EAST HAMPTON, NY.- The Drawing Room in East Hampton is recently began a solo exhibition of recent canvases by Hector Leonardi, a longtime resident of Bridgehampton. Concurrently, selected works by Mats Gustafson, Alice Hope, Kathryn Lynch, Racelle Strick and John Torreano will also be on view in the adjacent gallery.

Hector Leonardi’s show centers on a new body of work generated through his unique approach to combining intuitive composition with layers of bountiful color. For each painting, the artist sets in motion tonal harmonies with the sophistication of a musical score that culminate in a singular aesthetic expression. In both large and small canvases, color resonates across the surface, the subtleties articulated by brushwork and texture he frequently adds with collage or assemblage elements. Color in Three Dimensions is a large painting replete with measured flights of rich reds, blues and greens and an undulating picture plane created by ripples of dried acrylic paint the artist has removed from his worktable and applied to the surface. A crescendo of Leonardi’s playful, inventive process, the painting also emphasizes the capacity of color itself to be the subject of a work of art.

More muted canvases in the exhibition afford the viewer further glimpses into Leonardi’s ability to evoke nuanced, dynamic consonance within the shades and tints of the spectrum. Originally immersed in the color theory of Josef Albers while a graduate student at Yale University in the 1950s, the artist developed a distinctive voice that reflects both the enduring discipline of seeing color and a devotion to revealing its unending melodic possibilities.

Hector Leonardi (b. 1930) lives in Bridgehampton, New York, where his light-filled studio in a converted potato barn is bordered by gardens and farmland. The artist began spending time on Long Island’s East End in the 1970s, renting a house on the cliffs of Montauk with 360° views of the ocean. While teaching at the Parsons School of Design over the next two decades, he divided his time between Long Island and Manhattan, where he maintained a studio in the city’s bustling flower district. His work has been widely exhibited and collected, both in the United States and Europe.

Drawing Room in East Hampton
Hector Leonardi: Orchestrating Color
January 13th, 2024 - March 31st, 2024