Tyanna Buie

Printmaker and UW-Madison alumna Tyanna Buie returns with “In Retrospect,” a new exhibition. Rooted in memory, family, and the emotional archaeology of everyday life, Buie’s work turns absence into presence — layering image, text and texture to honor what official histories tend to overlook. The reception on April 9 is preceded by a lecture as part of the Art Department’s Visiting Artist Colloquium (5 p.m., Elvehjem Building-Room L160) for a full evening with one of the Midwest’s most compelling visual storytellers.

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Tyanna Buie

"Guinan" by Tyanna Buie.

"Guinan" by Tyanna Buie.

media release: The Wisconsin Union Directorate Art Committee is partnering with The Art Department Visiting Artist Colloquium to bring alumna Tyanna Buie’s work to Main Gallery located in Memorial Union in a concurrent exhibition to her lecture with the Art Department Visiting Artist Colloquium. Buie’s Visiting Artist Colloquium lecture will take place Wednesday, April 9 from 5 to 6:15pm in the Elvehjem building room L160. The retrospective exhibition reception will follow the lecture from 6:30 to 7:30pm in Main Gallery at Memorial Union, with the exhibition on display from April 4 through May 16.

Artist Statement:

The foundation of my artistic practice is deeply rooted in my family, serving as both inspiration and motivation for my work. My curiosity about our family dynamics, history, and contemporary condition has been the driving force behind the personal narrative elements embedded in my art. As I explored historical texts filled with kings, queens, and other notable figures, meticulously documented and preserved through images and artifacts, I became acutely aware of the absence of such careful curation for ordinary families like mine. This realization sparked a profound desire to acknowledge, preserve, and honor my family’s own complex and layered history. I see my work as a means of not only capturing these narratives but also fostering dialogue among family members, exploring how our shared past has shaped each of us in different ways. By navigating the intersections of personal memory, collective identity, and historical erasure, my practice becomes an act of reclamation, elevating the significance of our lived experiences and ensuring they are seen, valued, and remembered. 

Artist Bio:

A native of Chicago and Milwaukee, Buie earned her BA from Western Illinois University and an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  She has participated in artist residencies at the Joan Mitchell Center (New Orleans, LA), Women’s Studio Workshop (Rosendale, NY), Vermont Studio Center (Johnson, VT), Project 1612 AIR (Morton, IL), and Hotel Pupik (Schrattenberg, AUT).  Buie’s accolades include the 2012 Mary L. Nohl Fellowship, the Love of Humanity Award from the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and the 2015 Joan Mitchell Painters & Sculptors Grant. She was also awarded the 2019 Kresge Artist Fellowship, the 2019/2020 Grant Wood Fellowship in Printmaking (University of Iowa), the 2020 Fellowship.art award through gener8tor, and the 2023 Ruth Arts/Mary L. Nohl Alumni Award.

Buie has presented several solo exhibitions including: Embodiment(s) at the Freeport Art Museum, Freeport, IL, Re/Faced at the South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN, Improvisations, The Alice Wilds, Milwaukee, WI, and Input/Output, Materia Gallery, Detroit, MI, and Revisionist History, cam.contemporarie Gallery in Chicago, IL.   

She has also contributed to many group exhibitions including A Contemporary Black Matriarchal Lineage in Printmaking Exhibition at Highpoint Center for Printmaking in Minneapolis, MN, Printmaking in the Twenty-First Century at the Detroit Institute of Arts in Detroit, MI, Homebody at the Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI, The Black Biennial: Sonder at RISD’s Chace Center Gallery, Providence, RI, It’s a Fine Thing, University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art, Iowa City, IA, Screenprint Biennial, Russell Sage College, Albany, NY,  and All in the Family at the University of Kentucky Art Museum, Lexington, KY.

Additionally, Buie has also maintained a connection to the community by hosting printmaking workshops and demonstrations throughout the country.  Her works have been acquired by major institutions and private collections both nationally and internationally and has been reviewed on Hyperallergic.com and featured on Essay’d.com and New American Paintings No. 155.  Currently, Buie is an Associate Professor in Printmaking/Graduate Program Director at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI.

About The Art Department Visiting Artist Colloquium: 

The Art Department Visiting Artist Colloquium is a series supported by the Anonymous Fund and the Brittingham Trust. Visiting Artist lectures are held every Wednesday during the academic year, and are free and open to the public. Discover the latest developments in Fine art, Craft, and Design at our free public lectures by some of the nation’s most prominent artists, critics, and gallery and museum directors.