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Leigh Wells
Prints & Mixed Media
Lives and works in Sausalito, CA
Leigh Wells’ mixed media works comprise collage, drawings, and sculpture of found materials, paper, and fabric as well as paintings on pieced textiles that consist of simple, restrained abstract forms. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Architectural Digest, Elle Decor, and Harper’s Magazine. Select honors include Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant and SFMOMA SECA Award nomination.
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Leigh Wells
STATEMENT
“I create paper collage and paintings on pieced textiles that consist of simple, restrained abstract forms evocative of deeply sensed mental and emotional states. I approach the combination of elements in my work as though I am constructing a feeling, a thought, a relationship — intentionally creating spatial and narrative ambiguity that heightens the work’s expressive tension.
The repurposed materials that I use have their own histories that become integral expressive elements in the work. Because the larger paintings on textile include the tactile sensual qualities of the fabric and painterly marks, the compositions have become more reduced, allowing for greater clarity and impact.
My practice takes inspiration from artists such as Arlene Shechet, Jim Lee, Fran Shalom and, especially, Amy Sillman, whose works and writings have influenced me profoundly.”
EDUCATION
2022, Studio Art Studies at Parsons/New School, New York,
Crown Point Press,
San Francisco Art Institute, and NYC Crit Club
1988, BFA, Design, Summa Cum Laude, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022, Tensile Strength, The Fourth Wall, Oakland, CA
2019, Jack Fischer Gallery (two person exhibition), San Francisco, CA
2012, Remains, Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2011, Deception, Ampersand International Arts, San Francisco, CA
2008, New Drawings, Gallery 16, San Francisco, CA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2022, True North, diRosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA
2022, The Schuh Show, Van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne, Germany
2022, The New Mid-Century Modernism, ZieherSmith, Nashville, TN
2020, Mind Reader, Markel Fine Arts Viewing Room, New York, NY
2019, Portrait, The Jones Institute, San Francisco, CA
2019, Still Yet Forward, Ampersand International Arts, San Francisco, CA
2018, No Rhyme or Reason, Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2018, Paper Cuts: Large-Scale Collage, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
2016, Fog a Mirror, CES Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2016, Cutting Edge: New Works in Collage, 2731 Prospect, Cleveland, OH
2015, Variations on Abstraction 2010-2015, Transmission Gallery, Oakland, CA
2014, Mountain, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
2014, The Age of Collage, Gallery Feinkunst Krüger, Hamburg, Germany
2014, Feature, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
2013, The Age of Collage, Gestalten Space, Berlin, Germany
2013, col-la-ge, mini | galerie, Amsterdam, Netherlands
2013, In Spite Of, The Holland Project, Reno, NV
2013, Summer Group Show, Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2013, Range, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
2012, Decade, Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2012, Ninth Annual Benefit Auction, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
2011, Tensile Strength, ZieherSmith, New York, NY
2011, Building Context, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008, These Are the People in Your Neighborhood, Gallery 16, San Francisco, CA
HONORS
2022, Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant Recipient
2022, SFMOMA SECA Award Nominee
2022, Minnesota Street Studios, San Francisco, Visiting Artist
2021, Anonymous Was a Woman Award Nominee
2020, Minnesota Street Studios, San Francisco, Artist member (2018-2020)
BIBLIOGRAPHY/PUBLICATIONS
2021, “Reviewing the Book Review”, New York Times Book Review
2020, “To Philosophize Is to Learn How to Die”, New York Times Opinion Pages
2019, “It’s Not Just a Chemical Imbalance”, New York Times Opinion Pages
2016, “What Do We Know?”, New York Times Opinion Pages
2016, “I Am a Dangerous Professor", New York Times Opinion Pages
2016, “What is the Use of Regret?”, New York Times Opinion Pages
2016, “Why Do Anything?”, New York Times Opinion Pages
2015, Seligman, Craig. “Fitted to the Occasion,” Elle Decor
2013, The Age of Collage: Contemporary Collage in Modern Art, Berlin: Gestalten
2013, Danza, Emmie. "Leigh Wells", The Drawing Center, The Bottom Line
2013, Grattan, Nikki, "Leigh Wells", In The Make
2013, Gallagher, James. "Cut-Up Nostalgia." UnFLOP Paper 4. Fall/Winter
2012, Baker, Kenneth. “Leigh Wells: Remains.” San Francisco Chronicle
2011, Baker, Kenneth. “Don't Miss,” San Francisco Chronicle
2011, Baker, Kenneth. “Collage, culture and mulching at Guerrero Gallery,” SF Chronicle
2008, Untitled (Robert Frost), Harper’s Magazine
COMMISSIONS/COLLECTIONS
Chevron Corporate Collection, San Francisco, CA
Cosmopolitan Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
Palace Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Salvatore Ferragamo Collection, Milan, Italy
Superba Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA
Featured Gifts
MAD et LEN
Functional Object
Sale price$195
MAD et LEN
Functional Object
Sale price$128
Sophie Lou Jacobsen
Functional Object
Sale price$99
MAD et LEN
Functional Object
Sale price$650
Jessica Sellinger
Sculpture
Sale price$500
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