Tumblr Monday 76

Leslie Wayne (b.1953, Germany/USA)

Breaking and Entering | Badabing! Oil on wood, 14” x 12” x 4” (1999)
One Big Love. Oil on panel, 11 3/8” x 11 ½” / 13” x 11 ½” (2007)

German born and New York base artist Leslie Wayne doesn’t paint. Instead, she slices, folds and pinches. For her, paint is sculptable material, and she clearly delights in its haptic sensuality. Wayne’s fascination with the medium’s malleability is infectious, and delectable was the word that kept coming to mind while taking in the small, mostly 13-by-10-inch canvases that belong to the series “One Big Love”. A New York artist who has enjoyed a successful if under-the-radar career, Wayne frequently works in series and at a small, intimate scale. Despite their size, each canvases on view forcefully asserts its own personality. When viewed together, however, the works take on a companionable, narrative quality. Full of juicy colors and surprising twists, this show works hard to please at every turn, and succeeds every time. (cf. These sculptural paintings never fail to please by Claire Barliant) Great thanks to arpeggia for introducing us Leslie Wayne’s sculptural paintings this Monday!

[more Leslie Wayne | Tumblr Monday with arpeggia]