CENOTES CENOTES
NEW PAINTINGS BY ANNE LEONE NEW PAINTINGS BY ANNE LEONE
CENOTES CENOTES
NEW PAINTINGS BY ANNE LEONE NEW PAINTINGS BY ANNE
“What started years ago as a series of paintings inspired by a personal experience, has led to a lifetime of painting people underwater. For me, the swimming motif is a metaphor for life, purity, and birth with which to explore the themes of independence, vulnerability, and other states of mind. Currently, I am interested in the familiar yet striking sensations, both physical and visual, of the invigorating nature of water.
In these images, we don’t know what is going on above the surface, and it doesn’t really matter who these people are. Instead, we take in only what can be seen underneath - the deep and quiet space, the intense light and colors, the feeling of cool water on the skin. These swimmers are exploring the environment, unrestrained by the corporeal bounds of gravity, and experiencing the freedom of buoyancy, of being in and moving around each other underwater, and of being hyper-aware of their bodies.
These paintings are set in natural pools of incredibly clear, fresh water found in limestone caves. Typically, stunning rock collapses can be found all around the pond floor, evidence of their ancient creation. On the surface there are are warped, abstract reflections, a manifestation of the swimmers’ movements. Sunlight filters through these ripples, projecting coruscating patterns on everything below, illuminating what is solid and what is not.”
~ Anne Leone
Cenote Azul #49
Acrylic on linen
60 x 40 in
Cenote Azul #46
Acrylic on linen
38 x 28 in
Corazon del Paraiso #9
Acrylic on linen
48 X 110 in
Cenote del Paraiso #17
Acrylic on linen
58 x 60 in
Cenote Azul #47
Acrylic on linen
24 x 36 in
Cenote Azul #50
Acrylic on linen
60 x 60 in
Corazon del Paraiso #19
Acrylic on linen
50 x 40 in
Cenote Azul #48
Acrylic on linen
54 x 30 in
Cenote Azul #45
Acrylic on linen
62 x 56 in
Corazon del Paraiso #12
Acrylic on canvas
46 x 60 in
Cenote Casa Tortugas #2
Acrylic on paper
36 x 57 in
Cenote Tortugas #3
Acrylic on paper
28 x 22 in
Cenote Tortugas #4
Acrylic on paper
30 x 22 in
Anne Leone was born in Los Angeles in 1960 and currently lives and works on the East Coast, splitting her time between Brooklyn, NY and Massachusetts. She has been painting the mesmerizing subject of bodies underwater for over 25 years.
Leone’s paintings are based on photographs that she takes of her family swimming in the Cenotes in Mexico during their annual trips. These natural limestone caves near Tulum are filled with crystal clear fresh water, which makes them an ideal place to observe the figure weightless and underwater. Leone paints with meticulous attention to detail which results in stunning realism, depicting both the human form and the organic nature of water.
Leone has won numerous awards for her work and has been granted several fellowships. Her work has been shown in both solo and group gallery exhibitions across the United States and Europe as well as being featured in several museums, including the Newport Art Museum, the New Bedford Art Museum, the Fuller Art Museum and the Georgetown University Museum.