Landscape painting in blacks and blues depicting a large body of shimmering light blue water surrounded by dark trees and flora. A man's head with different sized eyeballs is peering out of the water near the bottom center and is staring at the viewer.
Edouard Duval-Carrié
Lost at Sea, 2014
Acrylic, glitter, and resin on aluminum panels
94 x 144 inches
Art Bridges

Blurry Boundaries: Contemporary Artists, Imagination, and the Spaces Between

March 9 – August 27, 2022
at Racine Art Museum

On a certain level, being imaginative means producing things in the mind that exist independent of reality, including scenarios that are invented or fantastic. While there may still be connections to day-to-day reality, the scenes, sensations, or ideas within the imagination are fictions. However, philosophically, it could be argued that what happens in the mind is just a different kind of reality. This vagueness about defining what truly is—or is not—real leaves potential for artists to investigate, create, and actualize their own narratives.

Blurry Boundaries addresses these ambiguities, or spaces between, by sharing a wide range of works—including sculpture, painting, prints, and art jewelry. There are invented characters, versions of legendary tales, musings about death, and scenes that simultaneously seem real and unreal. With narratives operating in a space between fiction, fantasy, and reality, the contemporary artists whose works are included represent a variety of backgrounds and perspectives.

Primarily drawn from RAM’s collection, the exhibition spotlights loans from Wisconsin-based Yeonhee Cheong and Illinois-based Paul Andrew Wandless. Cheong’s textiles address the almost incomprehensibility of tragedy while Wandless’ ceramic vessels and prints are filled with invented characters and scenarios. Additionally, the loan of Lost at Sea by Edouard Duval-Carrié represents a newly formed partnership between RAM and Art Bridges, a foundation dedicated to expanding access to American art across the nation. Duval-Carrié’s large-scale two-dimensional work addresses the propaganda of paradise, responding to the way historical imagery sometimes diminished cultural identity.

More About the Exhibition

Gallery Guide (PDF)

Press Room

Artists in the Exhibition

ADÁL, Hattie Amit’naaq, Carol Blanchard, Yvonne Pacanovsky Bobrowicz, Ken Bova, Frank Boyden, Paul Caster, KéKé Cribbs, Patrick Dragon, Jack Earl, Franz Gertsch, Arthur Gonzalez, Shoichi Ida, Sergei Isupov, Judy Jensen, Nicario Jimenez, Matt Kelleher, Robin Kranitzky, Mary Kudjuakjuk, Mariko Kusumoto, Keith Lo Bue, Michael Lucero, Paul Marioni, Pavel Molnár, Odd Nerdrum, Kim Overstreet, Ana Maria Pacheco, Lindsay Pichaske, Douglas Prince, Tom Rauschke, Paula Rego, Ronald L. Ruble, Kakulu Saggiaktok, Juta Savage, Lisabeth Sterling, Roy Superior, Shoko Teruyama, Kyoko Tokumaru, Jerry N. Uelsmann, Tom Uttech, Melanie Walker, Kaaren Wiken, and John Wilde

Blurry Boundaries: Contemporary Artists, Imagination, and the Spaces Between

March 9 – August 27, 2022
at Racine Art Museum
Landscape painting in blacks and blues depicting a large body of shimmering light blue water surrounded by dark trees and flora. A man's head with different sized eyeballs is peering out of the water near the bottom center and is staring at the viewer.
Edouard Duval-Carrié
Lost at Sea, 2014
Acrylic, glitter, and resin on aluminum panels
94 x 144 inches
Art Bridges

On a certain level, being imaginative means producing things in the mind that exist independent of reality, including scenarios that are invented or fantastic. While there may still be connections to day-to-day reality, the scenes, sensations, or ideas within the imagination are fictions. However, philosophically, it could be argued that what happens in the mind is just a different kind of reality. This vagueness about defining what truly is—or is not—real leaves potential for artists to investigate, create, and actualize their own narratives.

Blurry Boundaries addresses these ambiguities, or spaces between, by sharing a wide range of works—including sculpture, painting, prints, and art jewelry. There are invented characters, versions of legendary tales, musings about death, and scenes that simultaneously seem real and unreal. With narratives operating in a space between fiction, fantasy, and reality, the contemporary artists whose works are included represent a variety of backgrounds and perspectives.

Primarily drawn from RAM’s collection, the exhibition spotlights loans from Wisconsin-based Yeonhee Cheong and Illinois-based Paul Andrew Wandless. Cheong’s textiles address the almost incomprehensibility of tragedy while Wandless’ ceramic vessels and prints are filled with invented characters and scenarios. Additionally, the loan of Lost at Sea by Edouard Duval-Carrié represents a newly formed partnership between RAM and Art Bridges, a foundation dedicated to expanding access to American art across the nation. Duval-Carrié’s large-scale two-dimensional work addresses the propaganda of paradise, responding to the way historical imagery sometimes diminished cultural identity.

More About the Exhibition

Gallery Guide (PDF)

Press Room

Artists in the Exhibition

ADÁL, Hattie Amit’naaq, Carol Blanchard, Yvonne Pacanovsky Bobrowicz, Ken Bova, Frank Boyden, Paul Caster, KéKé Cribbs, Patrick Dragon, Jack Earl, Franz Gertsch, Arthur Gonzalez, Shoichi Ida, Sergei Isupov, Judy Jensen, Nicario Jimenez, Matt Kelleher, Robin Kranitzky, Mary Kudjuakjuk, Mariko Kusumoto, Keith Lo Bue, Michael Lucero, Paul Marioni, Pavel Molnár, Odd Nerdrum, Kim Overstreet, Ana Maria Pacheco, Lindsay Pichaske, Douglas Prince, Tom Rauschke, Paula Rego, Ronald L. Ruble, Kakulu Saggiaktok, Juta Savage, Lisabeth Sterling, Roy Superior, Shoko Teruyama, Kyoko Tokumaru, Jerry N. Uelsmann, Tom Uttech, Melanie Walker, Kaaren Wiken, and John Wilde

Sample of Work in the Exhibition

Click/tap an image for more information

Exhibitions at RAM are made possible by:

Platinum Sponsors

The Estate of Karen Johnson Boyd
David Charak
Judith and David Flegel Fund
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Ron and Judith Isaacs
Nicholas and Nancy Kurten
Rcf Logo 2021
Windgate Foundation

Diamond Sponsors

City of Racine’s Grow Racine Grant
Osborne and Scekic Family Foundation
Ruffo Family Foundation
Ruth Arts Foundation

Gold Sponsors

Anonymous
Tom and Irene Creecy
Richard and Patricia Ehlert
Herzfeld Foundation
Reliance Controls
Ruth Foundation for the Arts
Trio Foundation of St. Louis
W.T. Walker Group, Inc.
Wisconsin Arts Board

Silver Sponsors

Anonymous
Art Bridges
Baird
A.C. Buhler Family
Lucy G. Feller
Ben and Dawn Flegel
Jim Harris
Sharon and Tom Harty
Lise Iwon
J. Jeffers & Co.
Johnson Financial Group
Dorothy MacVicar
Jan Serr and John Shannon

Bronze Sponsors

Ellen and Joseph Albrecht
Andis Foundation
Susan Boland
Virginia Buhler
Butcher & Barrel/Amos Los Tacos
Educators Credit Union
Express Employment Professionals
Tony and Andrea Hauser
Bill and Debbie Keland
Susan Manalli
Jean and Alex Mandli, Jr.
The Prairie School
Cathy Stanghellin
Georgiana Treivush
Twin Disc, Inc.

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