Leigh Wells, Visage 18, 2025, Mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 35,1 x 27,5 cm
Works (selection)
Leigh Wells
Visage 24, 2025
mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 35,1 x 27,5 cm
Leigh Wells
Visage 18, 2025
mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 35,1 x 27,5 cm
Leigh Wells
Visage 19, 2025
mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 35,1 x 27,5 cm
Leigh Wells
Visage 22, 2025
mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 35,1 x 27,5 cm
Leigh Wells
Visage 23, 2025
mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 35,1 x 27,5 cm
Leigh Wells, Untitled (Embodiment), 2025,
mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 34,9 x 27,3 cm
Leigh Wells, Untitled (Embodiment), 2025,
mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 34,9 x 27,3 cm
Leigh Wells
Untitled (mirror), 2025
mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 36,2 x 29,2 cm
Leigh Wells
Untitled (mirror), 2025
mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 36,2 x 29,2 cm
Leigh Wells
Untitled (mirror), 2025
mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 36,2 x 29,2 cm
Leigh Wells, Untitled (Embodiment), 2025,
mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 34,9 x 27,3 cm
Leigh Wells
Untitled (mirror), 2025
mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 36,2 x 29,2 cm
This Unease, 2022
Collage, Mixed media und Prismacolor auf gefundenem Papier, 37,1 x 29,8 cm
Overconfidence, 2022
Collage, Mixed media und Prismacolor auf gefundenem Papier 37,1 x 29,8 cm
Another Long Pause, 2022
Collage, Mixed media und Prismacolor auf gefundenem Papier 37,1 x 29,1 cm
Untitled, 2024
mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 17.8 x 12.7cm
Pareja 03, 2023
Collage und Mixed media auf Vintage Papier, 37,1 x 29,5 cm
Pareja 04, 2023
Collage und Mixed media auf Vintage Papier, 37,1 x 29,5 cm
Untitled, 2022
Collage und Mixed media auf Vintage Papier, 25,4 x 20,3 cm
SOLD
Untitled, 2024
Collage auf Vintage Papier, 25,4 x 20,3 cm
Untitled, 2024
Collage auf Vintage Papier, 25,4 x 20,3 cm
Untitled, 2024
mixed media and collage on vintage book page, 17.8 x 12.7cm
Visage 09 2024
Mixed media und Graphit auf Vintage Papier 26,7 x 21,6 cm
SOLD
Visage 08, 2024
Mixed media und Graphit auf Vintage Papier 26,7 x 21,6 cm
SOLD
Visage 10, 2024
Mixed media und Graphit auf Vintage Papier 26,7 x 21,6 cm
SOLD
Leigh Wells
Pareja 09, 2023
Collage and mixed media on vintage paper, 37,1 x 29,5 cm
Pareja 10, 2023
Collage und Mixed media auf Vintage Papier, 37,1 x 29,5 cm
Leigh Wells
Pareja 05, 2023
Collage and mixed media on vintage paper, 37,1 x 29,5 cm
Leigh Wells
Pareja 06, 2023
Collage and mixed media on vintage paper, 37,1 x 29,5 cm
Installation Views
Exhibition view, Leigh Wells @ Van der Grinten Galerie, January 2025
photo credit: M. Wittassek
Exhibition view, Leigh Wells @ Van der Grinten Galerie, January 2025
photo credit: M. Wittassek
Exhibition view, Leigh Wells @ Van der Grinten Galerie, January 2025
photo credit: M. Wittassek
Exhibition view, Leigh Wells @ Van der Grinten Galerie, January 2025
photo credit: M. Wittassek
Exhibition view, Leigh Wells @ Van der Grinten Galerie, January 2025
photo credit: M. Wittassek
Exhibition view, Leigh Wells @ Van der Grinten Galerie, January 2025
photo credit: M. Wittassek
Exhibition view, Leigh Wells @ Van der Grinten Galerie, January 2025
photo credit: M. Wittassek
Exhibition view, Leigh Wells @ Van der Grinten Galerie, January 2025
photo credit: M. Wittassek
Vita
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 Krüger, 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 |
Texts and statements on exhibitions
Leigh Wells
Leigh Wells, Configuration
January 25, 2025
—
March 22, 2025
To celebrate the start of 2025, Van der Grinten Galerie is delighted to open the first solo exhibition with new gallery artist Leigh Wells in its space!
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
—
March 22, 2025
To celebrate the start of 2025, Van der Grinten Galerie is delighted to open the first solo exhibition with new gallery artist Leigh Wells in its space!
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.
Press and other texts
Films
| 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 |
Links