Michael Leonard, one of Britain’s most acclaimed gay artists, is getting his first and long-awaited UK retrospective in London this October. Spanning five decades and featuring many of his beautiful male nudes, this is likely to be the sexiest show you’ll see this year.
Curated by Henry Miller Fine Art, a London gallery focusing exclusively on the male form, the exhibition is an opportunity for Michael Leonard’s existing fans to reacquaint themselves with his work while also to introduce him to a brand new audience, some of whom may have seen his work online but never in the flesh.
The male nude has been a recurring theme in Leonard’s work for the last 50 years, with his models often on the move or in a state of transition. Because of his fascination with movement, his models tend to go through the motions of dressing or undressing, making shapes in the course of pulling on a T-shirt, stepping into a pair of trousers or towelling themselves dry after bathing.
This is a rare chance to see some of Michael Leonard’s most iconic works including ‘Passage of Arms’ (1979) and ‘Changing’ (1981) from his sexy ‘scaffolders series’, as well as ‘Changing Head’ (1982), which was used as the cover for Larry Kramer’s seminal gay novel, Faggots. Also on display will be some of his illustrations for another gay classic, The Joy of Gay Sex (1977).
Born in 1933, Michael Leonard studied Commercial Design and Illustration at London’s Saint Martin’s School of Art from 1954 to 1957 and spent the next few years working as a freelance illustrator, producing artwork for books, magazines and advertising, before finding his voice as a painter and getting his first solo exhibition in 1974.
His early paintings, mainly portraits of friends and family, tended to be formal, sober and low key. Over time, his work became more animated and colourful, and in 1985 he was commissioned to paint a portrait of the Queen (the one with the corgi), which now hangs at the National Portrait Gallery.
While in no way definitive, this exhibition is curated as a retrospective, with work from the 1960s to the 2000s, highlighting Michael Leonard’s extraordinary range and talent. A must see!
The Michael Leonard exhibition runs from 8 until 27 October at the Coningsby Gallery, 30 Tottenham Street, London, W1T 4RJ. henrymillerfineart.co.uk
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