Brit Kohmer, CLUSH January 16 - February 14, 2026
Over the past five years, Milwaukee artist Brit Krohmer has overseen the installation of three dozen exhibitions at The Green Gallery as our head preparator, and this month we are thrilled to present her first solo exhibition, CLUSH, at our Farwell Avenue space.
Krohmer’s upbringing in 1990s Rockford, Illinois instilled a foundation of labor, resourcefulness, and fantasy—qualities made visible through her exploration of materials in the objects she shares with us today. Over the years, we have come to know Krohmer as something of a material master, readily relaying her knowledge of ceramics, wood, fiberglass, and more to any artist in her orbit. Yet when encountered, her work is more than what we first see. Krohmer’s sculptures are intensely human, capturing strength and weakness, care and support. “I’m negotiating balance, failure, repair, and the kind of stubbornness you can’t teach,” she says. Pleasure comes through exploration, and close inspection is rewarded. In some ways, the objects resemble scaled relics from a memory of Midwestern industry, but the compositions ultimately capture the artist in her studio—in the moment, present with her material knowledge and her medium. The clay forms, their touch and texture, become painterly. In this way, we understand Krohmer’s production as being in dialogue with the materials themselves, resulting in objects that are as familiar as they are otherworldly.
Although these pieces are chemically chromed, their foundation is ceramic. This is a recurring duality in Krohmer’s practice: form conveys cultural strength or stamina, while the material speaks of fragility, sensitivity, and humanity. She reveals her hand, allowing a nuanced, self‑aware clunkiness that resists the sculptures’ presumed precision. In doing so, she toys with a traditional reading of artifice. In the artist's words:
I use ceramics to evoke metal, to mimic the geometry of structure and utility, yet never to fulfill any practical function. I trust that if I stack enough wrong things together, some will hold each other up, construction through a series of calculated missteps, a purposeful negotiation between intuition and chance.
Playfulness runs throughout the work. Some pieces summon the language of sleek, highly designed forms, while others tease with moments of irreverence. In contrast, there are instances of scrappy, reckless, and gorgeous manipulation. Process remains visible, sometimes through exposed failures, while chrome finishes register the surrounding environment, situating the object in both time and space. She grants moments for these open‑ended forms to register what might otherwise remain unsaid.
The outcome embodies inherited knowledge, rooted in the histories of industry and rustbelt resourcefulness. The forms, tools, scaffolds, and remnants exist in a state of reluctant approximation. I let them stall out mid-task and hold their shape just enough to suggest purpose.
Individually, the sculptures stand with quiet intensity. Together, they become units within a larger composition, acting as players on the stage of the gallery. Here, the artist-as-preparator’s grace and familiarity with exhibition design shines. Krohmer’s sense of style, pacing, color, and sensitivity have long influenced our exhibition designs, and we’re especially excited to see her own objects occupy that space in this show.
Please join us for a reception with the artist from 5–7pm on Saturday, January 17, 2026. The gallery will be open for previews during gallery hours beginning Friday, January 16, from 1–5pm.