Craig Leonard
Craig Leonard is an artist and teacher at NSCAD University. He was Canada Council artist-in-residence at Acme studios in London UK in 2012-13 and at MASS MoCA in 2018.
His solo exhibitions include Central Art Garage (Ottawa), Double Happiness Projects (Toronto), Anna Leonowens Gallery (Halifax), Mercer Union and A Space (Toronto), WWTWO (Montreal), Eyelevel Gallery (Halifax) AXE NÉO7 (Hull), Raid Projects (Los Angeles), Acme Project Space (London), Artcite (Windsor), Modern Fuel (Kingston), Artspace (Peterborough) and Eyelevel (Halifax). and Anarch (London, UK).
He has participated in numerous group exhibitions nationally and internationally.
His numerous publications include: Ironwork for Dirac House, Canadian Art; The Halifax Conference (New Documents, Los Angeles); Non-Trivial Characters (Double Happiness Projects); Stretching Exercises (with Michael Fernandes) as well audio projects.
Craig Leonard personal website
Available Works
Bone Glue, 2023
Craig Leonard
Three-colour screenprint, Edition of 5 and 2 AP, 19 x 26”
“I am interested in subtly making the familiar strange so there is a point of entry, but no reliable resolution. The creation of defamiliarized experience, then, means the possibility of the creation of new origins. Herein, for me, is art’s political function.”
Shaken Antlers, 2015
Craig Leonard
Cork mat, one of 24, each uniquely altered. 39” x 26 3/4” x 2” framed.
First exhibited as part of his 2017 Central Art Garage solo exhibition ‘A Good Perch for a Stretch’, Leonard’s Pitch Sets continue his exploration of possible configurations within a set of parameters.
Each numbered Pitch Set is a sculpture created from eight existing industrial man-made objects whose original purpose was based on it’s inherent breakability and impermanence.
These objects are fragile, and the assigned stacking renders an instability to the sculptures. Leonard imbues the owner with a responsibility to maintain the piece, not only as a precarious object, but to adhere to the assigned rules of assembly.
Synthesis, 2017
Mindfulness as an internal form of integration developing the 'soft skills' for career success.
Craig Leonard
Blended fibres and polyethylene film with screen-printed text.
of Meaning, 2016
Craig Leonard
Bookwork in 3 volumes. Limited Edition of 30 sets.
Pitch Sets, 2017
The constructive role of an ordering of a specific collection of elements.
Craig Leonard
High calcium limestone and petroleum pitch. Numbered 1-16 based on specific configuration.
Shaken Antlers installation, 2015
Casting the Conference, 2016, five-part theatrical re-enactment of the 1970 Halifax Conference