History

The Green Gallery is a

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

gallery located in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The gallery was founded by John Riepenhoff in the attic of his apartment in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood in 2003. The name "Green Gallery" was both an homage to Richard Bellamy's

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

gallery in the 1960s and an ironic reference to the attic's sky blue color. The name intended to investigate the disconnect between expectation and experience, immediately generating an environment that invited questioning and dialogue. Such dialogue was motivation for Riepenhoff, who was also looking to fill a gap in the representation of emerging artists. Riepenhoff then moved the gallery to a larger industrial space in Riverwest two years later.

The Green Gallery West

In July 2012, The Green Gallery West was closed after a five-alarm fire broke out in the building. Much of the artwork stored at the space was damaged or destroyed and many artists living or working in other parts of the building lost significant amounts of their artwork as well.

The Green Gallery East

In January 2009, with business partner Jake Palmert, a second gallery space was opened on Milwaukee's East Side, called The Green Gallery East (the original gallery was then called The Green Gallery West). The primary goal of East was to create an easily accessible space to showcase contemporary artists from within the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

and bring nationally and internationally recognized artists into Milwaukee.

Exhibiting Artists

Artists who have shown at one or both of The Green Gallery spaces include * David Robbins *

Michelle Grabner Michelle Grabner (born 1962 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin) is an artist, curator, and critic based in Wisconsin. She is the Crown Family Professor of Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she has taught since 1996. She has curated sever ...

Art Fairs

The Green Gallery has participated in numerous art fairs from both Milwaukee International Art Fairs and Dark Fairs (the first at the

Swiss Institute Swiss Institute / Contemporary Art New York (SI) is an independent non-profit contemporary art organization founded in 1986. SI is located at 38 St Marks Pl, the corner of Second Avenue and St Marks Place in the East Village neighborhood of Manhatt ...

, New York and the second at Kolnischer Kunstverein in Cologne, Germany) as well as the

New Art Dealers Alliance The New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) is a 501(c)(6) not-for-profit collective of professionals working with contemporary art. NADA members include galleries, gallery directors, non-profit art spaces, art advisors, curators, writers, museum and ot ...

Art Fair Miami Beach. Additionally, the Green Gallery has represented at Sunday Art Fair, London, Material in Mexico City and Paramount Ranch, LA.

External Projects

John Riepenhoff was one of the co-founders of the Milwaukee International and Dark Fairs. The Green Gallery has done collaborative projects with Angstrom Gallery with David Quadrini in

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and 47 Canal Street Gallery in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The gallery sporadically hosts film and video screenings and features bands, readings, and

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

. ''

What What (In the Butt) "What What (In the Butt)" is a viral video created by Andrew Swant and Bobby Ciraldo for the song of the same name by Samwell.

'', a video which went on to become an online viral success, premiered at The Green Gallery. Club Nutz, billed as the "World's Smallest Comedy Club", was originally housed within The Green Gallery West.

The Green Gallery Press

The gallery also houses the publishing company the Green Gallery Press, which publishes books and pamphlets by and about artists, often related to shows in the space. The Press is run by editor Joe Riepenhoff, and has published books on behalf of

, Nicholas Frank, Stephen Wetzel,

Paul Druecke Paul Druecke (born 1964, Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American artist who works at the intersections of poetry, sculpture, video, and photography. His work was included in the 2014 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art and anthologi ...

, Scott Reeder, Ken Kagami, Renato Umali,

Patty Yumi Cottrell Patrick Cottrell (born Patty Yumi Cottrell, 1981) is an American writer. He is the author of ''Sorry to Disrupt the Peace'' and the winner of a 2018 Whiting Award. He teaches at the University of Denver. Biography Cottrell was born in South Kor ...

, Dorota Biezel Nelson, Sara Fowler, Sarah Luther, and

Mark Borchardt Mark Borchardt (born August 20, 1966) is an American independent filmmaker. He is best known as the subject of the 1999 film ''American Movie'', which documented three years he spent writing, shooting and editing his horror short, '' Coven'' (199 ...

. The Green Gallery Press is responsible for a broad range of media, ranging from prose, essays, drawings, non-fiction and a variety of other supplementary works. Materials are available for purchase through the Gallery.

References

External links

Green Gallery official website
* http://www.thegreengallery.biz/gallery-info

{{coord, 43, 02, 59.2, N, 87, 53, 42.1, W, type:landmark_region:US-WI, display=title Art museums and galleries in Wisconsin Contemporary art galleries in the United States Culture of Milwaukee Tourist attractions in Milwaukee Art galleries established in 2003 2003 establishments in Wisconsin