School of Art Alumna Ekene Emeka Maduka carves a personal signature out of broad social themes. Young Winnipeg painters are having an exciting moment. For the past six weeks or so, Dee Barsy’s signature aqua blues have washed over the 300,000 people who daily visit Toronto’s Union Station, which is decorated with a dozen of her bird-themed murals, buoying Toronto Blue Jays fans during the World Series. Last month, artist, curator and writer Chukwudubem Ukaigwe was shortlisted to represent the Prairies region for the Sobey Art Award 2025 — Canada’s largest prize for visual artists, which will be handed out on Saturday. Ukaigwe is perhaps best recognized for his paintings, often colourful to the point of psychedelic while refined in their details and lifelikeness, blending elements of realism, pop art and surrealism. The artist is among a small group of artists around 30 or under, many of whom went to art school together at the University of Manitoba, and who may appear — at least at first glance — to be working in similar directions.
Alumni, exhibition, School of Art
Compelled to touch grass — to silence urban and technological distraction to reconnect with the natural world — Ciurysek often heads to the forest, an environment that served as an inspiration for her solo exhibit Through, and through, on view at the Platform Centre for Photographic and Digital Arts (100 Arthur St.) until Nov. 15.
exhibition, faculty, School of Art
The School of Art at the University of Manitoba mourns the passing of artist and alumna Monica Mercedes Martinez (MFA ’12), whose powerful and poetic works explored memory, identity, and belonging.
School of Art
