Bio

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Les St. Leon was born in 1957 in Ontario, Canada, to a long line of circus performers, artists, and acrobats, which informed his keen attention to color, form, and lines. His unique visual and conceptual style was inspired by the intertwining of sculpture, painting, music, and dance. He earned a B.A. in Fine Arts from Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL, and later studied Computer Animation at the San Francisco Art Institute. 

 

His career spanned both commercial and fine art, with notable projects for Disney and Universal Studios. Among his group exhibitions are "Visual Culture" at CICA Museum, Seoul (2020); "Seen and Unseen" at Collective Gallery, Woodstock, NY (2018); "Memories" at Loosenart Magazine/MILLEPIANI Art Space, Rome (2018); "Under 18 Inches" at Limner Gallery, Hudson, NY (2017); "Wish You Were Here 16" at A.I.R. Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2017); "Nudes" at Ybor City Warehouse Gallery, Tampa, FL (2012); and "Preservation Jar" at Artness Gallery, Ein Shemer, Israel (2011).

 

Exploring the boundaries of perception through a dynamic visual language that emphasizes movement and continuity, St. Leon's artistic practice is rooted in an ongoing search for techniques that best express his conceptual ideas around space, time, and motion. His compositions often shift from mimesis to abstraction, obscuring the narrative context. 

 

St. Leon's latest works include urban landscapes and mechanical structures, reinterpreted through an abstract painterly lens. Over the past decade he has developed a distinctive technique akin to weaving, using oil paint to create thread-like patterns. Allowing the underpainting to peep through, this method conveys a sense of motion on canvas. After living and working in New York City for 13 years, Les relocated to Paris, where he died in 2024.