Terry Leness is part of a new generation of painters pushing Photorealism forward. Her highly detailed paintings in this new series focus on an unexpected subject matter: manufactured homes and trailers in the southeastern California desert. By depicting the underprivileged in an area known for its images of excessive privilege, Leness is elevating important voices - she is commenting on the complexities of these domestic spaces as seen through her eyes - the eyes of a female painter - still an underrepresented group in Photorealism.
CV
EDUCATION
1981 BA, Art History, Harvard University
1977/79 Morehead Fellow, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025 Affordable Housing, Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Skidmore Contemporary Art, Santa Monica, CA
2017 Skidmore Contemporary Art, Santa Monica, CA
2017 G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2015 Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
2014 Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
2013 Smith & Vallee Gallery, Edison, WA
2011 Museo Gallery, Langley, WA
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025 Palm Springs Modernism with Billis Williams Gallery, CA
2024 The Cityscape Show XIV, Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2024 Seattle Art Fair with Billis Williams Gallery, Seattle, WA
2024 San Francisco Art Fair with Billis WIlliams Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2024 Palm Springs Modernism with Billis Williams Gallery, CA
2023 Lights, Shadows, Reflections, Gallerium and the Book of Arts
2023 10x10x10 Tieton, Tieton Arts & Humanities, Tieton, WA
2023 The Cityscape Show XIII, Billis Williams Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Rhode Island Watercolor Society, The Limited Palette/Online show
2018 Group Exhibition, J. Willott Gallery, Palm Desert, CA
2018 Thick as Thieves, G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2018 Centers of Gravity, Permanent Collection Exhibition, Shoreline, WA
2017 Food Art Invitational, Seattle, WA
2016 American Painting Today, Sponsored by Hedreen Gallery, Seattle, WA
2016 Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA/Group Show
2016 Skidmore Contemporary Art, Santa Monica, CA/Group Show
2016 American Road Trip, SITE:Brooklyn, Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn Prize
2015 On the Road, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
2015 Mrs. Goldberg, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA
2013 Sugar Rush, En Em Artspace, Sacramento, CA
2013 Suburbia, Linda Hodges Gallery, Seattle, WA
2013 G. Gibson Gallery, Seattle, WA
2012 Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA
2012 10x10x10 Tieton, Tieton, WA
2012 Contained, Kirkland Arts Center, Kirkland, WA
2012 Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA
2012 Damage Control, Gage Academy of Art, Seattle, WA
2011 Art Port Townsend, Northwind, Port Townsend, WA/Merit Award
2011 10x10x10 Tieton, Tieton, WA
2011 Material World, Northwind Arts Alliance, Port Townsend, WA
2011 Saints & Sinners, Museo Gallery, Langley, WA
2010 Home, DIGS, Bellingham, WA/Solo Show
2010 Dwelling, Smith & Vallee Gallery, Edison, WA
2010 Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA
2010 Sweet Laurette’s, Port Townsend, WA/Solo Show
2010 Safe Harbor, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA
2010 Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA
2010 Bainbridge Island Public Library, Bainbridge Island, WA
2009 Northwind Arts Alliance, Port Townsend, WA
2009 Department of Ecology, Olympia, WA
2009 Envision Cascadia, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA
2009 Sweet Laurette’s, Port Townsend, WA/Solo Show
2009 Collective Visions Gallery, Bremerton, WA
2008 Sense of Place, Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA/Merit Award
2008 Strait Art, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles, WA
2008 Northwind Arts Alliance, Port Townsend, WA
PRESS & PUBLICATIONS
2025 Kingsley Crocker Exhibition Catalog
2024 The Experience of a Better Suburbia: The Suburban Landscape Paintings of Terry Leness | PLACE Curated
2022 New American Paintings, #163, Pacific Coast
2021 Splash, Jihyun, Woo, Wisdom House Publishers, Seoul, South Korea
2018 New American Paintings, Supplement
2017 The Seattle Times, April 19, 2017, “Please Don’t Eat the Art,” by Bethany Jean Clement
2015 Seattle Magazine, vol. 24, no. 9, September 2015, pg. 123
2015 City Arts, October 2015, pg. 3, http://cityartsonline.com/articles/beautiful-gloom
2014 New American Paintings, no. 115, Pacific Coast
2014 Cover art, The Stranger
2013 The Seattle Times, December 20, 2013, “Suburbia: Dream or Nightmare?” by Michael Upchurch, pg. 23.
2013 International Artist, No. 92, August/September 2013, “The Power of Notan in Landscape Composition” by Mitchell Albala, pg. 50.
2013 Studio Visit, Volume 19
2010 On Center, JULY-OCTOBER 2010, Vol. XXII, No. 4
2010 Studio Visit, Volume 9
2010 On Center, MARCH-MAY 2010, Vol. XXII, No. 2
2009 On Center, SUMMER/FALL 2009, Vol. XXI, No. 4
2009 The Leader, JUNE 10, 2009, Issue 23/Vol. 120
2008 On Center, MAR-MAY 2008, Vol. XX, No. 2
RESIDENCIES
2012 Ucross Foundation, Clearmont, WY
2010 Centrum, Port Townsend, WA