Leslie Barlow (b. 1989) is an artist living and working on occupied Očeti Šakówin and Wahpekute land now known as Minneapolis, MN. Barlow is interested in reimagining our relationship to our racial identities through healing our collective understanding of belonging and what it means to be family. Her life-size oil paintings serve as both monuments to community members and explorations into how race entangles the intimate sphere of love, family, and friendship. Her work is colorful, tender and nuanced, and inspired by conversations and personal experiences. Barlow believes art and art making is both healing and liberatory through the power of representation, witnessing and storytelling. Barlow received her BFA in 2011 from the University of Wisconsin- Stout and her MFA in 2016 from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.
In 2021 Barlow was awarded the Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship, and in 2019 she was awarded both the McKnight Visual Artist Fellowship and the 20/20 Springboard Fellowship. Barlow actively exhibits her work throughout the United States and many of her pieces can be found in private and public collections, including the Minnesota Museum of American Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, and the Weisman Art Museum. Her commissioned portraits can be found in spaces including Anoka-Ramsey Community College, Macalester College, the Hennepin County Medical Center, Pillsbury House Theater, and the US Bank Stadium. In 2022 she was selected to be the Minnesota State Fair Commemorative Artist. Her studio is located in the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District.
The collaborative work Barlow does with other artists and folks in the community is integral to her studio practice. Barlow currently teaches at the University of Minnesota, and has also taught at Carleton College, Metro State University, and Juxtaposition Arts. She leads the Public Functionary Studio Program for emerging artists, which launched in 2019 and continues to grow with community investment and support. She also occasionally teaches community classes/workshops and shares her story through public lectures. In 2017 she joined a team of organizers and artists to plan the first-ever MidWest Mixed Conference, which then grew into the organization MidWest Mosaic with ongoing programming. In 2020 in response to the murder of George Floyd, Barlow helped start the collective Creatives After Curfew, creating public art with community in solidarity with the uprising, calls for police abolition, and #AllBlackLivesMatter. In 2023 Barlow became the founder and producer of ConFluence, working with a team of artists, organizers, and self-proclaimed nerds to launch the first-ever ConFluence: A Cultured Multiverse art and science fiction convention.
Leslie Barlow is currently represented by Bockley Gallery.
