Giuseppe Di Leo
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Artist statement
“Drawing, notably continues to be significant to my form of expression. It is a romantic endeavour; a form of escape that is transcendental in nature. Once I am confined within its parameters I am entangled within that world. Drawing is the lens par excellence enabling me to see more profoundly and record intimately the extend of the human ordeal.
This modality of art making gives shape to my experiences, and underscores the principles and values I consider essential. The drawings are existential portraits and a probe to record and conger vivid expressions of an imagined and complex world. It affords me a space to wander intuitively, to be curious, to question and challenge what I see and understand, and strangely enough, to reflect more profoundly. A means of disclosure and reminder of what it means to be human.
Throughout my practice the human figure continues to be central. I situate it as an emblem measuring my implication in the human condition. In particular I envision the body dualistically with the potential to be simultaneously a victim and / or a violator. This notion among others, draws attention to the notion of “twins” as an ideological, political, and social construct representing the sacred and profane. Through the sensitive application of the graphite medium, I hope to convey the essence of this experience more profoundly.
Truthful recording; faithful rendering has been the preferred method of drawing for the better part of my career because it affords me the time to stay focused amidst distractions inherent in routine of living. This model, as a work ethic, involves a harsh process of concentration; it is time consuming, it is meditative, it is intimate, spiritual, unsettling, orderly and disorderly, an exorcism of sorts, evocative and deeply satisfying, if and only when it comes to fruition.”
Giuseppe Di Leo
Biography
Born in Italy, Giuseppe Di Leo received an Honour’s BFA from Concordia University in 1978 and shortly after completed a Master’s degree at York University, Toronto where he held his first solo exhibition at the Oakville and Gairloch Galleries, Ont. in 1980. Throughout his career, Di Leo has maintained a practice in drawing and watercolour and has participated in a number of exhibitions held in cultural institutions and private galleries in Canada, Italy, and Mexico. His drawings have been reviewed in various publications, and are featured in both museum and corporate collections including Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Loto-Quebec, Canada Council Art Bank, Collection Prêts d'oeuvres d'arts du Musée du Québec Ministère des Communautés Culturelles et del'Immigration, Qué. Museo Civico d’Arte Contemporanea, Casacalenda, Italy. Over the last decade concurrent to his practice and teaching, he has been active as Director and curator of the Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery at Dawson College.
Important exhibition projects have included various solo and group exhibitions, at McBride Gallery, Mtl., Waddington and Gorce, Mtl; ArtGallery of Hamilton, Hamolton, Ont.; Musée d’Art Contemporain des Laurentides, Qué; Musée du Québec; Justina Barnicke Gallery, University of Toronto; Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa, Palermo, Italy; Kalenarte, Casacalenda, Italy; Museo de las Bellas Artes, Guadalajara, Mexico.
Giuseppe Di Leo is represented by McBride Contemporain, Montreal.
Education
1978–80
1975–78
1973–75
MFA, Visual Arts York University Toronto, ON
MFA, Visual Arts, York University, Toronto, ON
DEC Arts Plastiques, Collège Dawson — Montréal, QC
Exhibitions
2018
2004
1998
1997
1996
1994
1993
1992
1990
1989
1984
1982
1980
Disegno, McBride Contemporain — Montréal, QC2004
When Words Fail, Instituto Magistrale John F Kennedy — Drawing Installation
Terra Tremante, Kalenarte, Museo all’aperto d’Arte Contemporanea — Casacalenda, Molise, Italy
The Sacred and the Prosaic, Galerie Waddington et Gorce — Montréal, QC
Botanikos, Justina M. Barnicke Gallery, University of Toronto — ON
Galerie Arts Sutton — Sutton, QC1
Galerie de l’Université de Sherbrooke — Sherbrooke, QC
Hortus (en) conclusus, Vieux-Palais — Saint-Jérôme, QC
CRIM (Centre de Recherche de Informatique de Montréal) — Montréal, QC
New Drawings, Quan Schieder Gallery — Toronto, ON
Via Erebus, Art Gallery of Hamilton — Hamilton, ON
Last Days of Pompei, Galerie Waddington et Gorce — Montréal, QC
Gallery Quan — Toronto, ON
Galerie Port-Maurice — St. Leonard, QC
Oakville Galleries — Oakville, ON
A Matter of Tradition, Samuel Zacks Gallery, York University — Toronto, ON
Shows
2021
2020
2019–20
2019
2018
2017
2016
2014
2012
2009
2008
150 variations du confinement, Musée des beaux arts de Mont-Saint-Hillaire — QC
Salons des refuses, Galerie McBride Contemporain — Montréal, QC
Dog Days, John B. Aird Gallery — Toronto, ON
Les Mondes de Katia Makdissi-Warren, Maison de la Culture Ahuntsic — Montréal, QC
Musee de l’Oratorie St. Joseph — Montréal, QC
Drawing 2019, John B. Aird Gallery — Toronto, ON
Uncommon, John B. Aird Gallery — Toronto, ON
Vu Deja, Gianni Giuliani, Erga Gallery — Montréal, QC
Le temps d’Evangelista, Maison de la Culture Cote des Nieges — QC
Biennale 13, Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery — Montreal, QC
Des lignes, du temps, Fondation Guido Molinari — Montréal, QC
Biennale 12, Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery — Montréal, QC
Musique vue, Maison de la Culture Cote des Nieges — Montréal, QC
Biennale 11, Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery — Montréal, QC
Biennale 10, Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery — Montréal, QC
A Drawing Show, St. Thomas of Elgin Public Art Centre — St Thomas, ON
Biennale 9, Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery — Montréal, QC
As much as possible given the amount of space allotted, Gallerie d’Art Leonard and Bina Ellen — Montréal, QC
Nomade, Espace Creation — Montréal, QC
Le College comme lieu de creation 2007, Maison de la culture Notre Dame de Grace — Montréal, QC
Biennial 8, Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery — Montréal, QC
Conflux / Seeing Apart, St. Thomas of Elgin Public Art Centre — ON
2006
2005
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
Oeuvres choisies de la collection Loto-Québec, Centre Culturel de Drummondville — Drummondville, QC
Musée de Charlevoix — Malbaie, QC
Nature recherchée: Morte ou vivante / Nature wanted: Dead or alive!, Stewart Hall Art Gallery — Pointe Claire, QC
Œuvres Choisies, acquisitions récentes, Espace Création — Montréal, QC
Darrell Bell Gallery Contemporary Art — Saskatoon, SK
Volia!, Museo de las Bellas Artes de l’Université de Guadalajara — Mexico
La Figuration 1980–2000, Maison de la Culture de Trois-Rivières — QC
La figuration en art contemporain, Galerie d’art L’Union-Vie du Centre Culturel de Drummondville — QC
Corps, Galerie Trompe L’Oeil — Ste-Foy, QC
NEW ACQUISITIONS, Galerie Creations Espace — Montréal, QC
La figuration ll, Galerie Bernard — Montréal, QC
FIGURE AND LANDSCAPE, Museé Ville St Laurent — St Laurent, QC
RéALISME, CINQ ARTISTE PEINTRES, Galerie Bernard — Montréal, QC
Una Cartolina per la Pace, Olimpalus 93’ — Latina, Italy
Tres Trays, Bina and Leonard Ellen Art Gallery — Montréal, QC
All’origini della memoria, Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa, Spatio Durcot — Palermo, Italy
Rencontre lX, Maison des Arts et de la Culture — Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC
Nouvelle Acquisitions, Lotto Québec, Pavillion des Arts de Ste-Adèle — QC
Présence, Galerie Bernard — Montréal, QC
Points, Lignes, Surfaces; 20 Ans, Galerie Madelaine Lacerte — Montréal, QC
Espace 516, Belgo — Montréal, QC
Shows, continued
1996
1993
1992
1991
1987
1986
1985
1984
1983
1979
Laboratorio: the making of strange, Merck Frosst — Kirkland, QC
New Acquisitions, Bina and Leonard Ellen Art Gallery — Montréal, QC
Around and About Drawing, Dawson College — Montréal, QC
Aspects of Drawing, Schieder Gallery — Toronto, ON
La décennie de la métamorphose 1982-1992, Musée du Québec — QC
Galerie Waddington et Gorce — Montréal, QC
Metaphor, Omission & Multiplies, Galerie Verte, Canal Complex — Montréal, QC
Mimesis, Musée Marsil — St. Lambert, QC
Mimesis Biz, Centre Culturel St. Hyacinthe — QC
La collection prêt d’oeuvres d’art, Musée du Québec — QC
Contemporary Realism, Quan Schieder Gallery — Toronto, ON
Art Against Aids, Galerie John Schweitzer — Montréal, QC
The Intimate Line, Gallery Quan — Toronto, ON
Re-Union, York University Art Galleries — Toronto, ON
Tout l’art du monde, Galerie d’art UQAM — Montréal, QC
Complex G — QC
Université de Sherbrooke — QC
Centre de Exposition de Gatineau; de Mont Laurier; de Drummond — QC
La collection prêt d’oeuvres d’art, Musée du Québec — QC
New Works, Gallery Quan — Toronto, ON
Aspects of Realism, Pollack Gallery — Toronto, ON
