Vesna Kittelson | Letter to AmeriKa & Christoper E. Harrison | Currents

Traffic Zone Gallery presents Vesna Kittelson: Letter to AmeriKa and Christopher E. Harrison: Currents. This exhibition comes at an opportune time for the two artists to express their artistic connection as colleagues of different backgrounds and cultural histories. The tenor of Harrison's thoughts about being inside American culture and its effects as a person of African descent shapes his personal pictorial intelligence; Kittelson’s identity represents an ongoing engagement with stubborn feelings of being an outsider, an immigrant. Inevitably, these works were fully formed within the artists, awaiting the moment to make the art about it. 

About the Artists

Artist Statement Vesna Kittelson

"Letter to AmeriKa” is a multidisciplinary work of an immigrant observing unaddressed but present turbulent realities in our culture. In the cultural chaos of today, there is shifting between learning and questioning of racial injustice; colonialism; immigration; and threats to democracy. To navigate through these questions, poetic tools are used in a hybrid form of painting, digital printing, drawing, installation, and collage. Inside the messy flood of colors and controlled creative confusion, there is an urge for the lyrical representation of human dignity to prevail. This work asks us to question what should be said about these multiple currents in a letter to America? Vesna Kittelson

Artist Biography Vesna Kittelson

Kittelson is a multidisciplinary artist visually mixing contemporary culture with the energy of arts and humanity of the past. Since the beginning, her art has been a poetic tool, used to create a safe space for resituating a woman as an artist inside of the art world. Collections: Brooklyn Museum Art Library; Bush Foundation Collection; Getty Museum Library; Minnesota Center for Book Arts; Minnesota History Center; Minnesota Museum of American Art; Smithsonian’s Dibner Library of Science and Technology; Tate Library;  Walker Art Center Library;  Weisman Art Museum; Yale Museum Library; Victoria and Albert Museum - National Library. “Synthesis-Lost and Found in America” was granted a silver medal from MiPA (12 states) - Midwest Book Awards, 2021.

Christopher E. Harrison Artist Statement

“Currents” Like the flowing ocean currents that provided transport to these shores centuries ago, the fluidity of Black culture’s history constantly shifts over time and serves as the basis of this group of works. These paintings and sculptures present quotes from historical figures on the Black experience in America merged with organic shapes and essences of portraiture to tell stories of resistance and resilience; visual “letters” that speak to the relevance and importance of addressing issues around identity and equality for diverse cultures within our borders in these current times and beyond. Christopher E. Harrison

Christopher E. Harrison Artist Biography

Christopher E. Harrison’s (b. 1965) artistic concepts are inspired by historical flashpoints from the past and present that chronicle the Black experience in the U.S. and globally. He has exhibited his work in solo and group exhibitions including MIAD (WI), Nemeth Art Center (MN), Soo Visual Art Center (MN), Ridgewater College (MN), Duluth Art Institute (MN) and Smack Mellon (NY). Harrison has created public art for sites around Minneapolis. His work has been supported with grant funding by Jerome Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, the City of Minneapolis, the Elizabeth Murray Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation, MRAC Next Step and the Pollock-Krasner Foundation.

Gallery Hours

Monday-Friday: 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and by appointment

Image:  Vesna Kittelson, Letter to AmeriKa, 2022, mixed medium, 70 in. x 14 ft.