The University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of Art and Art History and the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts will present artist Leslie Wayne and an exhibition of her works, “Mind the Gap.”
New York artist Wayne is the fourth exhibitor at the AEIVA, and her visit is part of a dynamic series of programming by the DAAH. “Mind the Gap” is the first solo exhibition of paintings at the AEIVA, and Wayne’s work is both painting and sculpture, says DAAH Chair Lauren Lake, MFA.
“The works exhibited challenge traditional notions of painting as a two-dimensional work of art, the traditional painting on canvas,” Lake said. “Wayne challenges the pictorial plane in her brightly colored, delightful abstract objects.”
Wayne is an internationally exhibited artist whose works have appeared in such publications as The New York Times, ARTnews and Art in America. Wayne also is a recipient of a Joan Mitchell Artist Grant and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Artist Grant. Wayne studied traditional oil painting but switched to sculpture at the Parsons School of Design, which left its impact on her work when she returned to painting.
| “Mind The Gap” will present a cross section of the artist’s past and present works. Birmingham’s Cheney and Sokol will lend two of Wayne’s works for the show, while others will come from the artist’s gallery in New York, Jack Shainman Gallery. |
Wayne will lecture on her works at 4 p.m. Friday, June 6, in the UAB Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, Lecture Hall, 1221 10th Ave. South. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, visit the UAB Department of Art and Art History online or the AEIVA online. The lecture and residency are sponsored by Friends of the Department of Art and Art History Lydia Cheney and Jim Sokol.
Wayne’s work will be on exhibition at the AEIVA from June 5-July 17. A free reception is planned for 5-7:30 p.m. Friday, June 6. “Mind The Gap” will present a cross section of the artist’s past and present works. Birmingham’s Cheney and Sokol will lend two of Wayne’s works for the show, while others will come from the artist’s gallery in New York, Jack Shainman Gallery.
Cheney says she was very excited about UAB’s new Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, which spurred her desire to bring Wayne to Birmingham.
“One of the artists whose works we collect is Leslie Wayne,” Cheney said. “I thought, ‘wouldn’t it be great to bring Leslie Wayne to share her work with the students, with UAB and the public, with art lovers everywhere?’”
Speaking of Wayne’s work, Cheney says, “I love the manipulation of the paint, the dramatic juxtaposition of her colors, and her references to nature, the geological form — to me that is obvious. I see it quickly. And I also love the fact that she is both a painter and a sculptor, all rolled into one.”
While at UAB, Wayne will do a studio visit and speak to painting students. She will also oversee the installation of her delicate, brilliantly colored abstract works, made entirely of paint, but pushed and manipulated on panels or sculpted and folded to evoke the look of draped fabric or clay. The thick layers and designs are created without a brush.
“Leslie Wayne’s work is part of an exciting movement focusing upon paint as subject matter,” said UAB Professor of Painting Gary Chapman, MFA. “Not as a means to create an image like many of the abstract painters throughout the 20th century, but rather as a means to create form that speaks of paint’s inherent physical and tactile properties. We are very excited to have her and her work at UAB, stimulating and expanding our ongoing conversation about the infinite possibilities of paint as an important and relevant medium for art.”
The AEIVA is open to the public 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and 12-6 p.m. Saturday and is closed Sundays and holidays.