“As an artist, I look to bring awareness to these issues by transporting viewers with paintings that portray the splendor of what we stand to lose by our inaction.” – Leslie Wayne
Leslie Wayne's new exhibition, The Unintended Blues, documents rising sea levels through aerial landscape paintings of vulnerable US shorelines and melting icebergs in the Arctic Circle. Additional multi-media piece engage viewers with issues around present day climate science. In these works, Wayne captures the beauty of our natural environment and renders with graphic clarity one of our greatest existential threats.
The exhibition in the Upper Gallery at the Arts Center at Governors Island runs from July 24-September 27, Fridays-Sunday 12-5pm.
Free and accessible to all.
Leslie Wayne is an artist whose work lies at the intersection of abstraction and representation. While she’s most known for her highly dimensional abstract paintings based on geology, her recent aerial landscapes conjure up deep questions about the American landscape, its mythologies and the environment. Wayne has exhibited nationally and internationally, and her work is in numerous public collections. She has received awards from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Joan Mitchell Foundation, Francis J. Greenburger Foundation, Pollock Krasner Foundation, NYSCA, and NYFA, among others. She is represented by Jack Shainman Gallery.
Having the opportunity to present this project at a venue with the capacity to reach over 30,000 visitors is a huge honor and I am extremely grateful to numerous people for its success and completion: Anna Raginskaya and Don Porcaro for making this project possible in all ways. The entire staff of LMCC Arts Center at Governor’s Island for their tireless and enthusiastic support. Jack Shainman, Tamsen Greene, Irem Ikizler, Ruth Phaneuf and Nate Francis at Jack Shainman Gallery for their support of this project. Michael Lantz, MaloTek Productions for video production, editing and installation. Giacomo Belletti and Laura Crosta for videography. Vincent Catanese, Moran Tug for donating used marine lines. Gary Griggs, Distinguished Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, and Director of the Institute of Marine Sciences, UC Santa Cruz for sharing his knowledge and resources, and for allowing me to use his photograph of the California coast. David Landreth for flying over the Gulf Coast and photographing for me. John Goldsmith for allowing me to use his photographs of the Northwest Passage and Greenland. Michael Davies, river, coast, port and waterway Engineer and President, Coldwater Consulting, Ottawa for spending time to talk with me about the complexities of sea level rise. Alexis Aperloff Giles, Shimon Attie, Joseph Colella, Harold Crooks, Zoe Dictrow, Tina Freeman, Idee German, Giselle Heitzner, Lisa Hoke, Deborah Luster, Bruce Lymburn, Nancy Marcott, Medrie MacPhee, Janet Phelps, Mari Spirito and Gregory Wessner for their resource sharing, advice and moral support. And Pepper Fajans - for getting the work in and up, Blaze Zidell and Moze Halperin - for getting the word out, and ALMA Communications for the extra mile.
- Leslie Wayne
The Unintended Blues is presented by LMCC (Lower Manhattan Cultural Council) as part of the 2026 River To River Festival.
Collaborators: Don Porcaro, Production Consultant; Michael Lantz, MaloTek Productions, video production; Giacomo Belletti, videography.
Funding for The Unintended Blues is provided by The Deborah Buck Foundation, Morgan Stanley Blue Rider Group and New York State Council on the Arts Support for Artists Grant. Special thanks to Anna Raginskaya and Jack Shainman Gallery.
Funding for the River To River Festival is provided by The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Howard Gilman Foundation, Lily Auchincloss Foundation, and The Robert Lehman Foundation. River To River is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.