Devin Leonardi

Dec 8, 2020 - Jan 20, 2021

  • “Of all the contradictions that define modern life, none seems more persistent than the growing sense that everything is getting worse at the same time that our technological and material conditions are getting better. After all, the more we submit to innovation the harder it becomes to determine whether or not technology is in fact cheapening the very things it was designed to improve.”

     

    - Devin Leonardi (1981-2014)

  • Altman Siegel is pleased to offer a new posthumous print edition by Devin Leonardi.  This reproduction print is based on his seminal painting from 2009, Two Friends on the Shore of Long Island.  It is newly available in an edition of one hundred.

  • In 2009, Devin Leonardi painted the beloved work, Two Friends on the Shore of Long Island, which was inspired by found historical photographs.  Moving out of the bleached light common to old photographs, the painting glows with the gentle radiance of moonlight and dawn.  Using a limited palette of black, blue, and green, Leonardi re-situates the subjects among the cool shades of night.  He balances the figures between the vastness of a landscape lost in time and the close gaze of the camera that has preserved their likeness.  In order to heighten this sense of transience, Leonardi referenced pictures in which people move freely through a landscape still relatively unbound by industrialization.
  • Devin Leonardi’s drawings and paintings take cues from classical painting traditions to capture an idealized American landscape. Gleaning imagery from...

    Devin Leonardi, Will Avery, 2009, Acrylic on paper, 55.88 x 76.2 cm, 22 x 30 in

    Devin Leonardi’s drawings and paintings take cues from classical painting traditions to capture an idealized American landscape. Gleaning imagery from nineteenth century photographs, his subjects range from the country’s westward expansion to the early stages of industrialization and the American Civil War. Bringing these historical epochs into our current dialogue, Leonardi crafted a conversation around the authenticity of photography and its relationship to painting and the present.
  • Reconstructing his distinctly American source imagery to romantic and atmospheric ends, Leonardi drew from a period that witnessed great transformation...

    Devin Leonardi, The Source is the Goal, 2012, Oil on canvas, 40.01 x 50.17 cm, 15 3/4 x 19 3/4 in

    Reconstructing his distinctly American source imagery to romantic and atmospheric ends, Leonardi drew from a period that witnessed great transformation through the invention of photography and rise of modernity. Wary of equating these developments with progress, the artist’s work offers a contemplative space for considering how history is documented and preserved, transcending his source material to construct timeless allegories unbound by present-day conditions.
  • 'The figures of his America are cities in formation, vistas of the South and West, of the mountains and plains,...
    Devin Leonardi, Manassas Junction, 2009, Acrylic on paper, 73.66 x 53.34 cm, 29 x 21 in

    "The figures of his America are cities in formation, vistas of the South and West, of the mountains and plains, and the settlers, journeymen, and anonymous faces of these changing landscapes that look back at us from the past. Elaborating on these images as paintings, he depicts historical subjects as parables of contemporary life."

     

    - Cora Fisher, SECCA Curator of Contemporary Art, exhibition essay for Devin Leonardi: Figure at Dusk, 2015
  • 'Leonardi's later works move steadily towards allegory, tempering the realism and ethical appeals of photography with the storytelling power of...
    Devin Leonardi, Emerine, 2012, Oil on canvas, 45.09 x 34.93 cm, 17 3/4 x 13 3/4 in

    "Leonardi's later works move steadily towards allegory, tempering the realism and ethical appeals of photography with the storytelling power of painting, and reinforcing painting's primacy. In particular, the dusky hues and moonlit nightscapes of his later paintings transcend the limits of historical photographs."

     

    - Cora Fisher, SECCA Curator of Contemporary Art, exhibition essay for Devin Leonardi: Figure at Dusk, 2015

  • "Devin Leonardi: Figure at Dusk," Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, 2015
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  • Born in Evanston, Illinois, Leonardi exhibited exceptional talent in the arts at a young age, performing in theater and television...

    Born in Evanston, Illinois, Leonardi exhibited exceptional talent in the arts at a young age, performing in theater and television in Chicago while studying visual art at The Chicago Academy for the Arts. After earning a scholarship to New York City’s Cooper Union, Leonardi lived and worked in New York for eleven years, exhibiting frequently with solo shows at Guild & Greyshkul and Broadway 1602 in New York as well as at Altman Siegel in San Francisco. In 2010, the artist moved to Montana with his partner, drawn to the expansive landscape and rich history of the western state. There he lived the remainder of his life, finding tranquility in the magnificent scenery and spending his days painting and exploring the mountainous surroundings.

  • Two Friends on the Shore of Long Island  has been in a private collection since it was made, but images of the work circulate abundantly on the internet.  This inspiring painting has taken on a life of its own in the years since it was created.  We are delighted to be able to offer it again to a larger audience in time for the holidays.

  • FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT INFO@ALTMANSIEGEL.COM OR 415-576-9300.
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