WEST BEND, WI, July 30, 2007 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Currently teaching at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Frankie Flood of Whitefish Bay blends art and industry in his work opening August 1, 2007 in the Museum of Wisconsin Art’s One from Wisconsin Gallery. Utilizing the industrial processes of machining, stamping, anodizing and powder coating with a flair for redesigning everyday objects, he shows that even the most utilitarian object has strong artistic value. His exhibition of fanciful pizza cutters, one titled “Easy Rider,” both amuses and provokes.

This approach to his work principally came about through two experiences. The first was working alongside machinists who were highly skilled yet oblivious to the true artistic value of their methods and techniques. The second was working with his father making things and having to fabricate special tools to accomplish specific tasks. Often, the new tool became more important than the actual object. Thus, for Flood, his attachment to tools is instinctual and, as a result, he realizes that this is part of the human continuum in that throughout history humans have has to use imagination and intelligence to make tools to make progress. This same instinctive resourcefulness is what has shaped metalsmithing’s own history.

Industry, Flood feels, has removed the aura from objects and stripped them of their individuality; his pizza cutters aim to end the belief that mass-produced objects should be sterile and conformist. The “chopper motorbike” feel that imbues his work stems from the image of the biker as a non-conformist that has emerged as America industrialized. After all, motorcycles are a prime example of an industrially manufactured item, and while many Harley-Davidson motorbikes may be basically the same, no Harley rider wants exactly the same bike as another ? so customization and individuality are paramount. As Frankie says, “The outlaw as defiant non-conformist, as well as social outcast, parallels being an artist who makes functional objects and being an individual who takes pride in the power of invention and skill.”

Since 2005, Frankie Flood has been an Associate Lecturer/Head of 3D Foundations at UW-Milwaukee in the Metalsmithing Department. He holds a Master of Fine Art/Art (Metalsmithing) degree from the Univerity of Illinois, and a Master of Fine Art/Art (Metalsmithing) degree from the Eastern Illinois University. His work has been shown extensively around the country and cited in numerous publications.