Noel Leon

Whatever his subject or style, Cuban-born painter Noel Leon uses lush, rhythmic brushstrokes that imbue his work with a powerful sense of presence. Much of the artist’s oeuvre addresses icons, whether in playful renderings of pop culture icons Mickey and Minnie, gold-backed paintings that call to mind religious icons, or portraits of ripped-from-the-headlines political icons like Obama, Castro, and the pope. The artist was mentored by fellow Cuban painters Cosme Proenza and Segundo Planes, and he continues to look to contemporaries such as painters Luc Tuymans, Marlene Dumas, Daniel Richter, and Cecily Brown, among others, as inspirations for his own practice.