Leigh Behnke

Leigh Behnke
Born1946
Hartford, Connecticut, United States
EducationNew York University, Pratt Institute
Known forPainting
SpouseDon Eddy
AwardsGuggenheim Fellowship, E.D. Foundation
WebsiteLeigh Behnke
Leigh Behnke, The Paradox of Infinite Regression, oil on wood panel, 12" x 34", 1999.

Leigh Behnke (born 1946) is an American painter based in Manhattan in New York City,[1] who is known for multi-panel, representational paintings that investigate perception, experience and interpretation.[1][2][3] She gained recognition in the 1980s, during an era of renewed interest in imagery and Contemporary Realism.[4][5][6][7]

Her paintings combine meticulous, realist technique, formal rigor commonly associated with abstraction, and postmodern conceptual strategies, such as fragmentation and deconstruction.[8][9][10] Behnke's art has been exhibited by the Whitney Museum of American Art downtown branch, National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Design Museum;[11][12][13] she has been Included in major exhibitions on American Realism and watercolor at the Duke University Museum of Art and Neuberger Museum of Art, and major traveling shows, such as "Real, Really Real, Super Real" (1980–1, San Antonio Museum of Art), "American Realism: 20th Century Drawings and Watercolors" (1985–7, San Francisco Museum of Art), and "New York Realism—Past and Present" (1994–5, Kagoshima City Museum of Art; Tampa Museum of Art).[14][15][5][16][17]

Her work belongs to the public art collections of the New York Public Library, New York Historical Society, and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, among others,[18][19][20] and has been discussed in Artforum,[2] Arts Magazine,[21] ARTnews,[22] The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Artforum critic Ronny Cohen described her work as a "sophisticated assault on the conventions of seeing underlying pictorial illusionism";[2] writing about her cityscapes, John Yau called Behnke "an archaeologist of light, a stark factualist."[23] In 2013, she was recognized with a Guggenheim Fellowship; a monograph about her work, Leigh Behnke: Real Spaces, Imagined Lives, was published in 2005.[24][25][3] Behnke teaches at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and is married to the photorealist painter Don Eddy.[20][26]

  1. ^ a b Smithsonian American Archives of Art. "Don Eddy and Leigh Behnke Papers," Collection. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Cohen, Ronny. "Leigh Behnke," Artforum, May 1991. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Cempellin, Leda. Leigh Behnke Real Spaces, Imagined Lives, Padova, Italy: Coop. Libraria Editrice Universita di Padova, 2005.
  4. ^ Rose, Barbara. American Painting: The Eighties, A Critical Interpretation, New York: Vista Press, 1979. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Heller, Jules and Nancy. "Leigh Behnke," North American Woman Artists of the Twentieth Century, New York: Garland Publishing, 1995, p. 57–8.
  6. ^ Raynor, Vivien. "Pooling of Resources Produces Stimulating Success," The New York Times, February 7, 1982.
  7. ^ Zimmer, William. "Camera's Role as a Tollo Is Growing," The New York Times, April 22, 1984. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  8. ^ Kramer, Hilton. "American Upstarts Harley, Homer, Ault Dominate at Armory," The New York Observer, February 26, 2004. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  9. ^ Young, Christopher. New Horizons in American Realism, Flint, MI: Flint Institute of Arts, 1991. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  10. ^ Bonito, Virginia Ann. Get Real: Contemporary American Realism from the Seavest Collection, Durham, NC: Duke University Museum of Art, 1998. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  11. ^ Raynor, Vivien. "Lower Manhattan Unfurled in Federal Hall," The New York Times, February 26, 1982. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  12. ^ Welzenbach, Michael. "Cities’ Light in Several Shades," The Washington Post, February 1, 1992. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  13. ^ The Washington Sun. "A Celebration of Cities," The Washington Sun, January 23, 1992.
  14. ^ Raynor, Vivien. "An Attractive Exhibition of What Watercolor Can Do," The New York Times, February 13, 1994. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  15. ^ Genocchio, Benjamin. "For the Eyes, Bubble Gum," The New York Times, November 30, 2003. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  16. ^ Martin, Alvin. American Realism: Twentieth Century Drawings and Watercolors, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1986. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  17. ^ Dreishpoon, Douglas. "Painting the Town: Some Thoughts on American Urban Realism," New York Realism—Past and Present, Tokyo: The Japan Association of American Art Museums and Brain Trust Inc., 1994. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  18. ^ New York Historical Society. "Panoramas: The Big Picture," Press Kits. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  19. ^ Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. "Leigh Behnke, Kaleidoscope, 1989," Objects. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  20. ^ a b School of Visual Arts. "Leigh Behnke," People. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  21. ^ Friedman, John R. Arts Magazine, January 1980.
  22. ^ ARTnews. "New Editions," April 1982, p. 106.
  23. ^ Yau, John. "Fifteen Ways of Looking at New York," In Honor of the Brooklyn Bridge, New York: Findlay Contemporary, 1983.
  24. ^ Artforum. "2013 Guggenheim Fellows Announced," Artforum, April 11, 2013. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  25. ^ Butler, Sharon. "9 painters receive 2013 Guggenheim Fellowships," Two Coats of Paint, April 15, 2013. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  26. ^ Harrison, Helen A. "Art Reviews: 'Together Working,'" The New York Times, February 27, 2000. Retrieved November 8, 2019.