When the COVID-19 pandemic hit Milwaukee in March, 2020, forcing much of the city indoors to escape the mysterious virus, Daniel Fleming turned to paint and canvas to make sense of it all.

Two years later, his paintings, his meditations, and his unedited stream of consciousness during a time of widespread confusion is on display at the MARN ART + CULTURE HUB.

The Milwaukee Artist Resource Network, or MARN, is excited to present “Me and the Mountain,” an immersive time-capsule containing Fleming’s journey inward. It is MARN’s second two-month exhibition of the year, and will run from April 16 to June 5 at the MARN ART + CULTURE HUB, located at 191 N. Broadway.

Fleming asks viewers to walk amongst unstretched paintings strung between columns, mimicking the chaos and confined feelings Fleming experienced over the last two years in his small studio. Stretched paintings hang around the installation in the perimeter of the gallery and allude to the calm within the uncontrollable storm. 

Fleming describes his approach to each painting as individual diary entries that together make up an archive for later reflection.

“As one might scribble their thoughts in a private book without notation or concern for a connecting thread…a rapid-fire expression of impulse, anxieties, and ongoing attempts at understanding as each day passes.”

The “Me and the Mountain” exhibition was selected through MARN’s March 2022 Request for Exhibition Proposals, an exhibition funded in part by the gracious donation of Kathy Mykleby.

The opening reception for ”Me and the Mountain“ is Saturday, April 16 at 5:30. Guests will be entertained by alternative R&B singer Felix Ramsey, will have the opportunity to meet Fleming, and will be the first to walk through the physical manifestation of his journey inward.

In addition to the exhibition, visitors to the MARN ART + CULTURE HUB can enjoy offerings from Interval’s new seasonal menu and shop works by local artists in the MARKETPLACE. To see what’s in the MARKETPLACE, visit here.