Artist Statement
Image making is what I live for. I create both in visual images and words. My creative process is a process that has evolved out of failure. That is to say, a failure to neatly fit into any specific genres that I have tried out. When I am fortunate, images and words complement each other. They exist together as one complete expression.
Embracing chance leads to happy accidents. Repetition leads to style and then boredom. Boredom leads to experimentation. The process begins as clumsy missteps and moves into something akin to dance. I call myself a backward painter. Unlearning grammar. Skirting the edges. Curiosity as currency and camera as paint brush.
My works explore the areas of the mind that tend to get lost in the everyday rational thought. They represent the gaps between thoughts and words. Those areas that don’t easily translate into proper grammar. It has been through unlearning the rules that I have been able to find a medium to communicate.
I emerge in the middle of my story.
Artist CV
Education
1993 BA English Literature | Concordia University | Montréal, Canada
1978 Certificate | Audio Visual Technology | Oakland Community College | Michigan, USA
Further Training
1981 16mm Film Production with Arnold Eagle | The New School for Social Research | New York City, USA
1979 Advanced TV Production | The New York School of Visual Arts | New York City, USA
Film Screenings / Video Installations
(Collaborations as writer with Joshua Evan, filmmaker)
2021 'A Door Opening' | Svox Tv | Online
2020 ‘A Delicious Tease’ | London Experimental Film Festival | London, UK
2020 ‘Silence’ | SW Short Film Open Call | Plymouth Arts Cinema | Plymouth, UK
2020 ‘Of Forgotten Dreams’ | The Commute | Tablespoon Theatre Company | Online
2020 ‘Of Forgotten Dreams’ | MicroActs 6 | Hotel Elephant Workspace | London, UK
2019 ‘A Delicious Tease’ | MicroActs as part of Late at Chelsea | Chelsea College of Arts | London, UK
2019 ‘A Delicious Tease’ | Art Film Show | HMV Curzon Cinema | Wimbledon, UK
2019 ‘Of Forgotten Dreams’ | Auntie-Freeze 3 | Cavespace | London, UK
2019 ‘A Delicious Tease’ | The Art of Being Queer | Pineapple Black Gallery | Middlesbrough,UK
Exhibitions (Group)
2022 Propaganda | Fragmented Collective | online
2021 Foley Gallery | New York City, USA
2021 Blank Wall Gallery | Athens, Greece
2021 Laurent Gallery | Melbourne, Australia
2020 Beyond | Envision Arts | online
2020 Protest Art | The Galleries at CCBC | Baltimore, MD, USA
2012 Encore | Soho Gallery for Digital Art | New York City, USA
2011 November Never Looked So Good | Soho Gallery for Digital Art | New York City, USA
2009 100x100 Photo | Galeria Espai (b), Galeria d’art Contemporani | Barcelona, Spain
2008 100x100 Photo | Galeria Espai (b), Galeria d’art Contemporani | Barcelona, Spain
2008 Going Nuts | Matteo Giauro Gallery | Livorno, Italy
Awards
2014 2nd Place | World Art Day Street Photography Award | Oxford University Press
2013 Street Hero Award | Black and White Street Magazine
Interviews & Features
2021 Featured Artist | BerlinExplorer | online
2017 Featured Artist | Curious Frame | online
2016 TV Interview | BronxNet TV | live & online
2015 ‘New York Dolls’ | ‘Spacial Regulation of the Sex Industry in NYC’ | LA+ magazine |photo with article
2015 Interview | TPW - The Photography Workshop | online
2014 Showcase | PhotoWhoa | online
2013 Feature | Inspired Eye Vol. 1 Issue 3 | print & digital
2013 Feature | Black and White Street | online
2013 Feature | Street Photography Magazine | online
2011 Interview | Shoot the Street | online
2010 Showcase | Snapixel Magazine | print & digital
2009 Feature | Lens Jockey Magazine | print
Publications & Books
2022 ‘Collage Peepshow’ | Harm van Ee & the J.C. Ruigrok Foundation | print edition of 500 copies
2022 ‘Editions #1’ | Morphic Rooms | print & digital
2022 ‘Propaganda’ | Fragmented Collective | print
2022 ‘Future’ | Fragmented Collective | print
2021 ‘Journeys‘ | Fragmented Collective | digital
2020 'Of Forgotten Dreams' | digital book published in collaboration with That Other Space
2020 'comme d'habitude' | book published in collaboration with That Other Space
2018 ‘Triste Noir’ | self-published limited edition book
2018 ‘City in Color’ | self-published limited edition book
2018 ‘In Dreams’ | self-published limited edition book
2016 ‘Correspondences’ | Posit Journal | online
2015 ‘Urban Bliss’ | Indie Editions | print
2012 ‘This is what democracy looks like’ | self-published book | digital
2011 ‘Street Art in New York City | self-published book | print & digital
2010 ‘Coney Island Blues’ | self-published book | print & digital
2009 ‘Writing with Light’ | self-published book | print
Commissions
2020-2023 ‘Always in Vogue’ | 600 Madison Avenue | New York City, USA
Contact
For all enquiries please email info@leannestaples.com