WAUKESHA – University of Wisconsin-Marathon County art professor and New York art studio founder and director, Thomas Fleming is showing some of his recent work in the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha Fine Arts Center Gallery, 1500 N. University Drive, Waukesha, through October 26. Gallery hours are 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and during special events. You may schedule a viewing by contacting University Relations at (262) 521-5445. Admission is free and open to the public. Based on pieces originally designed for the Internet, the digital word sculptures he is showing incorporate changing dialogue, Fleming says. “In general, I don’t like the way words are used in art because of their specificity which often limits the interpretation brought to the piece by the viewer. . . [B]y changing the words within a similar sentence construction, you can actually expand the associated meanings because the words do develop a sort of specific ambiguity.” He says he wants viewers of his work to “agree, then disagree, then question, all within a very short time span,” so short that the statement is altered in their understanding before they finish reading it. A multi-talented artist, Fleming works in sculpture, printmaking, and other forms of design and has taught at UW-Marathon since 1978. He holds a bachelor of fine arts degree from Pennsylvania State University and a master of fine arts degree from the University of Minnesota. In 1990 he was chosen as one of the top 100 artists in the country by U.S. News & World Report. He is the founder and director of www.ArtNYC.com, New York, and artistic consultant to a Wausau advertising agency. His work is included in the collections of the Corning Museum, Corning, NY; the Internationale Glasmuseum, Ebeltoft, Denmark; the Musée des Arts, Lausanne, Switzerland; Tajimi City Hall, Gifu Prefecture, Japan; University Art Museum, Northrup, Minneapolis, Minnesota; and the Urban Life Plaza, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia.
In this country, he has exhibited at prestigious galleries in Wisconsin, as well as in Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. He also has shown his work around the world, in England, France, Germany, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Spain, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand.
