“Max Went West: An American Tale III” Opening Reception: Friday, 5/22 at Grove Gallery – Milwaukee, WI

“Max Went West: An American Tale III” Opens Soon, Featuring Woodcut Prints By Max Hautala

Opening Reception: Friday, May 22nd 5-9pm and Saturday, May 23rd 12-5pm

(MILWAUKEE)—Wisconsin-raised printmaker Max Hautala is returning from the mean streets of Seattle for his prodigal gallery show “Max Goes West: An American Tale III,” opening Friday, May 22nd at Grove Gallery in Walker’s Point. The exhibition will showcase a series of woodcut prints that reflect Hautala’s wild adventures through the Midwest and West Coast, scenes in which fish embrace warmly, and horses gallop along mountainous landscapes. In this show, you’ll meet old friends, new enemies, see a young mouse who can stand tall and witness a cowardly cat getting a new start as a dog.

“Carving and printing blocks the old way resists reliance on the digital world even though printmaking was what brought on digital communication,” said Hautala. “As images are near-unthinkingly reproduced, reposted, and repurposed through algorithmic channels, I present handmade images as a tactile counterpoint to digital overstimulation.”

Opening Reception: Friday, May 22nd 5-9pm 

Sketchbook Workshop: Saturday, May 23rd 12-5pm (Pay what you want, supplies provided)

Gallery Open Hours: Open on Saturdays, 12-4pm, through June 20th, 2026.