'12th Wave Utopia' and 'Wasted Days and Wasted Nights' at Portrait Society Gallery

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Shane Walsh, 54 x 54 inches.

Two new exhibitions open in the Third Ward’s Portrait Society Gallery on Friday, March 20. In 12th Wave Utopia, Shane Walsh has turned out a suite of works whose vocabulary is comprised of varying tones and textures of black, white and gray. The works are abstract and minimalist but the limited resources prove to be no hindrance and instead evoke the serene beauty of a haiku or the spontaneity of a great jazz improvisation. Walsh earned his MFA at the University of Washington, Seattle, in 2006, and is currently a lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Rafael Francisco Salas is pulling double duty with a solo show at both the Portrait Society Gallery and Walker’s Point Center for the Arts. With its manic energy, Wasted Days and Wasted Nights is the perfect counterpiece to Shane Walsh’s canvasses. Salas sees his work as influenced by his youth spent in small towns in Wisconsin as a person of mixed Mexican and Caucasian descent. The Portrait Society will feature an installation that romanticizes a Mexican roadhouse while Walker’s Point Center for the Arts will present a series of large-scale drawings and sculpture.

Following the 9 p.m. opening receptions, participants will convene at Celito Lindo (733 S. 2nd St.) which stands halfway between the Portrait Society and the WPCA. A “meat raffle” will be held with cuts of grass fed lamb donated by Salas Farm, the artist’s family farm in Burnett, WI. The “meat raffle” combines the tradition of the meat raffle commonly held at bars in rural Wisconsin with Latino heritage and food.