The Midwest Museum of American Art is pleased to announce the recent gift of three (3) works by Phyllis Bramson from Phyllis Bramson and the Kohler Foundation, Inc.
Phyllis Bramson (born 1941) is an American artist, based in Chicago and known for “richly ornamental, excessive and decadent” paintings described as walking a tightrope between “edginess and eroticism.” She combines eclectic influences, such as kitsch culture, Rococo art and Orientalism, in juxtapositions of fantastical figures, decorative patterns and objects, and pastoral landscapes that affirm the pleasures and follies of romantic desire, imagination and looking. Bramson shares tendencies with the Chicago Imagists and broader Chicago tradition of surreal representation in her use of expressionist figuration, vernacular culture, bright color, and sexual imagery.
The Kohler Foundation was established in 1940. As Kohler Foundation has expanded and grown, so has their support for the arts and education. Since the 1970’s, the preservation of art environments, folk architecture, and collections by self-taught artists has been a major focus of Kohler Foundation. The Kohler Foundation is active outside of Wisconsin with preserved art environments in Louisiana, Kansas, Ohio, Maine, and Georgia. Over the past several years, gifts of art have been made to nearly 100 institutions ranging from prestigious museums to colleges and universities and other non-profits both small and large. This ensures the art will be cared for in perpetuity and made accessible to the public. Collections have included art created by self-taught and relatively unknown artists as well as prominent artists who are recognized regionally and/or nationally.