Benedikt Leonhardt: Duft von Regen

PORTFOLIO

A gentle shower, moisture in the air, and a deep breath expands the chest. The gaze opens up – deep into one’s own inner self.
Benedikt Leonhardt’s paintings touch upon a realm of human perception that is not determined by the optic nerve alone. Surfaces like veils of mist, into which one wishes to reach and observe one’s outstretched hand, to gauge the density of the air between it and one’s own eye. Coloured surfaces suggest that something might be there. Bodies, networks, perhaps traces of beings. Organic and pulsating, the images ask how much intuition it takes to give substance to what is seen. As much as associations, memories and conjectures arise, there are few clear clues to be found. Leonhardt obscures in order to reveal that seeing is merely a hunch. He is a master of the sensitive, tender gaze, a choreographer of the vague, and he plays masterfully with the ambivalence of the visible.
‘Scent of Rain’ showcases new paintings by the artist, who was born in Leipzig in 1984.

Benedikt Leonhardt studied at the HGB Leipzig from 2007 to 2014 and graduated in 2016 as a master student under Astrid Klein.
He won the LVZ Art Prize (2017) and was featured in the landmark exhibition “Jetzt! Junge Malerei in Deutschland” (2019 / 2020), which was shown in four museums: the Kunstmuseum Bonn, the Museum Wiesbaden, the Museum Gunzenhauser in Chemnitz and the Deichtorhallen in Hamburg. His work is held in numerous