Wes Larsen HEADSHOT

Wes Larsen

  • Assistant Professor, Design & Visual Communication

Education

MFA, 2D Design, Cranbrook Academy of Art
BFA, Visual Communication Design, University of Texas at Arlington

Biography

Wes Larsen has been an assistant professor of Design and Visual Communication at UW-Milwaukee since Fall of 2024 and prior to that was Visiting Assistant Professor of Design & Visual Communication from Fall 2020 to Spring 2024. Working in graphic art, performance, writing, and experimental publishing, his studio practice focuses primarily on the use of obfuscation and irreverence to call attention to the slippage between connotative and denotative interpretations. Recent works focus on infiltration, subversion, and dissemination through economic modes of production including laser printing, serigraphy, RISO, commercial print-on-demand services, home recordings, and film photography.

Additionally, Wes operates as partner and co-founder of the studio WHAT–THAT focused on critical design, writing, and research collaborations with institutions of art, craft, culture, education, and social practice. Through an ever evolving approach which continually oscillates between collaborative project-based endeavors, independent object-oriented investigations, and more traditional designer/client relationships, WHAT–THAT seeks to blur the lines of autonomy and authorship through collective, often times improvisational creative production.

Prior to working in academia Wes ran the independent design studio Tocco in the Historic Southside neighborhood of Fort Worth, Texas.