Leo's Art Gallery
Leo Greenfield
CCP asks Leo Greenfield the deep questions about his craft
1. What gets you out of bed every day?
Right now it is the thought of a swim at Bronte Beach. I love trying to get a swim in before work, then a coffee and I catch up on drawing in my sketch book. As much as swimming, drawing is a great passion of mine, it allows me to reflect on my day and my tiny place in the world. Sketching and swimming always inspires me to get up and get out there.
2. Who is the artist that has inspired you the most?
I am greatly inspired by artists in a range of fields, but Joan Didion is a particular hero of mine. I try to approach my artwork as this writer did, report on what you see.
3. What medium are you working with?
Key mediums in my practice are inks and watercolour paints, fine papers and my favourite item: my note books. These I use to work up larger paintings, installations and print editions.
4. When you are creating art do you play music? What other essential items do you have with you for a successful creative session?
When I am drawing I often listen to podcasts, in this climate the news and world affairs is on high rotation for me. The ABC Radio National is also a dear ‘friend’ in the studio.
At the start of a project I actually work quietly however, music has a rhythm that might interfere with my own needs in the making of drawings. Music comes in at the very end when things are finished and I can sit back and look and evaluate the works.
5. Do you make prints from your original artworks? How important is that print to you and your work?
Print making is an major element of my art practice, making an edition of an artwork is an exciting process. Print making for me is most valuable as it involves working and collaborating with others. Often the life of an artist is quite isolated, you are often just in your studio or desk working away. Printing making with Charing Cross Photo was always a highlight, as a visit to the workshop was always about getting out of the studio, sharing the work with others and seeing an image come to life.
I started printing my artwork with Iain Anderson during the Covid years, and it was such a gift to venture out with an idea, or a file on a USB and then see the colours and lines made real.
6. acrylic, watercolor, oil, gouache, ink.
What are your thoughts and ideas about these 5 different art mediums.
Acrylic and oil paint, even 20 years into my practice is still elements I have rarely touched. Ink, watercolour and gouache I use on high rotation, my pallet is an absolute treasure to me. I use these as they are portable and useable in an era where most artists are moving from home to home, or studio to studio, and often find it hard to rent for a long sustainable period of time.
7. Have you exhibited your work? How important was the framing process to you?
I had my first exhibition in 2004, I can’t believe it, it has gone so quickly. During that time I have exhibited yearly both in Australia and overseas, and curated the works of other artists in exhibition in regional galleries and art run spaces. Highlights include giving artist talks at the National Gallery of Victoria (2013) and the Art Gallery of South Australia (2017), my solo exhibition on Chiltern Street, London (2015), drawing performances and video works at the Power House Museum (2019) and creating a major art installation for the Sydney Jewish Museum (2023).
Framing is a major part of my drawing practice, as I work with small scale images on paper, this type of art needs that protection. The framing allows the artworks to be easily installed and then taken to their new homes by collectors. Even after 20 years of making I still miss the works when they leave the studio.
8. What defines a great artwork?
That is hard one, it is always so personal why we like something or not. I think great work comes from a practice, that arches overtime and has a sense of truth or reality to it. If a work holds and shares emotions that can be deeply effective too. I think the artwork of Felix Gonzalez-Torres holds the fate of many lost to the HIV crisis and passes that message on to an audience thankfully in a different era unburdened by that pain, but who shouldn’t forget or ignore that time of agony. That containing of a message and letting it pass through time is for me what makes an artwork great or effective.
9. What is your own favourite artwork that you’ve made? Why?
I find it hard to have a favourite artwork, they are all a part of me, they all connect to different times in my own life and the people I have known. It is also hard to pick a favourite as I am never happy, I want to improve I need to move forward. You practice art because you can’t make a perfect work, if you did you would not be an artist. The closest I have come however was a set of etchings I made with my mentor Simone Tippett, this print series allowed me to refine my style, work across multiple images at once and share my stories with a new audience.
10. What is the best art advice you have been given? Tell us by who if you can or want to?
At art school I worked for a sunglasses brand owner and when I was putting together an art exhibition I was discussing my show plans and I was nervous about it all. My boss just said to me “go for it, and at the end of the day if you are not happy with the project, don’t stress just do it differently next time”. Sounds nice an simple, but it helped. Give it a go and then move forward and more than anything just keep going, keep making.
11. When you are not making art, what are you doing?
When I am not drawing I am contributing to magazines, over the years I have contributed to Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Esquire. I also worked as a columnist for the Adelaide Review from 2016 to 2020, which was a wonderful experience. These days in Sydney I am working with Charing Cross Photo team, which I must say is brilliant! After years of freelancing working in a team to see creative projects come to their (and get a wage) is a real dream.
Quote:
I often think of Virginia Woolf’s wonderful quote about needing “…a room of her own”, Today I think an artist is lucky if all they have is just a desk. That desk however small can really get you back to finding your autonomy and sustaining your practice.
Leo Greenfield Bio:
Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Melbourne, Victoria College of the Arts, 2009
Post Graduate Diploma of Art History, Adelaide University, 2006
Bachelor of International Studies, Adelaide University, 2004
Leo Greenfield is an artist with a passion for drawing. His works concentrate on illustrating from memory the ever-changing space of street life and culture. On paper and online, Greenfield expresses the silhouette and patterns of contemporary dress, creating intimate portraits of people and places. Central to his art practice is the connection between the handmade and the digital – all his works, though shared via social media, are grounded in traditional making.
Studying at the University of Adelaide his career in the arts began while contributing to the University’s weekly newspaper On Dit. Here Greenfield published his work while studying a Bachelor of International Studies and later Post Graduate Art History. During this time he also studied Japanese art and culture at Kansai Gaidai University, Osaka.
Furthering his education at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne, Greenfield continued to explore his passion for art making with a Bachelor of Fine Art, graduating in 2010. Greenfield’s drawing practice has seen him gain invitations to international fashion weeks in Sydney, Paris and London and in 2013 he undertook an artist residency in the atelier of Martin Grant Paris. In 2014 he set up a studio in East London to further develop his unique illustrative style of drawing.
The London projects allowed Greenfield to work with publishing and fashion houses, seeing his work printed in leading magazines and books. Journalism for Greenfield activates his art practice and he has since contributed to The Daily Telegraph UK, The Weekend Australian Magazine, Wish Magazine, Viva (NZ), Architectural Digest, L'Officiel, Vogue and Harper’s BAZAAR.
For Stripes Publishing and Hardie Grant Books UK Greenfield has illustrated books including Style Forever by Alyson Walsh. Since returning to Australia he has collaborated with brands such as The Daily Edited, Brooks Brothers, Gucci, Tiffany & Co. and Chanel to create limited edition collections, store installations and live drawing events.
Greenfield has shown his artwork widely with exhibitions in France and the UK. Australian career highlights include projects with The Design Files, public talks given at the National Gallery of Victoria and the Art Gallery of South Australia, drawing performances at the Powerhouse Museum and collaborations with the Sherman Centre for Culture & Ideas and the Sydney Jewish Museum.
Alongside his art practice Greenfield created a monthly column for the The Adelaide Review that celebrated the lives of South Australians from 2016 to 2020.
I am represented by Art Images Gallery, so here is the link for sales and inquires:
https://artimagesgallery.com.au/collections/leo-greenfield
Instagram is my main social media point of contact:
@leo.greenfield
My website:
Limited edition prints:
https://leogreenfield.bigcartel.com/
My writing and illustration archive from the Adelaide Review, over five years of portraits and interviews:
https://www.adelaidereview.com.au/latest/2020/09/30/drawn-to-the-city-team-adelaide-review/
My installation for the Sydney Jewish Museum;
https://www.australianjewishnews.com/artwork-adds-colour-for-worldpride/
Additional press:
https://thedesignfiles.net/2013/11/interview-leo-greenfield