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Five Paintings by Wegrzynowski Featured in New Orleans

painting of people picking in fields
Painting by Tom Wegrzynowski, “The Red Planet,” 2019.

Instructor and alumnus Tom Wegrzynowski had five paintings selected for the 23rd Annual No Dead Artists International Juried Exhibition Of Contemporary Art. Julian the Apostate, The Red Planet, D Day, Liberation Day and Death of Caesar are all oils on canvas and were painted between 2017 and 2019. writes that he is interested in how history and art “morph together to create identity and culture. I am especially interested in how history functions as a malleable source material that can be shaped and molded to express a wide range of social or political beliefs.” Through his paintings, he explores the themes of science, religion, sports, war, and economics. “Each one of these disciplines promises some kind of truth or absolutism yet is subject to manipulation to suit the needs of contemporary ideology,” writes Wegrzynowski. “The relationships that develop among these cultural strands become contradictory, paradoxical, or unstable.”

Tom Wegrzynowski has been a full-time instructor in the department of art and art history since 2006. He teaches courses in both studio and art history, including Art Theory and Criticism (ARH 380), Art Since World War II (ARH 381), Early 20th Century Art (ARH 385), American Modernism (ARH 481), Drawing I (ART 110), Drawing II (ART 210) and Painting I (ART 216).

painting of man in midair above parking lot
Tom Wegrzynowski (MFA 2006) The Death of Caesar, 2017, Oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches, selected for B18 Wiregrass Biennial.

The juried exhibition runs September 4-28, 2019, at Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New Orleans. An artists’ reception will be held on Sat., Sept. 7, from 6-9 pm during the Arts District New Orleans’ (ADNO) First Saturday Gallery Openings.

For more information about The University of Alabama’s programs in studio art and art history, visit our Degree Programs page.