Photo via Museum of Wisconsin Art
Leslie Smith III, He Wore Glasses to See Straight, 2014
Leslie Smith III, He Wore Glasses to See Straight, 2014
Few, if any, of us live our lives in rectilinear fashion, governed by straight borders and 90-degree angles designed to keep the chaos of experience on a single, direct, and often tamer trajectory. The same should hold true of the art that reflects us, nurtures our growth, and encourages our own experimentation and understanding of life.
Such an ethos is evident in “Leave Your Baggage at the Door,” an exhibit of 22 works by artist/educator Leslie Smith III, a professor of drawing and painting at UW-Madison who also serves as the university’s art department chair. The exhibit title is an invitation by the artist encouraging viewers to put aside pre-existing perceptions and actively engage with the work on display in ways that are meaningful to them.
“The exhibit title invites viewers to have a more transparent and participatory viewing experience,” says Smith, who moved to Wisconsin from the East Coast more than a decade ago, a time roughly concurrent with a major change in his abstract painting style. “The only way to really engage in the work is to let your initial thoughts go and just be with the art.”
Sculpted Canvas
Artwork in the exhibit, which features what’s known as a “sculpted canvas” approach and utilizes a variety of artistic techniques, reflects a particular creative period from 2010 to 2015 in Smith’s evolution as an abstract artist, according to Thomas Szolwinski, MOWA’s curator of architecture and design. “Embracing a more intuitive and abstract approach, Smith’s distinct visual language reveals deeply personal experiences, delivering richly layered compositions and evocative titles encouraging visitors to discover their own interpretations.
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“Leslie Smith III is a mid-career artist making waves nationally and internationally and these works show the progression of his life from figural to abstract,” Szolwinski adds. “But there’s expectation for the viewer to become personally involved in the art, which can be challenging for some folks who don’t always feel comfortable adding their own experience. His work is unique in that way.”
The painting Spring Kept Its Promise Once Again is one such example. A collision of multiple canvases, highlighted with broad bands of black and yellow, creates an almost sculptural work utilizing oil paint, acrylic pigment and sewn canvas. There is space between some of the canvases, allowing the gallery wall to play a part. That’s all part of the design, the artist says.
“My works engage the viewer on a much more human level, which I’ve leveraged to do different things,” Smith says. “At times it was a way to contend with the architecture, connecting ideas and esthetics to create a certain type of harmony. That enables me to continue to create works that enhance how we communicate with each other.”
Viewers looking for straight lines and 90-degree corners capturing single canvases had best look elsewhere. You may not be ready for Leslie Smith’s new view of art.
“Leave Your Baggage at the Door” will be on display through Oct. 11, 2026, at the Museum of Wisconsin Art, 205 Veterans Ave., West Bend. For more information, visit wisconsinart.org.
