May 19 - June 11, 2022
A red evening sky, the body language of daily commuters, the glow of lights from a neighbor’s house – Anna Leonhardt synthesizes life’s endless stimuli in her abstract work. Malevich said that a painted surface is a real living form, here in sheer vitality Leonhardt activates her paintings with numerous layers of thick oil paint. Every inch of the luscious surface is carefully attended to, resulting in a two-fold enthrallment, that of color and materiality.
Most distinct are vertical and horizontal forms Leonhardt affectionately calls “Raumzeug” (“Space Stuff”). Rightfully so, they are the very life-force of her paintings. Always in exuberant impasto, these multi-layered marks may seem to float freely but they are in constant interaction, epitomizing Leonhardt’s innate grasp for rhythm and balance.
Preferring the palette knife, with each drag Leonhardt welcomes accidents and consequences, building up complex compositions intuitively as much as empirically. Colors are the star performers on her operatic stage, they bleed and blend right up to the edges of the canvas. Luminous and mystic, her paintings are lucid metaphors of the physical world.
Anna Leonhardt (b. 1981 Pforzheim, Germany) studied painting under Professor Ralf Kerbach in Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, a school renowned for its highly technical and formal academia. Leonhardt has shown in Dresden, Berlin and Leipzig and her work is in numerous private and public collections including Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, Kunstsammlung des Sächsischen Landtages, art collection of the Saxon Parliament and Ostsächsische Sparkasse Dresden.
Selected Works
T.X.
2023
Oil on linen
23.6 x 27.5 in (60 x 70 cm)
N.E.
2023
Oil on linen
23.6 x 19.7 in (60 x 50 cm)
U.X.
2023
Oil on linen
23.6 x 19.7 in (60 x 50 cm)
O.R.
2023
Oil on linen
27.5 x 23.6 in (70 x 60 cm)
Saux
2023
Oil on linen
27.5 x 19.7 in (70 x 50 cm)
Imka Jock
2023
Oil on linen
75 x 59 in (190.5 x 149.9 cm)
Jajewo
2022
Oil on linen
78.7 x 59 in (200 x 150 cm)
Assagy
2022
Oil on linen
78.7 x 59 in (200 x 150 cm.)
Py Zemp
2022
Oil on linen
45 x 39 in (114.3 x 99 cm)
Fety Gott
2022
Oil on linen
48 x 36 in (122 x 91.4 cm)
Pamm Giam TV
2022
Oil on linen
34 x 28 in (86.36 x 71.12 cm)
Kivi
2022
Oil on linen
27 x 19 in (68.58 x 48.26 cm)
Nost
2022
Oil on linen
25 x 19 in (63.5 x 48.26 cm)
Steps
2020
Oil on Linen
31.5 x 25.6 in
Dimension (metric)
80 x 65 cm
Form Four
2020
Oil on Linen
29.5 x 25.6 in (75 x 65 cm)
Time Machine
2019
Oil on linen
68 x 100 inches (172.7 x 254 cm)
Crossing Borders
2019
Oil on linen
74 x 63 inches (188 x 160 cm)
Blue Lights
2019
Oil on linen
51 x 40 in (129.5 x 101.6 cm)
Metal Squares
2019
Oil on linen
65.0 x 50.0 in (165.1 x 127 cm)
4C
2019
Oil on Linen
51 x 40 in (129.5 x 101.6 cm)
Twist
2018
Oil on Linen
65 x 50 inches (165 x 127 cm)
My Favorite Reflection
2018
Oil on Linen
51.0 x 40.0 in (129.5 x 101.6 cm)
Studio in Motion
2018
Oil on Linen
72.0 x 50.0 in (182.9 x 127 cm)
Blue Cloud
2017
Oil on Linen
76 x 110 in (193 x 279.4 cm)
Sidewalk
2017
Oil on Linen
90.0 x 72.0 in (228.6 x 182.9 cm)
Lounge
2017
Oil on Linen
90.0 x 72.0 in (228.6 x 182.9 cm)
Inside Out III
2016
Oil on Canvas
39.4 x 29.5 in (100.0 x 75 cm)
Inside Out I
2016
Oil on Canvas
39.4 x 29.5 in (100.0 x 75 cm)
Inside Out IV
2016
Oil on Canvas
39.4 x 29.5 in (100.0 x 75 cm)
Walls
2017
Oil on Linen
76.0 x 110.0 in (193.0 x 279.4 cm)