July 21, 2021 Image Image credit: Leslie Barlow Leslie Barlow ’16, MFA, is featured in a new solo exhibition at Mia (Minneapolis Institute of Arts). Barlow, who identifies as Black mixed-race, grew up in south Minneapolis and lives not far from there now. At 31, she is reflecting on the present moment and looking to the future, where her vision of what families look like is part of the canon. Her Minnesota Artists Exhibition Program (MAEP) solo exhibition Within, Between, and Beyond includes 16 paintings of people or families who identify as mixed-race or transracial adoptees. They are accompanied by video interviews with the subjects, made by artist Ryan Stopera (who is also Barlow's partner). By centering narratives from marginalized people, the exhibition pushes back against the whiteness and Eurocentricity that dominate art history and pop culture. Last summer, following George Floyd's killing by Minneapolis police, Barlow and artists from Public Functionary Studios and Studio 400, its incubator for young artists of color, participated in #CreativesAfterCurfew, a decentralized collective that painted murals focused on the demand for the end of racial inequality, the start of police abolition and recognition of #AllBlackLivesMatter. Barlow is a 2021 Jerome Hill Artist fellow, a 2019 McKnight Visual Artist fellow, and a 20/20 Springboard Fellowship winner, with works in the permanent collections of the Weisman Art Museum, Minnesota Museum of American Art, and U.S. Bank Stadium. She also founded and leads Studio 400. Leslie Barlow: Within, Between, and Beyond On view through October 31 Mia's U.S. Bank Gallery (Minneapolis) Learn More Leslie Barlow: Within, Between, and Beyond With a focus on mixed-race families, Twin Cities artist Leslie Barlow imagines a new reality Explore more about Leslie Barlow