| GRANT
LEIER
Born
in Lloydminster, Saskatchewan in 1956, Grant Leier studied at the Alberta
College of Art in Calgary before honing his skills further at the Illustrator’s
Workshop in New York. As well as studying illustration, Leier is proficient
as a painter and is known for his work with textiles.
Leier
has had numerous solo exhibitions in Canada and California with paintings,
textiles and assemblages featured in important group exhibitions in public
and private galleries. His work is represented in many corporate and private
collections including the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Public Archives
Canada and Chevron Canada. Leier currently lives and paints in Ladysmith,British
Columbia.
THE
WHIMSY OF GRANT LEIER
Grant Leier once compared himself to a crow who sets
out to collect the most beautiful and colourful objects it could find.
His whimsical and wonderful art works are technically perfect and his sense
of design complete. His love of pattern and his proficiency of hand
make him a master at illustration. This, a quick wit, and a quirky sense
of humour combine to makes works that both titillate and excite the viewer.
Combining
found objects, odd photographs and other imagery with a symphony of patterns
and designs, Leier collages his images and ideas by both painting and drawing
them together into a story-like setting. Monkeys or people or even fruit
and flowers are intertwined into a world of both fantasy and reality. He
takes his everyday life and creates his playful realms full of beautiful
colours and forms both for himself and his viewer.
The
combination of design, bold colours and interesting imagery excite
the viewer and cause them to react to the works in a positive and joyful
manner. Leier works in bold, bright acrylics with festive and decorative
colours often framing the works with patterns of ornamental designs.
These works are flamboyant expressions of fabricated realities. These often
sentimental recreations can elicit nostalgia in the viewer and sometimes
embellish memories of times gone by.
Leier
sets the stage, poses the actors and tells his story and the stage sets
are always sublime. |
