From 2004-2005 Gwyneth Leech painted the 14 Stations of the Cross as a commission for Saint Paul's on the Green. She set the traditional narrative in the midst of contemporary conflict in the Middle East. As a result, the Stations were the subject of numerous newspaper articles, television news items and online debates.
Her next project arose from the Stations of the Cross when she found herself thinking about the small group who gathered at the foot of the cross to take down the body of Jesus and prepare it for burial. They formed an unconventional family united by love. This led her to paint a series of portraits in oils of many of her own friends and neighbors in New York City whose stories were in some way unconventional, either because they were same sex parents, bi-racial or had adopted children trans-racially. She also included paintings of her daughter, Grace, who has Down Syndrome. The collection, called Perfect Family, was first exhibited at Franklin 54 Gallery in New York City in October 2006.
Ms. Leech began drawing on her empty paper coffee cups during PTA meetings. In 2011 she first exhibited her massed cup artworks in the Fashion Center's Window Space for Public Art in New York City's Garment District. In the fall of 2011, the cup art installation transferred to the Sprint Flatiron Prow Artspace NYC. The artist was in residence drawing in public five days a week for 6 months, resulting in a collection of 850 cups. 365: A Year in Cups, a window installation for Anthropologie, was a highlight of the London Design Festival. Her largest cup installation to date, 1001 Cup Stories was shown at the Harris Building in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for ArtPrize 2014 and was voted in the top 10 art installations.
Gwyneth lives and works in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City with her husband, David Wilson and two daughters, Megan and Grace. She currently serves on the Board of Seabury Academy of Music and the Arts.
To learn more about the artist, visit her website at www.gwynethleech.com.
The opening reception, which includes light refreshments, is on Tuesday, April 21, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The show runs April 21, 2015, through May 26, 2015. The exhibit is held at the ARTWorks Gallery on the Green located at St. Paul’s on the Green, 60 East Avenue, Norwalk, CT 06851. For additional information, contact events@seaburynorwalk.org or call (203) 847-2806 x13.
ARTWorks Gallery on the Green hours are Mon.–Fri.: 9 a.m.–5 p.m., Sat.: 10 a.m.–1 p.m., and Sunday 10–11 a.m. and 12 noon–1 p.m.
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