+About the Artist
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James Leonard is a Brooklyn-based artist. His work ranges from figure drawings and handheld objects to videos, installations, and socially engaged performance pieces.
Leonard’s art often examines complex intersections: where agency butts up against impotence, where alarm gives birth to growth, and where optimism coexists with grieving. He hopes that his works can serve as a form of wayfinding, helping others find beauty and joy while navigating the challenges of our twenty-first century existence.
Exhibitions and appearances include Queens Museum, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Wasserman Projects in Detroit, the Delaware Art Museum, and MASS MoCA. His work has been supported by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, the Jersey City Parks Coalition, and the Joseph Robert Foundation. Leonard received his bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and has an MFA from the University of Michigan. He has presented as visiting artist at institutions including Cornell, Harvard, and American University.
Untitled Oars
2013 to present
Mixed Media
These Untitled Oars are intended to be shown as multiples, either as a complete or a partial series. Every oar was found or purchased used. The series is ongoing.
Each paddle blade is rendered useless: ruptured, broken, penetrated, perforated, hollowed out, or otherwise driven through. Shown in concert, each unique process informs the next. Every oar stands as a record of radical transformation.
The Untitled Oars are displayed casually, leaning against the wall, paddle blades upwards. Each oar is spaced evenly from the next. Shadows are allowed to be cast and deliberately left unfilled.
