Vesna Kittelson’s work has been defined by issues around her being an immigrant, traveler and a painter. Consequently, her art mines a range of themes from pure abstraction to war art to portraits.
YOUNG AMERICANS is an open-ended project consisting of portraits of young people ages 20-30. Kittelson is interested in young people because they abandon old ideas about identity in contemporary America and replace them with tolerance for each other’s differences. They do it with admirable and believable ease. She continues to be fascinated by young people’s attitude toward self definition, love and politics.
Young Americans is on view in the Fisch Gallery through January 3, 2021.
Vesna Kittelson was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina (of Croatian descent) – who became a naturalized American. She has lived between Split, Croatia; Cambridge, England; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was an original member of the feminist WARM Gallery (Women Art Registry of Minnesota); she taught at MCAD for many years; and she was a founding member of the Traffic Zone Center for Visual Arts where she holds a studio. She was a member of the co-op Gallery Form and Content Gallery in Minneapolis from 2013 – 2019.
Purchase Synthesis (2020), the retrospective catalog of Kittelson’s work through WAM Shop. Email wamshop@umn.edu to buy your copy today!
Above image: Installation view at of Young Americans at WAM. Photo by Rik Sferra.
Lewis Hine Young Boy Coal Miner, 1909-13 Photograph, 135/8 x 1011/16 in. ABOUT THE ART This is one of a series of photographs taken by Lewis Hine to show the condition of children working long hours in dangerous, difficult jobs. This boy, who looks to be ten to twelve years old, faces the camera, dirty and tired from working in a coal mine. His hands on his hips, he pauses a moment in his work clothes. The cap on…
“As part of the Weisman Art Museum’s creative collaboration residency, I will explore the question: What is behavioral art? It’s a term from China—行为艺术 (xíngwéi yìshù)—that I borrow and adapt. There, behavioral art is typically shocking, extremely physical, and political. Here in the U.S. we would call it performance art, but I’m interested in a more usable everyday version of behavior that brings together art, healing, and activism. I want it to be approachable and participatory yet still radical in…
Last night, WAM Collective left home base at the Weisman to attend opening night of the annual MCAD art sale to purchase new pieces for HOMEWORK, the Weisman’s student-only art rental collection. The Minneapolis College of Art and Design, aka MCAD, hosts an annual art sale featuring artwork from emerging student artists and alumni from the school. (This year’s sale included artwork from notable MCAD alumni like Bobby Rogers and Ashley Mary.) All of the proceeds go directly to the…
