Publications

Currents 38: Christy Matson

Monica Obniski, Curator of Decorative Arts and Design, High Museum of Art; former Demmer Curator of 20th- and 21stCentury Design, Milwaukee Art Museum

With contribution by Su Wu and a conversation with the artist

Foreword by: Marcelle Polednik

Edited by: Tanya Heinrich

Designed by: Ryan Polich

Produced by: Lucia|Marquand

Published by: Milwaukee Art Museum

Distributed by: Artbook/D.A.P.

Hardcover, 80 pages, 2021

The Milwaukee Art Museum’s Currents exhibition series highlights new trends in contemporary art. This volume brings together nearly 50 of Christy Matson’s works from the previous five years, which were featured in the exhibition, and is the first publication to explore the artist’s wide-ranging textile art. Working within a renewed interest in craft practices, the Los Angeles–based Matson (born 1979) creates woven pictures that explore memory and imagination through the layered history of textile production while advocating for issues surrounding sustainability. Her abstract compositions resemble paintings, and yet they are deeply rooted in textile history. Using a digital jacquard loom, Matson both honors the centuries-old craft and embraces new technologies.

Always New: The Posters of Jules Chéret

Nikki Otten, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings, Milwaukee Art Museum

With contributions by Ruth E. Iskin and Virginie Vignon

Foreword by: Marcelle Polednik

Edited by: Melissa Duffes

Designed by: Thomas Eykemans

Produced by: Lucia|Marquand

Published by: Milwaukee Art Museum

Distributed by: ACC Art Books

Hardcover and softcover, 240 pages, 2022

Always New: The Posters of Jules Chéret is the first museum publication in English dedicated to the French artist Jules Chéret (1836–1932) and celebrates the impact he had on French art and culture. The exhibition catalogue details how Chéret embraced the public’s interest in novelty and rapid change during the 19th century and transformed the illustrated poster into a form of ephemeral art. Drawing from the James and Susee Wiechmann Collection, the largest collection of Chéret posters in the United States, Always New features more than 100 works illustrated in full color that span the artist’s career.