Gallery Artists

Andrew Leonard

In a text-based society, art at large has shied away from the use of text in art. Save for artists like Basquiat, words have been left for writers. My work questions this separation.

Everywhere we look we are confronted with words: emails, web sites, books, magazine, billboards. We use resumes to represent ourselves, and artist statements to describe our work. In my "Word Drawings," I use words as my visual pallet. I use the simplest description of an image, the English word, to create my aesthetic. The words used describe what might be there, abstracting the idea of what makes an image. The repetition of the word and the use of oil bar helps to further my aesthetic, bringing the elements of color and texture to each piece.

"Self Portrait" takes the idea of our names being who we are, and uses that as the portrait of the artist. I use the familiarity of the self-portrait, along with the prominence of a name, to give the viewer a point of reference in the work.

"Everything Else Was Silent" shows the fragility of peace. The white textural background of the piece is made from the repetition of the word "peace." With the addition of the word "war" the field of "peace" is quickly lost, hardly recognizable.

Top: "Self Portrait," oil stick on paper, 30"x44", 2006.

Bottom: "Everything Else Was Silent," oil stick on paper, 30"x44", 2006.