Leigh Wells

Born in 1965, lives and works in Sausalito, Californien

Visage 08
2024, mixed media and graphite on vintage paper, 10.5 x 8.5 in. (26.7 x 21.6 cm)

Leigh Wells

Born in 1965, lives and works in Sausalito, Californien

Leigh Wells in her studio

Curriculum Vitae

1988 BFA, Design, Summa Cum Laude, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA  
1998-2021 Studio Art Studies at Parsons/New School, New York, 

Crown Point Press, San Francisco Art Institute and NYC Crit Club

Grants and awards

2022 Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant Recipient SFMOMA SECA Award Nominee
2021 Anonymous Was a Woman Award Nominee
2020 Minnesota Street Studios, San Francisco, Artist member (2018-2020)

Solo Exhibitions (selected)

2025 Upcoming, Van der Grinten Gallery, Cologne, Germany
2022 Tensile Strength, The Fourth Wall, Oakland, CA
2019 Jack Fischer Gallery, 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

Group Exhibitions (selected)

2024 Limen, Tappan Collective, Los Angeles, CA
2023 The Schuh Show, Van der Grinten Gallerie, Cologne, Germany
True North, diRosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA
2020 Mind Reader, Markel Fine Arts Viewing Room, New York, NY
2019 Portrait, The Jones Institute, San Francisco, CA 
Still Yet Forward, Ampersand International Arts, San Francisco, CA
2018 No Rhyme or Reason, Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Paper Cuts: Large-Scale Collage, Palo Alto Art Center, Palo Alto, CA
2016 Fog a Mirror, CES Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
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
The Age of Collage, Gallery Feinkunst KrĂĽger, Hamburg, Germany
Feature, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
2013 The Age of Collage, Gestalten Space, Berlin, Germany
col-la-ge, mini | galerie, Amsterdam, Netherlands
In Spite Of, The Holland Project, Reno, NV
Summer Group Show, Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Range, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
2012 Decade, Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, CA
Ninth Annual Benefit Auction, The Drawing Center, New York, NY
2011 Tensile Strength, ZieherSmith, New York, NY
Building Context, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2008 These Are the People in Your Neighborhood, Gallery 16, San Francisco, CA

Leigh Wells

Leigh Wells, Configuration

January 25, 2025

 â€” 

March 22, 2025

Leigh Wells (*1964, lives and works in Sausalito, California) works almost classically with the means of collage. Her abstract, reduced works, which have something archaic about them as a result of this reduction, give voice to deeply felt mental and emotional states. Their expressive tension is heightened by deliberate spatial and narrative ambiguity. Colored painted surfaces, geometrically cut out, are combined with elements from historical, exquisitely printed black and white illustrations from art books. Organic, sensual-looking surfaces and purely colored sections are subtly complemented by discrete pencil elements – whether line or shading, which emphasize the abstract compositions with tactile vibrancy and additional relief and rhythm. Sometimes there are also painted interventions that create a contrasting encounter between the more or less smooth surfaces through visible brushstrokes.

The result is abstract, delicately balanced, dynamic compositions that are not least reminiscent of musically inspired variations.

Leigh Wells

Leigh Wells, Configuration

January 25, 2025

 â€” 

March 22, 2025

Leigh Wells (*1964, lives and works in Sausalito, California) works almost classically with the means of collage. Her abstract, reduced works, which have something archaic about them as a result of this reduction, give voice to deeply felt mental and emotional states. Their expressive tension is heightened by deliberate spatial and narrative ambiguity. Colored painted surfaces, geometrically cut out, are combined with elements from historical, exquisitely printed black and white illustrations from art books. Organic, sensual-looking surfaces and purely colored sections are subtly complemented by discrete pencil elements – whether line or shading, which emphasize the abstract compositions with tactile vibrancy and additional relief and rhythm. Sometimes there are also painted interventions that create a contrasting encounter between the more or less smooth surfaces through visible brushstrokes.

The result is abstract, delicately balanced, dynamic compositions that are not least reminiscent of musically inspired variations.

2022 Pritikin, Renny. “Leigh Wells at The Fourth Wall”, Squarecylinder, September 22, 2022
Taylor, Mark. “Tensile Strength: Leigh Wells”, SF/Arts, September 3, 2022
2021 “Reviewing the Book Review”, New York Times Book Review, February 16, 2021
2020 “To Philosophize Is to Learn How to Die”, New York Times Opinion Pages, April 11, 2020
2019 “It’s Not Just a Chemical Imbalance”, New York Times Opinion Pages, July 27, 2019
2016 “What Do We Know?”, New York Times Opinion Pages, December 31, 2016
“I Am a Dangerous Professor", New York Times Opinion Pages, November 30, 2016 
“What is the Use of Regret?”, New York Times Opinion Pages, November 12, 2016
“Why Do Anything?”, New York Times Opinion Pages, September 17, 2016
2015 Seligman, Craig. “Fitted to the Occasion,” Elle Decor, March 2015. pp 138-141
2013 The Age of Collage: Contemporary Collage in Modern Art, Berlin: Gestalten, 2013. pp 114-117
Danza, Emmie. "Leigh Wells", The Drawing Center, The Bottom Line, August 5, 2013
Grattan, Nikki, "Leigh Wells", In The Make, March 2013
Gallagher, James. "Cut-Up Nostalgia." UnFLOP Paper 4. Fall/Winter 2012-2013
2012 Baker, Kenneth. “Leigh Wells: Remains.” San Francisco Chronicle, April 4, 2012
2011 Baker, Kenneth. “Don't Miss,” San Francisco Chronicle, November 6, 2011
Baker, Kenneth. “Collage, culture and mulching at Guerrero Gallery,” SF Chronicle, August 27, 2011
2008 Untitled (Robert Frost), 2008. Harper’s Magazine. September 2008. p 93
Chevron Corporate Collection, San Francisco, CA
Norwegian Cruise Lines
Salvatore Ferragamo Collection, Milan, Italy
Cosmopolitan Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
Palace Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Superba Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA