Wagner College’s Union Gallery is proud to present Among Verticals, a solo exhibition of recent paintings by Annie Leist, on display now through February 16, 2024.
The dreamlike compositions of Leist’s new series of large-scale oil paintings invite us in. We are guided through intimations of architectural structures, colored light billowing and collapsing spaces near and far. Enveloped in a diffuse atmosphere, the distinction between inside and outside blurs, most notably in the revolving door series. These works, like all pieces in the show, use Leist’s daily lived experience as a starting point to explore the fragmented, ambiguous nature of city space. Leist has very low vision, making the act of navigating the city a unique, practical, and visual adventure. In this work, she shares this private experience with us all, making the prospect of wayfinding and exploration one we can all appreciate for both its challenges and its beauty. While addressing the interaction of space and sight, her work raises larger questions of how we each find our way in this labyrinthine city, and how that is influenced by our own distinct visual perception.
The exhibition title, Among Verticals, is a nod to Mme Kupka among Verticals (1910-11), a painting by František Kupka, beloved by both Leist and curator Pamela Lawton. For Leist, the work resonates with how she experiences New York City: the juxtaposition of architecture’s abstractions and the people moving through the spaces they create.
Annie Leist was born in North Carolina and lives in New York City. She studied at Wake Forest University, Trinity College Dublin and Rutgers. Her work is in collections in the U.S. and abroad.
The gallery is located in Wagner’s Union Building and is open daily, 11 a.m.- 6:00 p.m.
