The annual Painting the Figure Now exhibition is one of the foremost shows spotlighting figurative artists who are working today. It has an international scope as well as a variety of styles represented—from the highly detailed to the more abstracted and everything in between. The show is curated by Didi Menendez of PoetsArtists and David Hummer, with this year’s fourth edition including guest curators Steven Alan Bennett and Dr. Elaine Melotti Schmidt. 
Shana Levenson, Whimsy, oil on aluminum panel, 32 x 42"
Shana Levenson painted Whimsy “in hopes of creating a whimsical escape for the viewer.” As the artist explains, “The pose of the figure holding her hand delicately is offering a cartoon caterpillar a chance to grow and fully develop into a butterfly. The wallpaper background has a childlike quality but is worn down to also show time passing and aging. During COVID, there were a lot of dark times so my hope was to create a lighthearted world that the viewer could escape into. The symbolism of a caterpillar is the potential for growth and transformation as the butterfly symbolizes endurance, change and hope.”
Patrice Robinson, Looking For Place, oil on wood panel, 16 x 20"
Hilary Swingle, Pool Party, oil on Dibond, 70 x 40"
In her painting Pool Party, Hilary Swingle touches on the idea of fleeting childhood nostalgia—“how a faintly familiar scent, sound or taste can flood your mind with fond memories,” Swingle says. “Nostalgia can’t be forced, it is a spontaneous phenomenon. And we can never experience those events in the same magical way. It’s an incredibly unique aspect of our shared human experience.”
David Kassan, Harry Weiss, Survivor, oil on acrylic mirror, 23 x 20½"
Kim Leutwyler, Conscious Uncoupling, oil on canvas, 60 x 40"
Sky is the Limit, by Kathrin Longhurst, uses “the visual language of propaganda to celebrate the female protagonist in arts and culture.” Longhurst adds, “It is at the same time mocking political propaganda and war propaganda by purposely portraying the heroine in an exaggerated romantic and nostalgic setting with attributes of subtle militarism hinted by the military clothing and aircraft in the background usually attributed to male dominance and power structures. As with most propaganda, the imagery is meant to evoke an emotional response whether it is pride, belonging, patriotism. I use these visual tools to create imagery that is reframing the female subject as one of a capable, strong warrior who claims visibility and space she has long been denied.”
Kathrin Longhurst, Sky is the Limit, oil on linen, 36 x 36"
The exhibition, on view September 2 through October 30 at Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art in Wausau, Wisconsin, will also include art by Erica Calardo, David Kassan, Sara Gallagher, Kim Leutwyler and Patrice Robinson, to name a few. —
Wausau Museum of Contemporary Art
309 McClellan Street • Wausau, WI 54403
(715) 298-4470 • www.wmoca.org
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