James Leonard launches new website

Brooklyn-based artist James Leonard (MFA ​’04) recently launched a new comprehensive online catalogue: jamesleonard​.org. This new website gives visitors a chance to browse, view and read about almost 30 years worth of the artist’s work.

Leonard is known for politically provocative and philosophically complex artworks, such as a traveling tent tour where he gave climate change related tarot readings or a performance in New York City where whittled a boat out from under himself over three weeks.

James Leonard is a Brooklyn-based artist. His work ranges from figure drawings and handheld objects to videos, installations, and socially engaged performance pieces.

Leonard’s art often examines complex intersections: where agency butts up against impotence, where alarm gives birth to growth, and where optimism coexists with grieving. He hopes that his works can serve as a form of wayfinding, helping others find beauty and joy while navigating the challenges of our twenty-first century existence. 

Exhibitions and appearances include Queens Museum, the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Wasserman Projects in Detroit, the Delaware Art Museum, and MASS MoCA. His work has been supported by the Rhode Island Council for the Humanities, the Jersey City Parks Coalition, and the Joseph Robert Foundation. Leonard received his bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and has an MFA from the University of Michigan. He has presented as visiting artist at institutions including Cornell, Harvard, and American University.