Synthesis

Lost and Found in America: The Art of Vesna Kittelson

2020
Author:

Vesna Kittelson
Foreword by Lyndel King

WEISMAN ART MUSEUM: VESNA KITTELSON

A vibrant review of the international career and passionate spirit of a longtime Twin Cities artist

The prolific artistic production of Vesna Kittelson always maintains autobiographical connections, from installations of deconstructed books and her luminous drawings of fountains recalling her childhood in Split, Croatia, to brilliant botanical watercolors in her artist’s books resulting from her research on Charles and Emma Darwin. Here Kittelson demonstrates her strong passion for creativity through her ever-evolving practice and extensive international career.

The prolific artistic production of Vesna Kittelson always maintains autobiographical connections: her installations of deconstructed books and her luminous drawings of fountains recall her childhood in Split, Croatia; her early color field paintings represent people and places she remembers; her war paintings portray the tragedy and emotion experienced in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as her reactions to the 9/11 attack in the United States; the brilliant botanical watercolors in her artist’s books result from her research on Charles and Emma Darwin; and her dynamic cutout portraits of her students reveal bonds with fellow artists and immigrants of a later generation. A vital participant in the Minneapolis arts community for decades, Kittelson demonstrates her strong passion for creativity through her ever-evolving practice and extensive international career.

Contributors: Heather Carroll, Minnesota History Museum; Wendy Fernstrum; Joanna Inglot, Macalester College; Lyndel King, Weisman Art Museum; Camille LeFevre; John Lyon, Walker Art Center; Kerry A. Morgan, Minnesota College of Art and Design; Marcia Reed, Getty Research Institute; Susannah Schouweiler, Weisman Art Museum.

Vesna Kittelson was a member of the Women’s Art Registry of Minnesota (WARM) and a founder of the Traffic Zone Center for Visual Art in Minneapolis. She taught at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design for many years.

Contents

Foreword

One Question Is Not Enough: The Impact of WARM on the Early Color Works of Vesna Krezich Kittelson

War Paintings

To Catch the Fact: Vesna Kittelson’s Self-Portraits

Young Americans

Cosmopolitan Imagination: Myth, History, Memory in Vesna Kittelson’s Paintings

(De)Constructing Books

Fountains: Of Glitter and Glints

Alphabet of Ruins

Contributors

Acknowledgments