|  | | | Self Portrait (click to enlarge) |
Valerie earned a B.A. in fine art from Hornsey College of Arts, in England, and another B.A. in Graphic Design from the Basel School of Art & Design (the Kunstgewerbeschule ) in Switzerland.
On her return to England she was invited to work as an artists assistant and lithographic edition printer with an international fine arts publishing house, Petersburg Press.
Throughout the next eight years she enjoyed working with major artists such as Jim Dine, Claes Oldenburg, and Dieter Roth. It was a project with Frank Stella in 1973 that first brought her to the US, where she lives today.
She quit edition printing before the birth of her daughter Sam and, almost by accident, became a toy designer and inventor.
During these years Valerie became fascinated by the power that an 11 1/2 pink, plastic plaything (Barbie) has exerted over generations of little American girls, how deeply this doll and her very questionable values have penetrated our society. In fact how Barbie has become an American icon, just as surely as Marilyn, Lady Liberty, and the Stars and Stripes.
With the onset of the gulf war, (1991) she found the need to return to creating her own artistic statements. Her time in the toy industry had its influence on this work. Both Barbie and the universal toy soldier have become basic media for her pieces.
Valerie's latest artworks combine common American and religious icons with children's toys and other ubiquitous elements in assemblages designed to evoke conflicting messages.
Valerie's work ( 6000 Pieces) was featured on the front page of the Arts and Leisure section of the New York Times in Jan 2009
Valerie has shown at
Argazzi Gallery in Lakeville CT.
Gunn Museum in Washington CT.
The Pen and Brush in Manhattan NYC.
(where Morley Safer of '60 Minutes' fame, awarded her First Prize in the national exhibition curated by Mr. Safer called 'In The News')
Washington Art Association CT.
Katona Musum of Art. NY.
where Nan Rosenthal awarded her Second Prize in another national exhibition called 'Contemporary Conflict'. (Nan Rosenthal was senior curator of Contemporary Art at the Metropolitain Museum of Art. NYC. She curated and judged the show.)
This site is still under construction. Many more to come.
For more information email Valerie Leonard at - valerieleonard@sbcglobal.net - Please reference "Web Site" in subject bar
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