73300 El Paseo
Palm Desert, CA 92260
Winter Hours
10-5pm Mon-Sat, 11-4 Sun
Menu Open Menu
Close Close Menu
Artist

Terry Leness

The Beauty Spot Lense
The Beauty Spot
Oil on Canvas
20x28
The Gatekeeper Lense
The Gatekeeper
Oil on Canvas
18x24
The Acolyte Lense
The Acolyte
Oil on Canvas
28x20
Last Call
Last Call
Oil on Canvas
20x28
Jumble Sale
Jumble Sale
Oil on Canvas
20x24
Fortress
Fortress
Oil on Canvas
Sold

My work is all about sunlight, the play of light on objects, the varying degrees of contrast between light and shadow, and deep, saturated color.  Long shadows cast by buildings, window reflections, and pockets of darkness under eaves and in doorways all capture my attention.

I am exploring more, however, than the mere play of light and shadow on architectural form.  I am drawn most often to older commercial buildings, early to mid 20th century bungalows squatting amidst tired or overgrown landscaping, dilapidated outbuildings and, everywhere, careworn campers, tottering on blocks, abandoned in fields or parked on the side of the road.  Each building, each camper, every eccentric landscaping scheme has a story to ponder.

I believe that we have an unconscious capacity to visually weed out many elements in our environment that displease us or disrupt our sense of beauty and balance.  It is easy to edit out the ubiquitous telephone poles and wires, yet it is exactly those details that focus my attention most keenly.  We are continually assaulted by visual discordance in our increasingly chaotic and over-populated world, and I am not alone in lamenting the lack of cohesion and creative vision in our attempts to control, sculpt and manage our environment.  However, brilliant light, deep shadows, strong color and repetitive forms and patterns never fail to lend interest to even the most ordinary subjects and are the very elements that best describe and define my work.

Education

  • 1981 BA, Art History, Harvard University
  • 1977/79 Morehead Fellow, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill

Exhibitions

  • 2018 Thick as Thieves, G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
  • Centers of Gravity, Permanent Collection Exhibition, Shoreline, WA
  • 2017 Skidmore Contemporary Art, Santa Monica, CA/Solo Show
  • G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA/Solo Show
  • Food Art Invitational, Seattle, WA
  • 2016 American Painting Today, Sponsored by Hedreen Gallery, Seattle, WA
  • Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA/Group Show
  • Skidmore Contemporary Art, Santa Monica, CA/Group Show
  • American Road Trip, SITE:Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn Prize
  • 2015 Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA/Solo Show
  • On the Road, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
  • Mrs. Goldberg, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA
  • 2014 Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA/Solo Show
  • 2013 Sugar Rush, En Em Artspace, Sacramento, CA
  • Suburbia, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
  • Smith & Vallee Gallery, Edison, WA/Solo Show
  • G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle WA
  • 2012 Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA
  • 10x10x10 Tieton, Tieton, WA
  • Contained, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA
  • Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA
  • Damage Control, Gage Academy of Art, Seattle, WA
  • 2011 Museo Gallery, Langley, WA/Solo Show
  • Art Port Townsend, Northwind, Port Townsend, WA/Merit Award
  • 10x10x10 Tieton, Tieton, WA
  • Material World, Northwind Arts Alliance, Port Townsend, WA
  • Saints & Sinners, Museo Gallery, Langley, WA
  • 2010 Home, DIGS, Bellingham, WA/Solo Show
  • Dwelling, Smith & Vallee Gallery, Edison, WA
  • Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA
  • Sweet Laurette’s, Port Townsend, WA/Solo Show
  • Safe Harbor, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA
  • Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA
  • Bainbridge Island Public Library, Bainbridge Island, WA
  • 2009 Northwind Arts Alliance, Port Townsend, WA
  • Department of Ecology, Olympia, WA
  • Envision Cascadia, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA
  • Sweet Laurette’s, Port Townsend, WA/Solo Show
  • Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA
  • 2008 Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA/Merit Award
  • Strait Art, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA
  • Northwind Arts Alliance, Port Townsend, WA

Publications

  • 2018 New American Paintings, Supplement
  • 2017 The Seattle Times, April 19, 2017, “Please Don’t Eat the Art,” by Bethany Jean Clement
  • 2015 Seattle Magazine, vol. 24, no. 9, September 2015, pg. 123
  • City Arts, October 2015, pg. 3
    http://cityartsonline.com/articles/beautiful-gloom
  • 2014 New American Paintings, no. 115, Pacific Coast
  • Cover Art, The Stranger
  • 2013 The Seattle Times, December 20, 2013, “Suburbia: Dream or Nightmare?” by Michael Upchurch, pg. 23.
  • International Artist, No. 92, August/September 2013, “The Power of Notan in Landscape Composition” by Mitchell Albala, pg. 50.
  • Studio Visit, Volume 19
  • 2010 On Center, JULY-OCTOBER 2010, Vol. XXII, No. 4
  • Studio Visit, Volume 9
  • On Center, MARCH-MAY 2010, Vol. XXII, No. 2
  • 2009 On Center, SUMMER/FALL 2009, Vol. XXI, No. 4
  • The Leader, JUNE 10, 2009, Issue 23/Vol. 120
  • The Bainbridge Island Review, Vol. 109, No. 3
  • 2008 On Center, MAR-MAY 2008, Vol. XX, No. 2

Residencies

  • 2012 Ucross Foundation, Clearmont, WY
  • 2010 Centrum, Port Townsend, WA