Wayne exhibit comes to a close

The Joseloff Gallery located in the Harry Jack Gray Center was proud to exhibit the traveling showcase of artist Leslie Wayne in an exhibition titled “Leslie Wayne: Recent Work.”

Wayne’s work was on display from Aug. 30 through Oct 9. The last days of the gallery viewing were between 12-4pm where lovers of art and students of The Hartford Art School were welcome to come.

Along with the gallery viewing hours, included a reception on Thursday, Sept. 8 and a lecture given by Wayne herself in the Koopman Commons at the Hartford Art School.

Wayne’s work that was displayed came alive on the walls featuring many oil paintings that had very intricate structures and designs that had brilliant colors.

These dimensional oil paintings were inspired by the work of the 19-century paintings of Romantic Landscapes. The work did not only exhibit nature, but the world as a whole.

For me not being well verse in art, Wayne’s art was so intriguing because it wasn’t just a washed out oil paintings. These oil paintings had different dimensions and layers that the artist did to really convey and show the nature motif in her work.

This particular exhibition of Wayne’s work has been from the past five years (2005-2010) and takes a contemporary approach. The one painting that really caught my eye among the 20 oil paintings featured was titled “Doxology.”

“Doxology” was a 42” x 25” oil painting on wood, which was in a shape of a “T.” This particular painting showed many different hews of blue that were layered on the base, and a bright orange hew on top.

“Leslie Wayne: Recent Work” made its first appearance in January 2011 at the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art [Charleston, SC] then made its way to the Visual Arts Center [Richmond, Virginia] before arriving at The Joseloff Gallery.

Wayne was born in 1953 and began her study of art at the University of California in Santa Babara, California, where she majored in painting, then received a BFA in Sculpture from Parsons School of Design in New York.

Wayne currently resides in New York where she is continuously working. Through the years, Wayne’s work has appeared at many different exhibitions not only in the United States, but internationally as well. Wayne’s galleries include The Jack Shainman Gallery in New York City and Solomon Projects in Atlanta, GA.

Having Wayne’s exhibit at The Joseloff Gallery was a great opportunity for students of the Hartford Art School to come and view her work, as well as other students and members of the community that may not be as well verse in art. Seeing great art from an artist like Wayne redefines aesthetic beauty.