December Artist: Coming into Focus

William Wolberg is a doctor and professor emeritus with the departments of surgery and human oncology at UW–Madison. But he’s also an accomplished photographer dedicated to showing the beauty of the southern Wisconsin landscape through its details, shapes and ever-changing light.

A series of Wolberg’s nature photographs is on display through December 30 at the UW Arboretum Steinhauer Trust Gallery in a show called Prairie Portraits.

Wolberg offers some reflections on the challenges and triumphs of his work.

On his interest in nature …

My childhood home in Nakoma had endless woods and pasture as a backyard. As I roamed through the Arboretum, I had the good fortune to observe some of the icons of nature ecology at work. This, together with an interest in hunting and fishing, formed a foundation for my appreciation of the out-of-doors.

On his start in photography …

Because of my scientific interest, I became an academic surgeon and led a very structured and demanding life. The scientific world of academic surgery is objective and discoveries are analyzed statistically. When I ventured into the photographic world and using my scientific background, I naively tried to understand what constituted a perfect photograph. To my disappointment, I found that photographic evaluation defied scientific methodology. The perfect photograph does not exist because photography is subjective and each photograph is seen differently by each person. So I lowered my goals and set to learn not what constituted a perfect photo but rather what made one acceptable.  

On the landscape …

I found that my favorite, landscape-nature, photography ranked way down on the contemporary critics’ hierarchal scale. In contrast, the eleventh century Chinese artists ranked landscapes on top of their hierarchal scale. Why the decreased popularity?

I believe that part of the explanation lies with the observer since photography is communication between the photographer and the observer. Regardless of how the photographer feels, the bottom line is that the perfect photograph exists only in the eye of the beholder. The observers’ feelings are determined to a great extent by the observers’ past experience. I’m attracted to landscape-nature photography because of the intellectual renewal that I experienced during my wilderness treks.

On the success of a photograph …

To quote Ansel Adams, “Either the photograph speaks to a viewer or it does not. I cannot demand that anyone receive from the image just what was in my visualization at the time of exposure. I believe that if I am able to express what I saw and felt, the image will contain qualities that may provide a basis for imaginative response by the viewer.”

My sense of photographic accomplishment comes from the elation that I experience when I discover a new scene, feel its presence, snap the shutter and print the photograph. After this, I can only hope that picture will evoke similar feelings in the viewer.

Photographs are by William Wolberg and courtesy of the UW Arboretum Steinhauer Trust Gallery.

IN THE MAGAZINE: The December issue of Madison Magazine comes out tomorrow. Here’s some of the arts content you’ll find within the pages:
• In our special pet section, learn about Marcia Sparks, a local painter who renders dogs and cats in a vibrant Pop style.
• A profile on Leotha Stanley, who leads the Mt. Zion Gospel Choir each year in the Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Christmas Spectacular.
• A poem by Cathy Conger (listen to her poetry podcast).
• Our monthly Overtones section with picks on the can’t-miss performances, concerts, exhibitions and festivals taking place in December.

Girl Power

What is feminist art? Who is a feminist artist? Must the artist knowingly make feminist art? Must the artist be a woman?

These are just a few of the questions raised in the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art’s latest exhibition, Girls 

and Company: Feminist Works from MMoCA’s Permanent Collection.

The show, which opened in May and runs through July 20, explores the legacy of feminism in art through a collection of roughly twenty paintings, photographs and prints from the 1960s through ’90s.

Artists represented in Girls and Company include Diane Arbus, Joan Brown, Ilona Granet, Jenny Holzer, Mary Laird, Jin Lee, Marisol, Lev T. Mills, Nancy Mladenoff, Frances Myers, Christina Ramberg, Miriam Schapiro and Hollis Sigler.

Photography in the exhibition is particularly striking, from Cindy Sherman’s untitled image of a woman—herself posing as an abused wife—with a bruised face and a look of shock to Anne Noggle’s scenes of an elderly woman in her small Santa Fe kitchen and two nude women sitting at desks in a small office smoking cigarettes.

Nicholas Nixon—one of two men in the show—also presents a thought-provoking photograph in St. Petersburg, Florida, in which a group of teen girls directly confront his camera as well as those who encounter the image. It’s a good example of much of the art in this show—in that it raises questions for viewers but doesn’t offer up easy answers.

Noteworthy, too, are prints by the Guerrilla Girls, a collaborative activist group that formed in the 1980s and raised awareness about discrimination in the art world and other realms. In one poster-style screenprint from 1989, the group comments that with the $17.7 million one could spend on a single Jasper Johns painting, he or she could instead purchase at least one work from each of the over sixty-five women artists and artists of color that they list. It’s a powerful statement made in a powerful work.

Jane Simon, curator of exhibitions at MMoCA, recently offered some insight into how the exhibition came together, what feminist art means today and what she hopes viewers take way from the show.

How did Girls and Company come about? Why did you decide to hold this exhibition? 

Exhibitions are sometimes planned years in advance. This one was planned about a year ago. And I think it happened because I was thinking about the changing role of feminism and because I knew we owned these works by the Guerrilla Girls. I’ve wanted to show them since I started working here four years ago. I’ve been intrigued by practices that involve performance and masquerade, two approaches that often revolve around feminism.

What were the challenges for you in putting the show together?

I think I associate with a second or third generation of feminism, and I think that is not always in line with some of the older generations of feminism.

Why does the museum have a large collection of “feminist” art?

How do you define feminist art? I think it all depends on how it is defined. Certainly, when you start looking you can find new ideas.

How has the definition of feminist art changed over the years? What is it today?

I am not even sure feminism occurred to artists like Marisol, but for artists like Joan Brown and Cindy Sherman, it was a constant reminder and a label that came up time and time again. I think they were probably delighted with the label, but their art addressed many issues and concerns.

What piece in the show resonates most with you?

I am very fond of the GG [Guerrilla Girls] pieces as well as the painting by Joan Brown. I’m also very fond of the photographs by Anne Noggle. The museum owns several of her pieces.

What has the reaction to Girls and Company been so far?

Very positive, especially with women viewers.

What is your goal for the exhibition?

To raise awareness and spark discussion.


Images, courtesy of MMoCA, are Untitled Head (#12) by Jin Lee, The Martyrdom by Frances Myers and St. Petersburg, Florida by Nicholas Nixon.


COMING UP: A few events and performances to check out this week.

University Theatre opens its summer production, The Musicals of Musicals: The Musical, on Friday. Also that day, Artisan Gallery in Paoli unveils two shows: ceramics by Rick Hintze and the group show Contemporary Animal Imagery.

The Spring Green Arts Fair, featuring the work of over two hundred artists, runs Saturday and Sunday in downtown Spring Green, while the Madison Early Music Festival offers a Preview Concert Sunday afternoon.

And Tuesday sees the start of Butterfly Encounters, featuring photographs of local butterflies by Ann Thering at the UW–Madison Arboretum Steinhauer Trust Gallery.