biography
Zoe Leonard was born in 1961 in Liberty, New York. She lives and works in New York.
She works with photography, sculptures and installations in a conceptual and a poetic view on the world; often questioning the evolution of society. During the Eighties and Nineties she was activist with ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) and the queer activist art collectives Gang and Fierce Pussy. Several works by Leonard stemmed from the feeling of loss, also derived from friends’ death caused by AIDS. Fundamental themes in her research are the urban and natural landscapes and their contrasts, personal and collective memories, migration, gender. Her work is able to make the viewer rethink the act of looking itself, how moments and situations can compose a narration.
“[…] I think the work is instinctive.” For Leonard a photograph “[…] is a subjective view. It’s a picture. […] It’s an object. It’s not reality. It’s not truth. It’s a work on paper and I made it. This is my truth. And my truth is no more true than anyone else’s.”. Through her works one can see how the act of observing can be dense and every moment anew.
Zoe Leonard was born in 1961 in Liberty, New York. She lives and works in New York.
She works with photography, sculptures and installations in a conceptual and a poetic view on the world; often questioning the evolution of society. During the Eighties and Nineties she was activist with ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) and the queer activist art collectives Gang and Fierce Pussy. Several works by Leonard stemmed from the feeling of loss, also derived from friends’ death caused by AIDS. Fundamental themes in her research are the urban and natural landscapes and their contrasts, personal and collective memories, migration, gender. Her work is able to make the viewer rethink the act of looking itself, how moments and situations can compose a narration.
“[…] I think the work is instinctive.” For Leonard a photograph “[…] is a subjective view. It’s a picture. […] It’s an object. It’s not reality. It’s not truth. It’s a work on paper and I made it. This is my truth. And my truth is no more true than anyone else’s.”. Through her works one can see how the act of observing can be dense and every moment anew.
She has taken part in several solo exhibitions such as: Al Río/To the River, Mudam, The Contemporary Art Museum of Luxembourg, Luxembourg City / Musée d’Art Moderne, Paris (2022); Survey, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York / MOCA, Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (2018); I want a president, High Line Art, New York (2016); Zoe Leonard: Analogue, Museum of Modern Art, New York (2015); Photographs, Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna (2009); You See I am here after all, Dia:Beacon, New York (2008); Photographs, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid (2008); Photographs, Fotomuseum Winterthur, Zurich (2007); Vienna Secession, Vienna (1997); Kunsthalle Basel, Basel (1997).
A selected list of group shows include: Among the Trees, Hayward Gallery, London (2020); Queer Forms, Katherine E. Nash Gallery, University of Minnesota, Minnesota (2019); Histories of our time. On Collective and Personal Narratives, Kunsthaus Baselland, Basel (2019); The Warmth of Other Suns: Stories of Global Displacement, The Phillips Collection, Washington (2019); Carnegie International, 57th Edition, Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh (2018); The Restless Earth, La Triennale di Milano, Milan (2017); Unfinished: Thoughts Left Visible, The Met Breuer, New York (2016); L’image papillon, Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg (2013).
She took part in Documenta IX (1992) and XII (2007); Whitney Biennials 1993, 1997, 2014.
gallery exhibitions
images
How To Take Good Pictures, 2018
Installation view of Zoe Leonard, Survey, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2018
1033 books
77,5 × 14,9 × 825,2 cm
Photo: Ron Amstutz
Installation view of Zoe Leonard, Survey, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2018
Photo: Ron Amstutz
Working on the RMS Scythia, 2016
Five C-Prints
45,4 x 251,8 cm (overall, unframed)
Working on the RMS Scythia, 2016 (detail)
Five C-Prints
40,7 x 32,6 cm
Working on the RMS Scythia, 2016 (detail)
Five C-Prints
36,2 x 45,1 cm
Working on the RMS Scythia, 2016 (detail)
Five C-Prints
28,4 x 35,4 cm
Working on the RMS Scythia, 2016 (detail)
Five C-Prints
32 x 40,2 cm
Working on the RMS Scythia, 2016 (detail)
Five C-Prints
27,6 x 34,5 cm
Untitled, 2016
Two silver gelatine prints
40 × 33 cm
August 6, frame 19, 2012
Gelatin silver print
70 × 50 cm
August 6, frame 7, 2011-2012
Gelatin Silver print
60 × 86 cm
April 7, frame 30, 2011
Gelatin Silver print
40,6 × 56,8 cm
February 12, frame 6, 2011
Gelatin Silver print
34,9 × 49,5 cm
February 27, frame 17, 2012
Gelatin silver print
26,9 × 19,2 cm
January 15, frame 12, 2012
Gelatin silver print
27,8 × 33,9 cm
January 15, frame 10, 2012
Gelatin silver print
27,8 × 33,9 cm
Roll #4, 2006/16
C-Print
55,9 × 47 cm
Roll #18, 2006/16
C-Print
55,9 × 47 cm
Vine, 2002/03
C-print
50,8 × 73,6 cm
Untitled, 1990/97
Gelatin silver print
31 × 44,3 cm
Untitled, 1990/97
Gelatin silver print
31,8 × 44,9 cm
Untitled, 1989/2008
Gelatin silver print
92,5 × 65 cm
Untitled Aerial, 1988/2008
Gelatin silver print
60,6 × 43,8 cm
Untitled Aerial, 1988/2008
Gelatin silver print
60,5 × 43,8 cm
Jordan in the Hallway, 1986/97
Gelatin silver print
39,4 × 28,2 cm
public exhibitions
Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris
Paris, France
Al río / To the River
15.10.2022 – 29.1.2023
Vue de l’exposition Zoe Leonard. Al río / To the River, 15.10.2022 — 29.01.2023, Musée d'Art Moderne de Paris © Photo: Pierre Antoine
MUDAM
Luxembourg
Al río / To the River
26.2 – 6.6.2022
Vue de l’exposition Zoe Leonard. Al río / To the River, 26.02.2022 — 06.06.2022, Mudam Luxembourg © Photo: Rémi Villaggi
Centre Pompidou-Metz
Metz, France
Face à Arcimboldo
29.5 – 22.11.2021
Photo: Marc Domage
Institute of Contemporary Art
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
arms ache avid aeon: Nancy Brooks Brody / Joy Episalla / Zoe Leonard / Carrie Yamaoka: fierce pussy amplified
13.9 – 22.12.2019
arms ache avid aeon: Nancy Brooks Brody / Joy Episalla / Zoe Leonard / Carrie Yamaoka: fierce pussy amplified, September 13 – Dec 22, 2019, installation view, Institute of Contemporary Art, University of Pennsylvania. Photo: Constance Mensh.
Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève
Genève
A Few Things I cannot leave behind
27.2 – 21.4.2019
Photo: Mathilda Olmi
Centre d'Art Contemporain Genève
Genève
A Few Things I cannot leave behind
27.2 – 21.4.2019
Photo: Mathilda Olmi
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
Museum of Contemporary Art
Los Angeles
Zoe Leonard: Survey
11.11.2018 – 25.3.2019
Installation view of Zoe Leonard: Survey, November 11, 2018–March 25, 2019 at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, courtesy of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, photo by Brian Forrest
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
Museum of Contemporary Art
Los Angeles
Zoe Leonard: Survey
11.11.2018 – 25.3.2019
Installation view of Zoe Leonard: Survey, November 11, 2018–March 25, 2019 at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, courtesy of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, photo by Brian Forrest
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
Museum of Contemporary Art
Los Angeles
Zoe Leonard: Survey
11.11.2018 – 25.3.2019
Installation view of Zoe Leonard: Survey, November 11, 2018–March 25, 2019 at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, courtesy of The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, photo by Brian Forrest
Whitney Museum of American Art
New York
Zoe Leonard: Survey
2.3 – 10.6.2018
Photo: Ron Amstutz
Whitney Museum of American Art
New York
Zoe Leonard: Survey
2.3 – 10.6.2018
Photo: Ron Amstutz
Whitney Museum of American Art
New York
Zoe Leonard: Survey
2.3 – 10.6.2018
Photo: Ron Amstutz
Whitney Museum of American Art
New York
Zoe Leonard: Survey
2.3 – 10.6.2018
Photo: Ron Amstutz
Whitney Museum of American Art
New York
Zoe Leonard: Survey
2.3 – 10.6.2018
Photo: Ron Amstutz
Whitney Museum of American Art
New York
Zoe Leonard: Survey
2.3 – 10.6.2018
Photo: Ron Amstutz
Mumok
Vienna
Class Reunion: Works from the Gaby and Wilhelm Schürmann Collection
23.6 – 11.11.2018
© mumok – Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, photographs Christian Benesch
La Triennale di Milano
Milan
The Restless Earth
28.4 – 20.8.2017
Photo: Gianluca Di Ioia
press
publications
Zoe Leonard: Survey
Catalog published on occasion of "Zoe Leonard: Survey" at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2018
Prestel
New York
2018
Zoe Leonard: Available Light
Ridinghouse and Dancing Foxes Press
Brooklyn
2014
Zoe Leonard: You See I Am Here After All
Catalog published on occasion of "Zoe Leonard: You See I Am Here After All" at Dia Art Centre, New York, 2010
Dia Art Foundation
New York
2010
Zoe Leonard. Photographs
Catalog published on occasion of "Zoe Leonard. Photographs" at Fotomuseum Winterthur, Winterthur, Switzerland, 2008
Steidl
Göttingen
2008
Wiener Secession: Zoe Leonard
interview by Anna Blume
Wiener Secession
Wien
1997
Kunsthalle Basel: Zoe Leonard
Schwabe
Basel
1997
video
Curator Suzanne Cotter about Zoe Leonard's exhibition "Al río / To the River" at Mudam
2022
Rouse Visiting Artist Lecture: Zoe Leonard with José Esparza Chong Cuy
2021
Lecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, introduced by Mark Lee.
Zoe Leonard: "Survey"
2019
Kavior Moon discusses Zoe Leonard’s "Survey" exhibition at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Los Angeles. Video by SCI-Arc Channel.
