Will Kanel

Will Kanel (b. Madison, WI) is a Milwaukee-based painter. He received his BFA in studio art with a concentration in painting and drawing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2025. His work has been exhibited both locally and regionally.

“My work explores the mystery and strangeness of the nocturnal urban environment. I paint melodramatic scenes populated with ambiguous, anonymous figures. These quiet vignettes, rendered in deep blues and dusty purples, move between menace and humor, uncanniness and absurdity. I borrow visual language from many sources, ranging from cartoons to film to modernist painting. These elements merge into a paint surface made of thin, luminous washes peeking out from under thick, dry top layers. This approach creates a fuzzy atmospheric quality that heightens the intensity and uncanniness of the work.

Space and perspective often function in unexpected ways, creating disorienting environments. I arrange subjects carefully to give the work hints of a narrative, but I withhold enough information to avoid a straightforward reading. This ambiguity is intentional. It invites viewers into the scene, encouraging a sense of unease, curiosity, and open interpretation.”