Leonie Guyer – info

Leonie Guyer Artist Statement

I’m interested in the iconic function of painting – in painting as a context, a space, in which to focus awareness, articulate energy, and offer a deep experience of seeing. As a contemporary artist, I realize there is no intact iconic tradition for me to work within – rather, my work comes out of a longing for an intact iconography, and an awareness of its absence. The work is a consideration of iconic and aniconic, form and formless – the process whereby energy flows from formless into form, forms dissolve and new forms are generated.

In drawing, painting, and site responsive projects, the work explores the interconnection between idiosyncratic shapes and the spaces they inhabit. The shapes conflate geometric and organic structures, referring obliquely to natural forms, artifacts, glyphs, and architecture. A tension hovers in the work in the relationship between rigorous simplicity and subtle eccentricities of form.

A critical part of this relationship exists in the intense working of the forms – the edges of the shapes reveal the history of their making, and energize the surrounding space. I work towards a moment when the shape and the ground form a vibrating stasis.

I pay particular attention to scale, and I use simple materials – graphite and colored pencil, sumi ink, gouache, chalk gesso grounds, handmade oil paint – on paper, wood panels, and on walls and windows. Site responsive projects extend my studio practice into an expanded field.

Leonie Guyer cv

EDUCATION

1989 M.F.A. San Francisco Art Institute
1985 B.F.A. San Francisco Art Institute

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

ONE, TWO, THREE PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2010 DOUGLAS F. COOLEY MEMORIAL ART GALLERY, REED COLLEGE, Portland, OR, “Abstract: Léonie Guyer, Ruth Laskey, Lynne Woods Turner”
2006 SHAKER MUSEUM and LIBRARY, New Lebanon, NY, “Gift”
2005 REMOTE SATELLITE, Oakland, CA, “Michael Damm, Léonie Guyer, Kyle Knobel”
2004 MARJORIE WOOD GALLERY, San Francisco, CA
2002 PLUS KUNST, Düsseldorf, Germany, ” brilliant pebbles: Sarah Cain, Michael Damm, Léonie Guyer”
2000 PATRICIA SWEETOW GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, ”
1997 PATRICIA SWEETOW GALLERY, San Francisco, CA
1992 UNTITLED: A GALLERY, San Francisco, CA
1990 30 ROSE GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, “Materia Prima”

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2010 TRIPLE BASE GALLERY, San Francisco, CA
2009 GALLERY JOE, Philadelphia, PA, “50 very small works on paper”
TRIPLE BASE GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, “Out of the Flat Files II”
2008 MERIDIAN GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, “Form +”
2008-10 BENNINGTON MUSEM, Bennington, VT, “Reimagining the Distaff Toolkit”, traveling to: THE GARDINER GALLERY, Oklahoma State University; ELEANOR D. WILSON MUSEUM, Hollins University, Roanoke, VA; THE MORRIS MUSEUM, Morristown, NJ; MANDEVILLE GALLERY, Union College, Schenectady, NY; DENISON UNIVERSITY MUSEUM, Granville, OH; BEARD GALLERY, Wheaton College, Norton, MA; ELLEN NOEL ART MUSEUM, Odessa, TX; THE 40 ACRES ART GALLERY, Sacramento, CA
2006 ELIZABETH LEACH GALLERY, Portland, OR
2005 PULLIAM DEFFENBAUGH GALLERY, Portland, OR, “Bay Area Bazaar”
TUCSON MUSEUM OF ART, Tucson, AZ, “Paint on Metal”
2004 ROSENWALD-WOLF GALLERY, UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS, Philadelphia, PA, “Traces”
GALLERY JOE, Philadelphia, PA, “small works”
GALLERY JOE, Philadelphia, PA, “Three Week Show”
2003 JEWISH MUSEUM, San Francisco, CA, “Crossing Bridges”
21 GRAND, Oakland, CA, “New Place-oriented Works”
2002 WALTER/McBEAN GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, “Sight Unseen”
2001 GALLERY JOE, Philadelphia, PA, “Taking Stock”
WALTER/McBEAN GALLERY, “ExtraOrdinary”
2000 GALLERY JOE, Philadelphia, PA, “Introducing -Drawings by four artists: Léonie Guyer, Chris Hiebert, Marco Maggi, Lynne Woods Turner”, PIEROGI 2000, Brooklyn, NY, “Flat Files,” traveled to: YERBA BUENA CENTER FOR THE ARTS, San Francisco, CA; POST GALLERY, Los Angeles, CA; BLOCK ARTSPACE, Kansas City, MO
1998 WALTER/McBEAN GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, “pFORMative ACTS”
PATRICIA SWEETOW GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, “Gallery Survey”
SECOND SPACE GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, “Work in Progress”
1997 SECESSION GALLERY in conjunction with HAINES GALLERY, San Francisco,CA, ” Discards”
1996 MILLS COLLEGE ART MUSEUM, Oakland, CA, “Abstraction Absolved: 10 Bay Area Painters”
PUSH ARTSPACE, San Francisco, CA, “Joyce Burstein, Léonie Guyer, Laurie Reid, Kathryn VanDyke”
THE LAB, San Francisco, CA, “Optimism & Sarcasm”
1995 VICTORIA ROOM, San Francisco, CA, “Big Jesus Trash Can”
ROBERT BERMAN GALLERY, Santa Monica, CA, “Black, White and Grey Matter”
ARTOPIA GALLERY, Los Angeles, CA, “Window”
1994 VICTORIA ROOM, San Francisco, CA, “The 6 x 9 Show”
1993 THE DRAWING CENTER, New York, NY, “The Return of the Exquisite Corpse”
ROBERT BERMAN GALLERY, Santa Monica, CA, “Mondo Lot – Sine Qua Non (The Essential Thing)”
SAN FRANCISCO ART INSTITUTE, San Francisco, CA, “Exhibitionism”
1992 ZEN CENTER HOSPICE GUEST HOUSE, San Francisco, CA, “Still Lives”
1991 UPAYA GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, “Contemporary Art: Part 1″
BUDAPEST GALERIA, Budapest, Hungary, “Fresh Squeezed”
ATLA, Los Angeles, CA, “Evidence of Life”
FALKIRK CULTURAL CENTER, San Rafael, CA, “Lingua Franca”
1990 SAN FRANCISCO ART COMMISSION GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, “Chain Reaction VI”
TERRAIN GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, “A.M.D.G. Exhibition”
EMMANUEL RADNITZKY GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, “Good Friday the Thirteenth: A Flower Show”
1989 PRO ARTS GALLERY, Oakland, CA, “Pro Arts Annual Exhibition”
FORT MASON, San Francisco, CA, “Masters of Fine Arts Exhibition”
1988 SAN FRANCISCO ARTS COMMISSION GALLERY, San Francisco, CA, “Chain Reaction IV”
1987 GALERIA DE LA RAZA, San Francisco, CA, “El Dia de Los Muertos/Day of the Dead Exhibition”

PERMANENT INSTALLATIONS / RESIDENCIES

2010 LUMBER ROOM, Portland, OR, Artist residency and commissioned, permanent installation
2006 SHAKER MUSEUM and LIBRARY, Artist residency and long-term installation

AWARDS

2006 NEW YORK STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS, “Sites ReSeen” Grant
2002 JOHN ANSON KITTREDGE FOUNDATION Fellowship
1997 CALIFORNIA ARTS COUNCIL, Artist in Residence Grant
1996 CALIFORNIA ARTS COUNCIL, Artist in Residence Grant
1995 CALIFORNIA ARTS COUNCIL, Artist in Residence Grant
1987 SAN FRANCISCO FOUNDATION, Murphy and Cadogan Fellowship in the Fine Arts

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

SAN FRANCISCO MUSEUM OF MODERN ART
SHAKER MUSEUM and LIBRARY, New Lebanon, NY
YALE UNIVERSITY, BEINECKE RARE BOOKS and MANUSCRIPTS LIBRARY
REED COLLEGE

ARTIST BOOKS

Not an Exit, by Bill Berkson (poetry) and Léonie Guyer (drawing), Jungle Garden Press, Fairfax, CA, 2010, limited edition of 50 letterpress books, each contains eight letterpress prints made from drawings
Mantra Box, by Franck André Jamme (poetry) and Léonie Guyer (drawing) Festina Lente, Paris, 2009, limited edition of 25 letterpress books, each contains an original drawing, from a suite of 25 related drawings

CATALOGS / SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Abstract: Léonie Guyer, Ruth Laskey, Lynne Woods Turner, Douglas F. Cooley Memorial Gallery, Reed College,
texts by Franck André Jamme, Lawrence Rinder, Stephanie Snyder, 2010, catalog
Léonie Guyer: Constellation, lumber room record, text by Lisa Radon, 2010, catalog
New Exercises, Dhyana, Form +, designed by Colter Jacobson, published by Meridian Gallery, text by Lawrence Rinder, 2008, zine/catalog
Kiki, designed by Colter Jacobson, published by Ratio 3, 2008, zine/catalog
Léonie Guyer: Gift, Shaker Museum and Library and Reed College, text by Stephanie Snyder, 2007, catalog
Whistle, designed by Sarah Cain, published by San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2007, zine
Five Fingers Review, pages 31-36: six inkworks, Berkeley, CA, Issue 22, 2005, journal
Paint on Metal, Tucson Museum of Art, 2005, catalog
Sight Unseen, Walter & McBean Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute, 2002, catalog
Abstraction Absolved: Ten Bay Area Painters, Mills College Art Museum, Oakland, CA ,1996, catalog
Zyzzyva, “Self-Portraits from the 6 x 9 Show at Victoria Room,” Vol. X, No. 3, Fall 1994, journal
Mondo Lot, Robert Berman Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, 1993, catalog
Pro Arts Annual Exhibition, Pro Arts Gallery, Oakland, CA, 1989, catalog

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Victoria Blake, “Subtle Lines Connect ‘Abstract’,” Oregonian, September 19, 2010
Lisa Radon, “Treasure Hunt: Leonie Guyer at the Lumber Room,” ultra: arts Portland, www.ultrapdx.com,
May 22, 2010
Kenneth Baker, “Local artists in ‘Form +’ at Meridian,” San Francisco Chronicle, April 19, 2008
Ava Jancar, “Form +,” San Francisco Bay Guardian, Vol. 42, No. 28, April 9-15, 2008
Chris Komater, “Remote Satellite: Michael Damm, Léonie Guyer, Kyle Knobel,” www.Stretcher.org, March 3, 2006
Lawrence Rinder, “The Year in Art: Lawrence Rinder’s Top 10, ” San Francisco Bay Guardian, December 21, 2005
Libby Rosof, Philadelphia artblog, fallonandrosof.blogspot.com,April 22, 2004
Meredith Tromble, “West Coast Weblog,” www.Stretcher.org, July 5, 2004
Meredith Tromble, “Wesr Coast Weblog,” www.Stretcher.org, July 11, 2003
Mark Van Proyen, “San Francisco: Melissa Pokorny; Lauren Davies; Léonie Guyer,” Art Issues, Summer 2000
Megan Wilson, “Critic’s Choice: Pierogi 2000: Flat Files,” San Francisco Bay Guardian, August 16, 2000
Kenneth Baker, “At the Galleries,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 11, 2000
Edward Sozenski, “Drawn Together,” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 3, 2000
Ann Carter, “Léonie Guyer at Patricia Sweetow Gallery,” Zingmagazine, Issue no. 7, Fall 1998
Jamie Peterson, “pFORMative acts,” the organizers of this publication assume no responsibility for the contents herein, September 10,
1998
Glen Helfand, “Best of Culture,” San Francisco Focus, January, 1998
David Bonetti, “Return of the abstract at Mills College,” San Francisco Examiner, December 6, 1996
Harry Roche, “Critic’s Choice,” San Francisco Bay Guardian, December 4, 1996
Randal Davis, “Big Jesus Trash Can at Victoria Room,” Artweek, March, 1995
Frank Cebulski, “Old and Whispered Secrets,” Artweek, April 1, 1991
Phyllis Bragdon, “Lingua Franca at Falkirk,” Marin Scope, April 8, 1991
Mark Van Proyen, “A Fashionable Pluralism,” Artweek, February 2, 1989
Kenneth Baker, “Judging the Art and the Jury,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 2, 1989