I am never quite sure what to expect whenever I visit an art gallery or museum. Sometimes I experience great revelation or am motivated to create my own art. Other times, I am wholly disaffected and wonder why I wasted my time. But sometimes, I find art that makes me laugh.

Billed as a back-to-basics approach, the work on display at the “There, There” exhibit at UW-Milwaukee’s Institute of Visual Arts at first might look a little ridiculous. Canvases stretched and painted to look like stone or painted pink and then filled with a cartoonish airplane crashing into trees seem trivial. But what might at first seem simple also feels like an inside joke of sorts.

“There, There” brings together the work of six nationally known artists: Joe Bradley (New York), Sarah Braman (New York), Steven Burnham (Milwaukee), Nancy Ford (Chicago), Eunice Kim (San Francisco) and Scott Reeder (Milwaukee). Each has a flair.

Whether it be Nancy Ford’s “interpretations of landscapes,” Sarah Braman’s “poetic sensibility” or the anxious, playful paintings of Steven Burnham, each artist contributes a voice that collectively engages and interests those who walk through the space.

I stand staring at what looks to me like two giant pieces of cheese, holes included, mounted to the wall. Is there a deeper meaning here? Is the artist referring to the giant mouse of corporate greed eating apart America, leaving behind gaping holes? I doubt it. I think it was done for amusement.

Another piece captures me. It is a glass box with an apple on top set on a horizontally cut log reflected into a mirror. I don’t understand the statement here either; perhaps it’s a great metaphor that I have yet to interpret. All that matters to me is the beauty inherent in such pieces.

So there it is – I am both amused and confused. Either way, I am entertained enough to say that it is worth your time to take a look. The exhibit is small, perhaps smaller than I would have liked, but I appreciate what was “there.”