The Hermetic Gallery was started in 1994 after its director Nicholas Frank moved back here from New York. Located at 226 S. 1st St., Hermetic hosts between five or six exhibitions annually, featuring the work of both national and international artists.

This is one way of looking at it.

Another way would be to question what exactly four white walls, some lighting, hanging artwork and a public invitation really represents? Is this what an "art gallery" is? In the words of Nicholas Frank, "Each person legitimizes it themselves."

So, here's my version.

Frank started the Hermetic Gallery after running a similar operation in Brooklyn, NY. He returned to Milwaukee and discovered the fresh perspective of a new arts community and the ability to run a very "underground" establishment that blurred the lines between a public place and an art project in and of itself.

For example, exhibition openings used to feature a symposium, where Frank would sit amongst a panel and try to divert the topic completely away from the artwork being presented. Now, a regular schedule of lectures is held, where Frank selects guest speakers and assigns them topics -- one's which he is certain they have no expertise in whatsoever, leaving it up to each speaker to research or make things up as they choose.

Sound confusing? Imagine going to an exhibition of work he secretly despised (as most would), yet presented just as seriously as any other -- just to see the reaction and comments of people's interpretations of the work.

Does a gallery qualify artwork? Does artwork qualify a gallery? Such are the questions that Frank and the Hermetic Gallery presents. This is not to say that the gallery spends its time figuring out ways to throw sarcasm into the face of the public.

On the contrary, the gallery hopes to inspire thought, insight, examination and the questioning of art and the establishments that present it. By blurring the lines between humor and seriousness, truth and fiction, perhaps Frank and the Hermetic Gallery take art education a step further than most -- by presenting art in a forum that doesn't claim the usual sense of authority, and possibly denying its status altogether.

Now that you have my interpretation, stop by the Hermetic Gallery and form your own. Currently on display through June 16 is the Peter Barrickman exhibition: Paintings. The Hermetic Gallery is open Thursdays from 8-11 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., or by appointment, (414) 226-2098.