JAMES C. LEONARD (b. 1949, American)James Leonard has emerged as one of California’s leading abstract expressionist painters. Leonard’s emotionally charged compositions, which at first appear purely abstract, often suggest embedded landscapes, figures, and objects. Working with acrylics on canvas or board, Leonard uses bold horizontal and vertical strokes and variegated color to suggest different moods, seasons, registers, art historic resonations, etc. While one work might convey a lacy, Rococo, light decorativeness, another might seize the viewer with high-contrast lights and darks and drastic strokes in a Baroque manner, deep with gravitas. “Just as our lives unfold in unique and beautiful ways, so do my paintings have their own unique and individual expression. Most artists work from the outside in, the subject is outside of themselves. I work from the inside out,” says Leonard. Abstract Expressionism or Action painting, which had its beginnings in Surrealism in Europe of the 1930s, came to full fruition in New York of the 1940s and ‘50s in a group called the Abstract Expressionists. Influenced by the Surrealists, who had re-settled in NYC due to Germany’s occupation of France, this younger generation of Americans is responsible for giving the U.S. its first ‘home-grown’ school of international art. Just as Jazz music was the first totally American musical form of international proportions, so Abstract Expressionism was a uniquely American language of art, which influenced artists on every continent. Even Picasso had to retort with his near-abstractions of the 1970s! Most artists work with brushes, while Leonard works with extended palette knives. “I’m pulling paint, layering one layer at a time, which creates a sense of history in the painting. It’s like looking at a fence post that’s been repainted over a period of time. You can see the different colors and layers.” In art-speak, this geometric depth of ground is known as ‘push-pull.’ What first appears as the ‘background’ may suddenly exceed to the forefront of the painting, while what a second ago seemed like the forefront, recedes. “Great art is such a surprise. It’s so enchanting, so delightfully unexpected and unpredictable. In order to create that, you have to drop the concept of imposing what you think it should be, and allow the work to evolve in its own way. That requires all the skills of listening, allowing – learning to quiet that part of our mind that is constantly telling us how things should be. For me, that’s the essence of creativity.” “Leonard’s compositions are non-representational and move the viewer’s eye vertically or horizontally across the space. This basic movement is complicated by layers of dropped, speckled, and fragmented colors that infuse not only a rich language of color, but also a visual history left to be discovered by the eye as it moves across the surface. Leonard’s inventive layering process results in heavy impasto, or textured surfaces with a glossy, wet shine, making them particularly beautiful when seen in person.” – Urban Tulsa Weekly, 2010 “There can be thirty or forty layers in one painting, creating the feeling of a ‘waterfall.’ As a final touch, Leonard employs a technique he calls ‘sgraffito’ – scraping lines through the upper layers, so the colors of the ground layers show through. It’s a technique that demands courage and conviction; one misstep can destroy an entire painting.” – Art writer, critic, and curator Dallas Faulkner EDUCATION1976 Bachelor of Fine Arts, Fresno State University, Fresno, CA RECENTEXHIBITIONS RECENT EXHIBITIONS2019 Art Market San Francisco, Chloe Gallery2018 Summer Art and Winemakers’ Dinner Exhibition, San Francisco, Chloe Gallery2017 Art Market San Francisco, Chloe Gallery MUSEUM & JURIED EXHIBITIONS & PRIZES2013 San Diego Contemporary Art Fair, CA2012 Art Basel Miami, FL2012 Bold Expressions International Exhibition, Carmichael, CA2010 Andrews Art Museum, solo exhibition, Andrews, NC2006 All-Abstract Show, Valley Art Gallery, “Second Place Award”2005 Alameda Art Center, Contemporary Abstracts, Juror: Kenneth Baker, San Francisco Chronicle Art Critic2004 San Diego Museum of the Living Artist, 47th Annual International Juried Award Exhibition, “Award of Excellence,” CA2004 Albany Museum & Institute of History and Art, NY2002 Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue, WA2001 Palm Springs Desert Museum, 32nd Annual National Juried Exhibition, “Artists’ Council Award,” CA2000 San Diego Museum of Art, All-California Exhibition, “Silver Award,” CA1999 The Artist's Magazine, “The Best of Art Competition, Experimental Category”CRITICAL REVIEWS2012 Galleries West Magazine Valley Sentinel, Pleasanton, CA2010 Artnews Magazine Urban Tulsa Weekly, Tulsa, OK2008 Bottom Line, Palm Desert2006 Contra Costa Times2004 San Diego News2000 Laguna News Post1999 The Artist's Magazine, Best Art of Art: Experimental Category, “Honorable Mention” www.about.com1998 The Santa Fe New Mexican The Guild Art Expressions Magazine1997 St. Louis Post DispatchPHILANTHROPIC DONATIONSUSC/LAC Medical Center, Los Angeles, CAHIV/AIDS Foundation, Houston, TXLarry King Cardiac Foundation, Auction, Beverly Hills, CAWorld Vision Inc., NYC, NYOpen Hands Project, Santa Fe, NM Joe Morgan Invitational, Oakland, CACanadian Cancer Society, Vancouver, B.C. Brevard Alzheimer’s Foundation, Inc.Summit Bank Foundation, Oakland, CAParkinson's Foundation, San Jose, CAMake-a-Wish Foundation, San Francisco, CA Sunnyhills Children’s Garden, San Anselmo, CAMt. Diablo Ballet, Walnut Creek, CAHabitat For Humanity, Mt. Diablo, CALycée Français, La Perouse, San Francisco, CACORPORATE & PUBLIC COLLECTIONSLAX Hyatt Hotel, Los Angeles, CA 3-1 Corporation, Waltham, MAAbry Partners, Boston, MAAcadian Asset Management, Inc., Boston, MAAdobe Systems, San Francisco, CAAlumax Corp. Headquarters, Atlanta, GAAndrew Spangler, Spangler Law P.C., Longview, TXAppia Developments, Vancouver, CanadaArthur Anderson, San Francisco, CAAscent Art Ventures, LLC., Dallas, TXAxis, Hamilton, Bermuda Biogen Inc., Cambridge, MABoston Stock Exchange, Boston, MABrookfield Power, Marlborough, MABrookstone Inc., Amherst, NHBurns & Levinson, Boston, MACB Richard Ellis, Walnut Creek, CACetrulo & Capone, Boston, MAColor Kinetics, Boston, MACollege Park Music Dept., Pleasant Hill, CAComputer Associates International, NYC, NYCornnuts Toasted Corn, Oakland, CADDJ Capitol, Boston, MADeloitte Consulting, Boston, MADriscoll Agency, Boston, MADwyer & Collora, Boston, MAEdinboro University, Edinboro, PAEdwards & Angell, Boston, MAEllen O. Tauscher, Congresswoman, 10th DistrictEpstein Becker & Green, Boston, MAFactory Motor Parts, St. Paul, MNFairmont Waterfront Hotel, Vancouver, CanadaFenway Ventures, LLC., Boston, MAfilmtwist.com, San Francisco, CAFlanders, Douglas & Associates, Minneapolis, MNFlorida Credit Union, Tallahassee, FLFM Global, Waltham, MAFSP Phoenix Tower, Ltd., Houston, TXGoodwin, Procter & Hoar, Boston, MAHadco, Canton, MA Hale & Dorr Law Offices, Boston, MAHarvard Vanguard Medical Assn., Boston, MAHyatt Regency, Vancouver, CanadaHinkie & Foran, Tallahassee, FLHoffman Companies, Boston, MAInn At The Opera Plaza, San Francisco, CAInterface Consulting Int., Houston, TXIntegrated Financial Partners, Boston, MA.LOI, Inc., Boston, MAIssacson Miller, Washington, D.C.Jack Morton Worldwide, Boston, MAJoule Unlimited, Inc. Bedford, MAKaiser Permanente Hospital, Vallejo, CAKim Copeland Productions, Nashville, TNLarson-Juhl Corp., Craig & June Ponizo, Atlanta, GALifoka Grafische, Den Haag, Holland Loews Hotels, NYC, NYLooper, Reed, Mark & McGraw, Houston, TXMarriott Copley Place, Boston, MAMathematica Policy Research, Washington, D.C.Mayer, Brown, Rowe, & Maw, Washington, D.C.Meany & Oliver, McLean, VA MFAMoody, Famigliette & Andronico, Tewksbury, MAMirion Technologies Inc., San Ramon, CAMIT, Cambridge, MA Mopar, Detroit, MIMotorola Company, Dallas, TXNASA, Stennis Space Center, Starkville, MSNational Development, Boston, MAPacific Union Real Estate, San Francisco, CAPalmer & Dodge, Boston, MAPilko & Associates, Houston, TXPrince, Lobel, Glovsky & Tye, Boston, MASage Hill Partners, Cambridge, MASanford Bernstein, San Francisco, CASchnaeder, Harrison, Segal & Lewis, Law Offices, Atlanta, GASCM Microsystems, Los Gatos, CAScudder, Stevens & Clark, Boston, MAShire Pharmaceuticals, Boston, MASimplex Inc., Boston, MASkadden, Arps, Slate, & Flom, Boston, MASky Across, Tokyo, JapanSoundboard Consulting Group, LLC, Boonton Township, NJStonebridge Associates, Boston, MASummit Bank, Oakland, Walnut Creek & Emeryville, CASunset Magazine Idea House, 1999 Symantec Corporation, NYC, NY & Cupertino, CAThomas Mizo Chadwick, Saylor & Co., Los Angeles, CAisbury Capital, Boston, MATotal System Services, Columbus, GATufts Dental School, Boston, MAUnicco, Auburndale, MAUSAA Law Offices, San Francisco, CAWashington Real Estate Investment Trust, Rockville, MDWilmer Hale, NYC, NYYale University, New Haven, Connecticut