my work begins where language falls short—at the intersection of emotion, collective narrative, and memory. each figure becomes a map of what the body carries: grief, fortitude, release. using palette knives and dense, tactile layers, I carve into the paint as if excavating truth from the physical. in the unraveling and reassembly, I search for what is universal and what is singular, how the body itself can become a site of both disruption and belonging. running long distances mirrors this process; both demand surrender, both reveal what endures. through gesture and texture, I aim to make visible the unseen—to translate the quiet, raw, and resilient pulse of the human experience.
Raised on the Connecticut coastline and based in Charleston, South Carolina, Bri Wenke is a self-taught figurative artist with a background in history and anthropology. Her work investigates the human form as a vessel for emotion, memory, and collective narrative. Through the use of charcoal, palette knives, and heavy-body mediums, Wenke approaches painting as a visceral and sculptural act—one that reveals the tension between physicality and feeling. Her practice is deeply informed by movement and endurance; as an ultrarunner, she explores the parallels between the body in motion and the process of artistic excavation, continually uncovering what lies beneath the surface. Wenke’s work has been exhibited both locally and internationally, with Saatchi Art and the Other Art Fair in London. She independently curated and exhibited fully immersive exhibitions RESURGENCE and CONSUMPTION, and her work can be found in private collections around the globe.
SELECT EXHIBITIONS
2025 Kinetic, The Vendue, Hagan Gallery, Charleston, SC
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2025 Hamptons Fine Art Fair, Hagan Gallery, Hamptons, NY
2024 Red Dot Miami, Hagan Gallery, Miami, FL
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2024 Time to Slow Down, Anderson Contemporary, NY, NY
2023 Resurgence, Immersive Exhibition, Charleston, SC
2023 Sewe, Grand Bohemian Gallery, Charleston, SC