Leigh Wells constructs collage, drawings and sculpture of found materials, paper, and fabric as well as paintings on pieced textiles that consist of simple, restrained abstract forms.
As an internationally exhibiting artist, her work has been shown in New York, Los Angeles, Berlin, Hamburg and Amsterdam. Bay Area solo shows include Gregory Lind Gallery, Ampersand International Arts, and Gallery 16 in San Francisco. She is a 2022 Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant recipient, was a SFMOMA SECA Award nominee and an artist member of Minnesota Street Studios in San Francisco.
Leigh's work appears frequently in The New York Times and Harper’s Magazine, and has been featured in Elle Decor among other publications. She earned a BFA from the University of San Francisco with subsequent art studies at Parsons/The New School, New York where she was an instructor, Crown Point Press and the San Francisco Art Institute.
CV
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 / Tensile Strength, The Fourth Wall, Oakland, CA
2019 / Jack Fischer Gallery (two person exhibition), 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
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2023
True North, diRosa Center for Contemporary Art, Napa, CA
The Schuh Show, Van der Grinten Galerie, Cologne, Germany
2022
The New Mid-Century Modernism, ZieherSmith, Nashville, TN
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
HONORS
2022
Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant Recipient
SFMOMA SECA Award Nominee
Minnesota Street Studios, San Francisco, Visiting Artist
2021
Anonymous Was a Woman Award Nominee
2020
Minnesota Street Studios, San Francisco, Artist member (2018-2020)
BIBLIOGRAPHY/PUBLICATIONS
Pritikin, Renny. “Leigh Wells at The Fourth Wall”, Squarecylinder, September 22, 2022
Taylor, Mark. “Tensile Strength: Leigh Wells”, SF/Arts, September 3, 2022
“It’s Not Just a Chemical Imbalance”, New York Times Opinion Pages, July 27, 2019
“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
Seligman, Craig. “Fitted to the Occasion,” Elle Decor, March 2015. pp 138-141
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
Baker, Kenneth. “Leigh Wells: Remains.” San Francisco Chronicle, April 4, 2012
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
Untitled (Robert Frost), 2008. Harper’s Magazine. September 2008. p 93
COMMISSIONS/COLLECTIONS
Chevron Corporate Collection, San Francisco, CA
Cosmopolitan Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
Palace Hotel, San Francisco, CA
Salvatore Ferragamo Collection, Milan, Italy
EDUCATION
1998-2022
Studio Art Studies at Parsons/New School, New York, Crown Point Press,
San Francisco Art Institute, and NYC Crit Club
1988
BFA, Design, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
Graduated Summa Cum Laude