New Art Exhibition At Kenilworth Square: Sitelines 42

Continuum 2022: Sitelines 42 is the new art exhibition running from September 9 – 22 which depicts Leslie Vansen’s art throughout her 42 years of teaching at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee, along with 51 alumni of UWM.  

Leslie Vansen received her BA from the University of Iowa and later received an MFA from the University of Colorado. Since then, she has been seen in several art shows around the country, including the Milwaukee Art Museum. She also teaches drawing and painting courses at UWM ranging from graduate levels to introductory courses.  

Vansen’s breathtaking paintings tell the story of her entire career thus far, the change in her methods, shapes, and forms display how much one can change through their life. Each painting is meticulously crafted with layers of acrylic paint. Every line, shape, and curve is painted with sharp, clean edges. The attention to detail is uncanny. 

These visual forms “embody a repetitive continuum of memory and association with nature and architecture as experienced daily in an urban context. No reference to one place or moment is intended; cumulative sensations of existence become visual force fields and remembered repetitive interactions” Vansen expresses in her artist statement describing her work. 

One thing to note in her early works during the 80s is that there are several references to cubism, as a lot of her early work played with geometric shapes and forms. 

Within Vansen’s gallery talk notes she mentions Spumoni, one of her earliest works “foregrounded the interplay between the drawn linear restructuring of figurative subjects and the stained fields of color applied to enhance the visual tactility of the visible canvas texture while keeping all the drawing and painted areas clear and obvious. Painted lines, pencil lines and stained applications remain evident in the final results.”  

However, nearing the 90s and turn of the century, her work became more fluid and organic. 

In the show room off to the right of the gallery, featured works by many UWM alumni that have furthered their career in the art world.  

Mariah Ferrari Is one of the artists, whose art is truly eye catching. Ferrari received her BFA from UWM in 2019. Her art is incredibly interesting to look at. It looks like the painting is coming off the canvas. The technique, exceptional use of color, and shadow is masterful. Ferrari has been featured in several magazines and has been exhibited locally and internationally.

Bjorn Akaerblom is a painter based in Nashville, Indiana, and Brooklyn, who received their BFA in 2018 from UWM. Their work is based on the aesthetics within the queer experience. Their art’s abstract nature allows the viewer to indentify their own experiences within the painting.

Sitelines 42 will be on display until September 22 at Kenilworth Square Galley. Admission is free to the public.