraiser to the benefit of VSA Wisconsin for the early release of the beer. At the end of September, we are doing it again! For every Nextdoorberfest beer sold on September 29th, NDBC will donate $1 to the art program at Lowell Elementary School! Please help us support the arts at Lowell!

The end of September also marks Marzen’s 2nd year in operation! Margaret LeMay opened the gallery fall of 2014 in the wake of some of Madison’s most popular art spaces closing. Marzen has grown into a well-known venue that provides high-quality fine art in a sincere, clean gallery space that provides the feel of a high-profile gallery found in Chicago or New York. Marzen represents some of the best and brightest regional artists, most of those local to Dane County. Instead of throwing a party for the gallery, we would encourage anyone interested in celebrating with us to join us on September 29th at Next Door Brewing Co. to raise money for the neighboring school, Lowell Elementary School.

Figuratively speaking is a solo exhibition featuring the portraiture of Jerry Jordan. Jordan’s work is heavily influenced by classical representative portraiture while simultaneously capturing the essence of contemporary scenes in expressive oil strokes. His figures are portrayed in an almost saintly fashion while they’re passionately working in their trade, caught in a candid moment of reflection or carried away in a daydream. His work is intimately based on life in the day of real people who live and work around him. Jordan, a skilled and productive artist, has mastered capturing those expressive and sometimes telling dispositions among his range of unique subjects.

Jerry Jordan is a Recruiter at UW-Madison and a graduate of UW-Whitewater with a BA in Fine Art and his MS in Curriculum and Instruction with an emphasis in Art Education. His work has been featured on occasion on the cover of Madison publication, UMOJA, and has been shown at Overture Center for the Arts, School of Education Gallery at UW-Madison, and Commonwealth Gallery among others.

Bos Meadery opens its lovely bright space once again to welcome one of Madison’s local artists, Sandra Klingbeil. Visit her website atwww.sandraklingbeil.com

During her reception on August 19th, Klingbeil’s artwork will accompany the seasonal varieties of mead available and made at Bos Meadery. We recommend purchasing a flight to try a variety of taste profiles! From 7-9PM there are three local and out of state bands scheduled to play. Join us for this entertaining night at Bos Meadery, 849 East Washington, Madison, WI. Parking available behind building off Main St. Visit www.bosmeadery.com

Rhea Ewing and Michael Velliquette bring together colorful, socially relevant and introspective works at Marzen in this one of a kind exhibition.

Rhea Ewings’s deeply contemplative graphic collages enhanced with traditional media explore our understanding of human ancestry which is heavily influenced by our perceptions of what it means to be human, and our desire for a narrative about our own spiritual history.

Michael Velliquette’s abundant, colorful cut paper works begs viewers to explore the nature of matter, sensation, perception, reaction, and consciousness. His labor-intensive method of making tends to imbue a sort of spiritual language that is uniquely specific to Velliquette’s collages, sculptures and installations.

Marzen has been invited to curate a summer exhibition at Bos Meadery’s spacious tasting room. For the month of July you can catch Barbara Walton’s unique encaustic work at the Meadery.

Barbara Walton’s mastery of the encaustic medium and her interest in sustainability has launched a unique collaborative project between herself and the science department at the University of Iowa. Since 2005 they have been working to develop an alternative to the commonly used beeswax or petrol based microcrystalline wax using experimental soy based waxes. She initiated this collaboration with the intention of creating a wax that embodies the desirable characteristics of the more commonly used encaustic waxes but is also much more sustainably produced in comparison. This directly relates with the artist’s choice in subjects and reflects her beliefs on humankind’s connection with the world around them. Her works generally portray, in a rather poetic fashion, her belief that nature is a strong and active force in our lives. We are not separate from nature but rather one with it. Walton’s work is deeply meditative while simultaneously capturing a great deal movement in her horses, birds, bees, plants and elegant layered mandalas.

This exhibition may be a little peculiar, delightfully unexpected, and executed with pristine simplicity. Both Jason Ruhl and Molly Carter have unique reductive processes in the way they work. Whether in a computer, with a blade or a pencil to paper, they distill their subjects and reincorporate them into contemplative, spacious compositions.

Molly Carter’s longtime fascination with the world of fashion and the statement it makes on the rituals of femininity has driven her to dissect images she finds where she then paints, draws, collages and stitches them back to life. Her reconstituted and occasionally simplified subjects address and explore the roles of the female gender and sexuality.

Jason Ruhl’s heavily refined compositions are inspired by songs he’s invited friends and acquaintances to send him. Through printing and collaging he simplifies the representation of his subject matter until only the essence is divulged yet still creates an almost intimate connection with the viewer. Ruhl will then put together a box set containing 13 of his prints with a disc containing the songs they were inspired by and send them to the participants.

Gustavo Fares and Madison local, Katherine Steichen Rosing bring their work together in a unique exhibition that’s as tranquil as it is stunning. Both artists express a conceptual interpretation of the timeless nature and beauty of Earth’s natural places.

Fares’ subjects and style bridges genres from vibrant arboreal abstracts to densely textured, abstract-representational landscapes. His broad range of work explores the limits of painting and its relationship to language and symmetries.

Rosing is intrigued by the rhythms found in tree bark and the serene movement in a quiet forest pool. Her works brilliantly express her intrigue by way of a deeply textured composition and layers of color that dance on the edge of abstraction, articulating the essence of her subjects.

Marzen welcomes the new year with two award winning painters who capture fleeting moments in various rich settings with their flowing range of colors and bold, impressionistic brushstrokes. From still life to plein air Dohm and Duemler successfully invoke feelings of familiarity in their stylized scenery. Largely inspired by the Midwestern landscape, this collection of paintings appeals to those who’ve found home and beauty in the changing seasons of the Midwest.

This exhibition is inspired by altar making traditions in Mexico for the Day of the Dead but community and personal altars of remembrance are created all over the world. Building upon last year’s celebration at Edgewood College Gallery, Marzen and Edgewood invite Madison community members to honor a community or person by creating and displaying personal altars of remembrance and celebration. Participants are invited to share the stories and memories of those they are honoring at the gallery celebrations.

In tandem with the Remembrance and Celebration exhibition, Marzen will have artwork on display by regional artists in Memoria Viventis (Living Memory). This exhibition is held in recognition of world-wide ritual celebration of the lives of our ancestors. This colorful selection of work celebrates past and present life through exploration of spiritual, personal and historical contexts.

Participating artists: Mary Bero, Gustavo Fares, Rachel Hughes, Dennis Nechvatal, Esther Rice, Michael Velliquette

Leslie Iwai and Anna Lambrini Moisiadis collaborate to create a truly unique exhibition at Marzen. Their use of unconventional materials creates an environment in which their installations come alive and interact within the space, elevating them from simply being displayed to a provocative, engaging experience. Their works are layered with their personal history, meditations on physical reality and symbolic concepts which time and time again are perceived in both their illustrative work as well as their large-scale installations. These themes are emphasized in the creative processes by which their works are sometimes painstakingly constructed, which have as much gravity to the artists as the finished product.