Virtual Artist Talk: Leslie Barlow
MAEP artist Leslie Barlow in conversation with collaborator Lola Osunkoya and independent curator and arts administrator Keisha Williams as they unpack and discuss “Within, Between and Beyond”. As mixed race, Black women in the Twin Cities, they will share their personal understandings of the limitations of a “single story” and what it means to them to hold a multiplicity of identities and intersections. Additionally, they will explore why identity representation is affirming, but not the end-all to building a more abundant future for generations to come.
About the speakers
Leslie Barlow is a visual artist and educator living and working in Minneapolis, MN. In her visual art practice, Barlow’s current work uses figurative oil painting to share stories that explore the politics of representation, identity, otherness, and race. Barlow is an instructor at the University of Minnesota, is a part of the organizing team at MidWest Mixed, a member of the mural collective Creatives After Curfew, and she also supports emerging artists as the Director of PF Studios and Studio 400. Barlow is a current Jerome Hill Artist Fellow and McKnight Visual Artist Fellow.
Lola Osunkoya is a licensed psychotherapist and owner of the counseling practice, Neither/Both LLC. Lola has created and facilitated racial identity-based content for local and national education, media, and community development platforms. As an emerging artist, Lola uses writing and multimedia art to explore themes of identity, bringing theoretical concepts about race to mainstream art and conversations. Healing from the damaging impact of racism is a central theme of her work.
Keisha Williams is the Curatorial Department Assistant and Artist Liaison in Contemporary Art at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. She holds an MA in Visual Arts Management and Curating (2017) and an MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies (2015). She is curator of “Joe Horton: Vessel” (2019), co-curator of “Mapping Black Identities” (2019-2020) and “Mapping Black Identities: 3 Films” (2019) exhibitions, and co-founder of the Curatorial Advisory Committee at Mia. She is a contributing author to the recent Routledge publication “Accessibility, Inclusion, and Diversity and Critical Event Studies”, 2019.
Generous support for Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program (MAEP) provided by McKnight Foundation. Additional support provided by RBC Wealth Management.
Event sponsor:
