October 4th through November 8th, 2025
Ainslie O’Neil (1990 – 2022) was and artist, activist, and ecological landscape designer rooted their in hometown of Denver. A vision of Ainslie’s was to “generously give and receive support within [her] social and ecological communities”, and she did so with a contagious zest for life.
Opening Reception – Saturday, August 16th 6pm – 10pm
Exhibition on view – Saturday, August 16th – Saturday, September 27th
Artist Statement:
For my first real solo show I was trying to say something definitive about reality. For this show I confronted everything that to me- will never be definitive. Late at night, alone in a box with a brush I dwelt on everything that I dread. I wanted to unravel myself and see what creatures came out when I laid still.
I found a world of spiders and pyramids. Heads and castles. Smiling and lying faces looking at me without eyes. Manifestations of unending searches and places to hide away. I imagined myself deep in the pyramid. I imagined myself as the spider. I imagined I wasn’t myself at all.
And now my world of intimate meditations are made public.
The back of my face.
Bio:
Denver based painter and multimedia artist, Brady Dollyhigh has been exhibiting his work since 2019. Over the last five years, Dollyhigh has participated in 7 exhibitions, two of which were solo shows, and has been featured twice in reviews by the Denver Post. His work has transformed drastically over the years from cluttered line drawings to large scale multilayered works on sheet metal. Generating work at a fast pace, Dollyhigh has no plans to slow the evolution of his art and vision, making every exhibition drastically different from the last.
Saturday, June 14th – Saturday July 26th
Nightburn is an embodied myth moving through mountains and memory. In this work, I merge western iconography with goddess myths and feminine power, blurring the line between human, land, and legend.
My paintings depict towering women intertwined with the landscape—cosmic figures cradling portals and starlight. There is a sensuality in their forms and gestures, and a playfulness woven into their presence. My ceramics serve as ceremonial relics: vessels and figures etched with dreamlike stories of saints, cowgirls, and goddesses, balancing reverence with whimsy.
Rooted in western terrain and matriarchal storytelling, Nightburn explores the body as landscape, the vessel as storyteller, and fire as both destruction and rebirth.
This is the nightburn of a fluorescent moon.
Bio:
Daphne Sweet (b. 1996, Los Angeles, CA) is a visual artist based in Butte, Montana, working in painting and ceramics. Her work weaves personal narrative with myth, exploring themes of femininity, power, and transformation. Through intricate linework and a vivid, symbolic use of color, she creates imagined worlds inhabited by celestial figures, animals and relics.
Influenced by a matriarchal upbringing and a lifelong interest in storytelling, Sweet’s work blurs the line between the intimate and the archetypal. She holds a BFA in Studio Art and Art History from the University of Montana. Her work has been exhibited nationally, including solo shows at Visions West Contemporary (Denver, CO) and The Palace Gallery (Ellensburg, WA), and has been featured in DARIA Magazine and The Washington Post.
On view April 19th – June 7th
Max Maddox is an interdisciplinary artist whose work ranges from public performance to abstract painting, a compass he has used to approach subjects such as class struggle, public hysteria, marginalization, and phenomenology. Maddox received a B.A. in Philosophy from Grinnell College, a discipline he integrates with his training at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art to pursue cultural critique through art.
Maddox is an award winning artist and writer, most recently a 2024 Theater District grant awardee and 2023 recipient of the Greene Fellowship. He is a career advocate and is currently lead developer for the arts and mental health program, “Troupe Therapy.” He has exhibited his work in galleries that include the Redline Contemporary Art Center (Denver), where he was resident artist from 2020-2022, The Art Gym (Denver), Hillyer Art Space (Washington D.C), Locallective (Chicago), the Slought Foundation (Philadelphia), the Print Center of Philadelphia, The Ellen Powell Tiberino Memorial Museum (Philadelphia), and Abecedarian Gallery (Denver).
“Multiverse is the result of the close collaboration between artist and machine, a relationship over three years with a Co2 laser. Uniting photography, painting, and assemblage with naval engineering schematics from the early 20th century, these laser engravings are tangible, topographical iterations of the virtual, myriad, energized worlds that seem to have emerged from technological cataclysm. Objects in this exhibition together feel like a glimpse into an alternate dimension, dreamscapes where rebirth is tooled or radical change is sparked, portals into several possible futures or multiple worlds.”
Exhibition on view March 1st – April 12th, 2025
Melissa Lynn’s latest series examine the essential relationship between humanity and the Earth. Her work emphasizes the necessity of conservation and preservation initiatives and underscores our interdependence with nature. The images invite viewers to reflect on their roles within this complex ecosystem.
From the Ground Up explores agriculture and sustainable land management through images created at urban farms and gardens in Colorado. These vibrant green spaces help combat climate change, promote regenerative practices, and ensure equitable access to fresh, healthy food. Urban farms serve as essential community hubs for education and collaboration, transforming neglected areas into thriving ecosystems. This series also highlights native pollinator plants that support vital species, including bees and butterflies.
Melissa’s creative technique is grounded in the regenerative principles central to this series. Through a synergetic method, the transformation that emerges from decay becomes an integral part of the artwork. Drawing from these sustainable practices that nurture the land, her method intertwines ecological and artistic processes.
In response to environmental imbalance, From the Ground Up offers a vision of renewal—one where humans reconnect with the land, nurture healthy ecosystems, and restore harmony for the benefit of all. This alliance with nature embodies the work’s core message: by healing the soil, we heal the Earth—and, in turn, ourselves.
High Creek Fen features an ecologically rich wetland in Colorado that has preserved ancient flora and fauna since the last Ice Age. Fens are peat-forming habitats where water rises to the surface year-round, supporting a rare ecosystem adapted to thrive in this unique environment.
Melissa’s creative process mirrors the fen’s slow transformation and directly collaborates between the ecosystem’s life and the photographs. This bioart approach blends living organisms with artistic creation, further connecting art, science, and nature.
High Creek Fen is a fragile, ancient world that reminds us of the delicate balance sustaining our planet. She hopes to inspire a deeper connection and commitment to its preservation by bringing its essence into the gallery.
Photography credit: Wes Magyar Photography
Leon is honored to announce the opening reception for first exhibition of 2025, The Peace Found, featuring new work by Denver artist, Fitz Lewis. The opening reception will take place on Saturday, January 11th, between 6pm and 10pm, and the exhibition will be on view through Saturday, February 22nd, 2025.
A well known creative individual within the Denver art scene, Fitz Lewis has presented some powerful and impactful performance art pieces to the local community in recent years, including their 2018 piece, Illicit Patriotism, which consisted of a 22 mile hike around central Denver with a 60 pound American Flag draped across their shoulders. For their upcoming exhibition, the artist will be presenting three dimensional sculptural objects made from a variety of materials, some of which are often used by the army to construct temporary housing, fortifications, and defensive structures.
Artist Bio and Statement:
Fitz Joseph Lewis (they/them) (b. 1983, Mark Joseph Fitzsimmons, Kansas City, Mo.) is a Denver based interdisciplinary and conceptual artist. The artist asks what we value – the object or the action; the symbol or what the symbol represents. Influenced by their history of violence, Lewis plays with the humble materials that permeated their abusive childhood and time in combat zones. The work is an outcome of the artist deconstructing and healing from the values that were violently instilled within them.
Lewis was Honorably Discharged from the Army in 2014, holds a BFA from the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Fine Art – Painting, and an MFA from the University of Kansas in Expanded Media. Their work has been included in solo shows at Edgar Heap of Birds Family Gallery and Dateline Gallery, with group shows at Friend of a Friend, Union Hall, and RULE Gallery.
Leon is honored to announce the opening reception for The Age of Re-Enchantment, an exhibition of new work by local artist, Markus Puskar. The opening reception will take place on Saturday, November 16th, between 6pm and 10pm, and the exhibition will be on view through Saturday, January 4th, 2025. With a distinctive rhythmic dynamism and reverberant stylistic approach, somewhat reminiscent of the Italian Futurist movement, Puskar’s paintings and drawings explore themes of mysticism, self-reflection, and a desire to engage with the world through a renewed sense of wonder.
Artist Bio: Markus Puskar is a self taught artist painting and drawing in Denver. By day is a social worker and serves on the board of directors at Joy’s Kitchen, a food rescue organization. In 2023, he released an audio documentary series for KGNU Boulder / Denver exploring the ways that the food system has been transformed by commercialism, called Candy Jail. This is his first solo exhibition.
Artist Statement: The work explored in this show is an investigation into the regular cycle of enchantment and disillusionment in which we often find ourselves as human beings. As we move towards and away from the divine, the way that we relate to one another through art has transformed, having gone from work made for the gods, to work that celebrates and investigates the self as the primary subject. Feeling that we are at the end point of one of these cycles, with “rational” cynicism so prevalent, my practice unconsciously started drifting towards the spiritual, towards a sense of wonderment and gratitude that I had concealed from even myself. I found myself casting off the cold rationality that told me sincerely expressing awe was uncouth. I made these works with the intention of trying to create my own visual language for the divine, or at least my experience of it. I drew on inspiration from folk art and spiritual art, particularly that of Northern New Mexico. In my admiration for works like the Santuario de Chimayo (Chimayo, NM), I asked myself what sort of visual language I would create if I was tasked with designing and mapping out my own sense of awe.
Haptic Terrain probes the porous boundary between our bodies and environments, examining how we mutate, evolve, and adapt to endure a hostile world. A collection of sculptures and installations feature skin-like grocery bags, excavated concrete, deformed insulation foam, and transplanted human hair. Biological processes blend with industrial materials, adulterating architectural dissections of space such as section and plan drawings, topographical maps, and conceptual models with carnal bits and tufts of hair. The pieces merge body and landscape, psychology and design, asking how much a body can endure before losing its intrinsic structure and how our vulnerable flesh can prevail through the brutality of a paved-over paradise. The exhibit invites viewers into the intimacy of disgust, the familiarity of struggle, and the escapism of imaginary worlds.
Sam Grabowska is a multidisciplinary artist living and working in Denver, Colorado, USA. Working predominantly in sculpture, their installations aim to reconstruct the body after emotional trauma. Grabowska has exhibited their work in museums and galleries across the US and Sweden including the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, the Denver Art Museum, SOO Visual Art Center, and Rejmyre Art Lab. They hold a PhD in architecture with a cognate in cultural anthropology, an MH in interdisciplinary humanities, a BFA in film, and a BA in environmental design. Grabowska is the founder of Manifolding Labs, a research and consulting firm focusing on trauma-responsive spatial design.
The auction is live now and will end at 11pm sharp on Saturday, September 21st.
Leon’s Dark Celestial Nights Gala Auction features artwork from over 30 amazing local artists including, Diego Rodriguez Warner, Brady Dollyhigh, Kaitlyn Tucek, Matt Tripodi, Moe Gram,. Leilani Noboku Derr, Shadows Gather, Doug Spencer, Jillian Fitzmaurice, Julio Alejandro, Pierrre Louis Herold, Michael Dowling, Eric Anderson, Drew Austin, Jared David Paul Anderson, Kiera McIntosh, Sam Grabowska, bunny M, Julie Puma, Eric Nord, Josephine Clark, Anima Hoit, Teague McDaniel, Alina Orav, Suphia Poppy Ericksen, Jack Estenssoro, Evan Rosato, Christine Nguyen, Mary Grace Bernard, Noah Larsen, Eric R Dallimore, Anna Millholland, Mark Fitzsimmons.
Follow the link, sign up, and start bidding!
The auction will end at precisely 11pm MST, on Saturday, September 21st, so be sure to place your bid before then.
Leon is deeply honored to host the first US solo exhibition of an extraordinary young Cuban artist, Miguel Osorio. Having recently emigrated to Colorado, escaping persecution in his home country of Cuba because of his HIV status, Osorio is poised to share his unique, uncompromising, and highly crafted art in an exhibition titled, “Filaments,” opening at Leon on Saturday, August 10th, at 7pm. The exhibition will be on view through Saturday, September 14th.
Artist Bio
Miguel Lázaro Osorio Martínez was born on November 11, 1993 in La Habana, Cuba, where he lived until 2022. Born into a home in which he was raised by his mother Yolanda dela Caridad Martinez Palenzuela and grandmother Matilde Palenzuela Lezcano, he always received unconditional support regarding his inclination for art since he was a child. His interest in art was evident, constantly participating in drawing and visual arts competitions during primary and secondary school. Because of this profound interest, his mother decided to enroll him in various visual art workshops from an early age. In his adolescence he attended the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes – San Alejandro, from which he graduated with a gold degree (with honors). After graduating from the academy, he worked as an art teacher, specializing in engraving for seven years. During this time, he studied at an art university in Cuba, Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA). Throughout his studies, he carried out various group and personal exhibitions, winning several art competitions such as the International Contemporary Art Competition Post-it in its eighth edition, winning first place with the artwork Dermis After Rorschach in 2021. In the middle of development of his artistic career, of several projects related to his work, and the presentation of his NODO thesis at the university of visual arts, he left the country for political and social reasons in July of 2022. He is currently living in Colorado, USA. He recently participated in a group exhibition in Fort Collins at the 3 Square Art gallery, and this “Filaments” exhibition at Leon marks his first U.S Solo Exhibition.
Artist Statement
Historically, human sexuality has been in permanent conflict with the so-called “lateral sexualities”; conflicts that have created various turning points throughout time. Numerous individuals have dedicated their lives to studying it, understanding it, challenging it, questioning it, limiting it, judging it, stigmatizing it, and even censoring it out of fear of the different and unknown. They have catalogued and condemned otherness, or simply alternative expressions of sexuality, that exist outside the socially accepted norms established throughout history. In this context, please allow me to explain how my artistic work is nourished by all these conflicts, since my relationship with sexuality has been impacting and informing my way of being and thinking, as well as how I operate and engage within society. Since my childhood, sexuality has been a “Pillar of Salt,” since I have taken from it bitter, harsh, challenging experiences that have changed my conception of life and, at the same time, have allowed me to evolve as a human being. From the limited experience that I have accumulated at the age of 30, I have perceived how the notion of sexuality has been mutating over time and at an exponential rate with each passing generation. The limits of sexuality are becoming more diffused as years go by, and the ambiguity of sexuality, as well as the fluidity of gender expression, is actively being postulated within the social paradigm of our time.
We find ourselves living in a universe in which we are exposed to an overwhelming and chaotic society in which the issue of sexuality is treated, almost always, as a catalyst for conflicts and misunderstandings. My exhibition “FILAMENTS,” is intended to be a letter of introduction to my personal research into the topic of sexuality, shared with this new artistic community here in Colorado, where I now find myself living. The title refers to the fibers of our being, that identify us, and are present as constant threads weaving among our thoughts and actions. The same threads that, when gathered and twisted, forge the basis of my work, its link to human sexuality, and its tangled relationship with HIV. Since its emergence, HIV has become a frightening spectre and an enormous existential conflict for those afflicted with it or affected by it, because it stigmatize the gay community through fear of the unknown. The pieces in my exhibition speak from personal pain, doubt and uncertainty, but also in solidarity with the pain of others, of those who are different, of what is taboo, of what is systematically rejected and not respected. These artworks, emerging from both the personal and the collective, intertwine each experience, thought, and feeling, and are intrinsic to the social prejudice to which we are exposed regarding gender identity, the ambiguity of the sexes, sexual orientation, and interpersonal relationships. All these concerns are constant in my art, like an echo that repeats itself incessantly, infinitely, attempting to question, reflect, and perpetuate my art over time. With each work, I aim to get to know myself more intimately, and delve deeper into my being, while at the same time, materializing each thought into art that authentically expresses my aspirations and visions of utopia.
