Leigh Wells

Bio

Leigh Wells creates collages, drawings, and three-dimensional constructions exploring the mysterious boundaries between truth and the unknowable. Her work has been included in solo and group exhibitions in the US and Europe, and is part of several private collections. She holds a BFA summa cum laude from the University of San Francisco with further study at Crown Point Press, the San Francisco Art Institute and Parsons/New School in New York. Oakland born, she lives and works in the Bay Area, and is currently a visiting artist at Minnesota Street Project Studios in San Francisco.



EDUCATION

  • 1988

    • BFA, summa cum laude, University of San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
    • Further study at San Francisco Art Institute, Crown Point Press and Parsons/New School

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

  • 2019

    scratch the surface, Jack Fischer Gallery, San Francisco, CA (two-person show with Kate Nartker)

  • 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

  • 2019

    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

    • Array, Berkeley Art Center, Berkeley, CA
    • The Age of Collage, Gestalten Space, Berlin, Germany
    • col-la-ge, mini | galerie, Amsterdam, Netherlands
    • In Spite Of, The Holland Project, Reno, NV
    • Buddy System Invitational, Breeze Block Gallery, Portland, OR
    • Summer Group Show, Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, CA
    • Range, PDX Contemporary Art, Portland, OR
    • The End, Beginnings, Brooklyn, NY

  • 2012

    • Decade, Gregory Lind Gallery, San Francisco, CA
    • Heap Gives Up, Beginnings, Brooklyn, NY
    • Ninth Annual Benefit Auction, The Drawing Center, New York, NY

  • 2011

    • Tensile Strength, ZieherSmith, New York, NY
    • Building Context, Guerrero Gallery, San Francisco, CA
    • All That Remains, Ugly Art Room, Brooklyn, NY

  • 2008

    • These Are the People in Your Neighborhood, Gallery 16, San Francisco, CA

BIBLIOGRAPHY/PUBLICATIONS

  • “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. pp114-117.
  • 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,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 27, 2011.
  • Earle, David, ed. Open Daybook. Brooklyn, NY: Mark Batty Publisher, 2010.
  • Untitled (Robert Frost), 2008. Harper’s Magazine. September 2008. p 93.

COMMISSIONS/COLLECTIONS

  • Cosmopolitan Hotel, Las Vegas, NV
  • Salvatore Ferragamo Collection, Milan, Italy