Stephane Leonard ́s first solo exhibition at okazi gallery in Berlin Lichtenberg. april 4th – May 15th 2014, Opening Reception april 4th, 7pm

On display: large-format canvasses and smaller works on paper. Drawings and colour-field paintings, acrylics applied with a brush or in spray techniques, oil and pencil overlay and cover each other up, push in and above one another.

The title is a loose interpretation of the saying „The grass is always greener on the other side“. eonard refers to an inner conflict that one can never be exactly where one actually wants to be or should be at a cer- tain point in life. Social conflicts beyond the personal and into the political, is what the Fassbinder movie „angst essen Seele auf“ (Fear Eats the Soul) is all about, whose title was also an inspiration for the exhibition title.

In leonard ́s pictures the conflict takes place in between lines and monochrome colour-fields. Nervous drawing meets seemin- gly inactive areas. Through overlapping and different transparencies even these areas turn into tensed ghosts that seem to seethe under their surface. The simultaneity in his works develops a tension which is being transferred into the gallery space. leonard takes the self-imposed compulsion and claustrophobia of the modern human straight into the exhibition architecture. large scale canvasses make the space seem smaller and create a feeling of being pushed into the pictures, thereby forcing the audience to engage upon a search for his/her personal presence within the art.

For further information please refer to okazigallery.com and stephaneleonard.net