The UW-Milwaukee Union Art Gallery held an opening reception for the new spring display titled “Kate Brandt Pink,” Friday, March 12.

The reception featured a panel discussion with participating artist Kate Brandt and Heather Warren-Crow.

Influenced by the 1960 neo-Dada artist Yves Klein, who used nude female models as living paintbrushes while making his work with his signature color blue, the UWM artist designed an exhibit that comments and confronts the legendary artists by bringing a wide range of artists together, all of whom use her self-selected shade of pink.

In their work, these contemporary artists explore the ideas of race, gender, power roles, fame, class and much more. Some of the different mediums used to express their ideas included live performances, sculpture, video and painting.

“My work…enters the ongoing conversation concerning the relationship between body, gender, paint and performance,” Warren-Crow said. Warren-Crow created her work using the technique of live performance.

Her work captures the early history of performance art and the sub-medium body art, “by using my body as a marks-maker,” Warren-Crow said.

The exhibit featured over 17 various artists throughout America and beyond, spreading as far as England, Brandt said. Though all of the artists had to incorporate a specific shade of pink into their work, Brandt said it was important that the artists still were able to express themselves and make their own work.

The variety of artists ranged from emerging artists such as Brandt herself, to world-renowned artists such as Franko B. out of London. Asking one of her favorite artists, Franko B., to adhere to her rule of using the color pink helped solidify the complicated paradigm of emerging artist and established artist all sharing the same stage, Brandt said.

When asked where she will go from here, Brandt smiled, saying maybe she will try the color gold, or just start claiming other colors.

The Kate Brandt Pink exhibit runs through April 2 in the UWM Union Art Gallery.