The group exhibition “Surprises Unknown: The Art of the Wrapping” explores the art of wrapping in its many forms and features work by approximately 30 artists. The show runs through May 3, 2025, and held an opening reception in early February in New York City, which Kleinlein was invited to attend.
“I was contacted by the director of the Lehman College Gallery at the City University of New York, who told me he had been following my work for years and thought of me when he decided to organize a show with the theme of wrapped objects,” Kleinlein says. “I was honored to be invited, as the exhibition includes work by several world-famous artists, including Andy Warhol, Christo, James Rosenquist, Claudio Bravo, and Janet Fish.”
Both of Kleinlein’s paintings feature gift-wrapped boxes, which he wrapped himself. He expressed his fascination with the interplay between order and disorder, illusion and abstraction, as well as flatness and three-dimensionality. His work captures abstract representations of light, color, shape, texture, and pattern inspired by real-world objects.
Kleinlein has had a lifelong interest in art and discovered his passion for painting 35 years ago during his first oil painting class in college. Now in his third year of teaching at Hampden-Sydney, he continues to participate in and share his love for the fine arts through a variety of courses, including Painting I (VISU 222), Painting II (VISU 322), Drawing I (VISU 221), Color and Two-Dimensional Design (VISU 220), Special Topics in Visual Arts/Off the Wall: New Genres in Art (VISU 285), and Topics in Studio Art (VISU 361).
“It feels wonderfully surreal to have my work displayed in this New York show alongside giants of art history such as Andy Warhol, Christo, Janet Fish, and James Rosenquist,” Kleinlein says. “I tell my students—and constantly remind myself—that artists rarely create the work they envision. All we can do is make the best work we are capable of making. There is no secret to success—only more work.”