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.
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.
Though predominately autobiographical, Field Day explores the universality of personal nostalgia; the myriad ways in which we often find ourselves striving to piece together fragments of our youth. Inspired by family snapshots and home movies, Puma explores the degradation of detail and the shifting of context when recalling the past, attempting to reconcile the objective visual truth of archival images, with the more subjective emotions of childhood memories.
Artist Bio
Brought as a baby to England by well-traveled parents, Julie Puma spent her first fourteen years there with summers spent in her native Brooklyn. Her earliest memory of art is at age five when her mother gave her a set of oil paints which she used to paint a flower on a Styrofoam meat package. Only a year later her mother would pass away from breast cancer. Her father remarried and his work with IBM moved Julie, her sister, and the new family back to the United States where they settled in the Chicago area. An interest in art wasn’t apparent in high school, but after graduating from Western Illinois State University, Julie went on to The School of the Art Institute of Chicago to achieve a Masters of Art in Art Therapy. Her passion for painting was kindled as she practiced art therapy while experiencing its healing powers for herself and deepening her own creative talent.Julie made her way to Colorado to care for her sister who was also afflicted with breast cancer. Here she met her husband, gave birth to a daughter, and continued to refine and cultivate her artistic growth. Fueled by her family tragedies, Julie’s painting and art evolved as a means for greater communication and exploration of social and political themes. She earned a second Master’s degree in Fine Art in Visual Art with the Vermont College of Fine Art. Currently, Julie is Full Professor in the Foundations and Fine Arts Department at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Denver. Julie’s work has been exhibited nationally and locally in several solo and collaborative shows since 1997. Prized by collectors, her drawings and paintings are personal and powerful, resonant and relevant contemporary realism.
Artist Statement
I consider myself a mixed media artist. Painting is my joy and I seem to come home to it time and time again. During Covid I turned my attention to painting photographs sent to me by health care workers, friends of healthcare workers, and images found on the internet. The process of painting healthcare workers was a way to take the invisible enemy (the virus) and make visible the heroes (health care workers). In some ways painting nurses, doctors, and respiratory therapists allowed me to grieve the loss of lives, loss of society, and loss of economy.Most recently I have returned to a familiar autobiographical theme – “Nostalgia, Loss, Memory and the Search for Meaning”. When I was six my mother died of breast cancer. As a result of her death, I have very little memory of her and the years following her death. Throughout my practice I have utilized autobiographical exploration to try and piece childhood memories together. Working from smaller mixed media pieces and old photographs, I have started creating oil paintings paired with mini-installations (sculpture/mixed media). I find myself staring at old photographs and memorabilia with longing; hoping on some level this process will awaken some part of my brain to my memories, so far this has not happened. These paintings/video and installations cannot “fix” this gap in my life but perhaps the process of making/sharing the experience can help to heal.
Andy Lio is a Samoan tribal tattoo artist, pyrographer, father, and Matai chief of his place of origin. Born on the Samoan Islands, and raised in San Fransisco, California, Andy is a Polynesian immigrant and growing up in section 8 housing was not easy. To escape this vicious cycle, Andy joined the military and served three tours in the US Army. The military is where he first picked up a tattoo gun, and from there his art flourished onto the skin and beyond into wood. Andy lives and works in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Roots
From a dark past in the Bay Area slums to uncovering his destiny as a Samoan Matai chief, Andy Lio has forged his path as a skilled Polynesian tattoo artist, pyrographer, and devoted father. Born in Samoa and transplanted to San Francisco, Andy had to navigate the path of immigration and develop his own cultural identity. His environment was harsh, yet he found security in the US military. Devoting three tours in the US Army, it was during his service that he began tattooing. His philosophy and technique have grown and years later, he has become a master at free-hand Polynesian designs.
Ink & Ember
Andy’s Samoan symbols extend beyond the skin. With the same reverence, Andy wields the pyrography pen as he burns into wooden canvases. He uses symbolic objects like the surfboard and boat oar as cultural vehicles for his designs. Each stroke is deliberate; each burns a chapter in his odyssey of cultural discovery.
Documentary Film
At the heart of our exhibition lies the soul-stirring documentary, “American Matai.” This cinematic voyage chronicles Andy’s pilgrimage back to Samoa after 32 years—a quest to reclaim his Matai chief birthright and to wear the revered pe’a, the sacred tapping-style full-body tattoo. Displayed are photographs of the film’s journey to the Pacific Islands and short video trailer of the film project so far. The documentary captures the raw emotion, the ancestral echoes, and the transformative power of tradition. As the camera follows Andy’s footsteps, we witness the indelible mark of culture upon his skin and learn about the rich culture of the Samoan Islands.
Preserving Culture & Igniting Inspiration
“American Matai” the exhibition celebrates the fusion of ancient Samoan tattooing traditions and the raw power of wood burning—a harmonious blend that resonates with the very essence of Andy’s life story. This is more than an exhibition; it’s a call to honor heritage, to ignite curiosity, and to celebrate the beauty of cultural expression. Andy’s journey mirrors that of countless immigrants—the delicate balance between assimilation and preservation. Through his art, he invites us to explore our own roots, to cherish the stories etched into our souls.
In Overwhelming Nature, Denver-based printmaker Raymundo Muñoz presents a selection of linocut relief prints inspired by the oppressive density of the natural world. Through heavy use of detail, repetitive elements, and complex organic patterns and forms, the artist invites viewers to experience a sense of awe, not only in nature, but in the art form itself. Based on his own photos, Munoz’s flora, fauna, and landscapes are expressed through intense linework inspired by printmakers, illustrators, and comic book artists alike. The graphic results reveal as much the artist’s love of line as his interest in the vast and wild settings and processes all around us. Among the sheer bigness and quantities suggested, though, quiet visual cues throughout Overwhelming Nature remind us that we don’t have to understand and hold it all in. It’s okay to simply witness, and walk away.
ARTISTBIO
Raymundo Muñoz was born and raised in El Paso, TX, but has made Colorado his home since 1999. He received education at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio and University of Colorado-Denver, where he received a B.S. in Biology.
He’s a self-taught printmaker, musician, writer, and photographer, who finds endless inspiration in the natural world and the chaos-order dynamic.
Raymundo is a current RedLine Contemporary Art Center Artist-in-Residence and Denver Botanic Gardens Land Line Artist-in-Residence. He is the director/co-founder/co-curator at Alto Gallery. He’s an active board member of Birdseed Collective, a local 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to improving the lives of surrounding communities through arts, education, and food programs.
Above all, Raymundo is guided by the simple principle that art is a bridge, and that its greatest function is to connect people across space and time.
Leon is honored to welcome artist Eric Anderson for his first solo exhibition with the gallery. A popular artist within the Denver community for over ten years, Anderson’s exhibition, “The Reasonable Obscenity of the Spirit, will mark his first major solo exhibition, highlighting a new body of work that he has been developing over the past two years. The exhibition will open at Leon on Saturday, February 10th, and will be on view through Saturday, March 23rd, 2022.
Artist Bio: Eric Anderson was born in South side Chicago, IL in 1985. He received his BFA studying under painter Li Hu, previously associated with Shanghai University, now Los Angeles based painter and sculptor Jeff Lipschitz, as well as printmaker Gail Panske and sculptor Theresa Lind at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. Anderson has worked and resided in Denver, CO for the last decade on a large range of projects which includes large scale drawings/paintings, mixed media assemblage sculpture and performance. His work has been published in a number of journals including New American Paintings. Anderson’s current bodies of work investigate the extremities of the spirit, automatism, deconstructionist theory, and interdimensionality.
Artist Statement: Untouchable dimensions of the spirit Come back I don’t fear death The misperception of loneliness Broken window Even if just for a glimpse
Mark Shusterman has been residing in Denver his entire adult life, although he’s spent much of the last 10 years touring internationally with the band Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats as a founding member and keyboardist. Before the band’s success, Mark was a fixture of the Denver art and music scenes. His previous musical work was in the bands Widowers, The Blue Rider, Amlamas and many others. He was also the co founder of Win Wear, an art collective responsible for creating experiential art shows in the Denver area. The past few years has brought drawing back into his life as a way to find peace and focus amidst constant travel.
‘Free Hand’ presents a series of meditative drawings created while on tour. The space between sound checks and shows, cities and the studio, flights and the tour bus. The movements reflect nature, especially systems of growth. Lines sprout lines, like yeast and fungus. Mounds of marks rise and sink on the page forming pockets of detailed patterns. Gestures snake and coil like rope—quick and fleeting in moments and in other instances grounded by muscular enunciations of the pen.
Leon is excited to announce a rare opportunity – in the spirit of generosity and as a show of appreciation for the opportunities that Leon has provided to emerging artists over the past thirteen years, the artist Diego Rodriguez-Warner is offering an exclusive limited edition series of five exceptional woodblock prints as a way to raise funds for Leon’s continuing artistic programming.
Each image has been masterfully printed, signed and numbered by the artist, on Rives BFK cotton archival paper, in a limited edition of 10 prints. Paper size 30 x 22 in. Image size (largest) 24 x 18 in.
Each individual print is $250
Purchase the collection of all five prints for $1000
The works are available now for purchase and pickup.
Since first exhibiting at Leon in 2013, Rodriguez-Warner has excelled in his artistic career, with his work being exhibited at The MCA Denver and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. In 2020, he was named a Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellow and is professionally represented by Rule Gallery.
Originally created by the artist in 2009, this collection of large woodblock prints offers a rare glimpse into the artistic evolution of Rodriguez-Warner’s distinctive style, heavily informed by his printmaking process.
Please email us at ifoundleon@gmail.com or call 303-832-1599 to request your print.
Requests will be fulfilled in the order they are received. So act fast!
Diego Rodriguez-Warner – “The Wolf” edition of 10 Image by Amanda Tipton Photography | FB- Amanda Tipton-Photographer | IG – @amandatiptonphotographyDiego Rodriguez-Warner – “Recovered Memory” edition of 10 Image by Amanda Tipton Photography | FB- Amanda Tipton-Photographer | IG – @amandatiptonphotographyDiego Rodriguez-Warner – “The Academic” edition of 10 Image by Amanda Tipton Photography | FB- Amanda Tipton-Photographer | IG – @amandatiptonphotographyDiego Rodriguez-Warner – “In Synthesis” edition of 10 Image by Amanda Tipton Photography | FB- Amanda Tipton-Photographer | IG – @amandatiptonphotographyDiego Rodriguez-Warner – “The Crescent” edition of 10 Image by Amanda Tipton Photography | FB- Amanda Tipton-Photographer | IG – @amandatiptonphotography
