Gratitude -a winter survey by Edward Lentsch

I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES

…For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance ... I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul…

Invictus by

William Ernest Henley

Dear Reader,

If I could sum up my intention, narrow down my purpose, and explain my practice as an artist, it would be with these four archetypes:

On the first level it is a drive to simply paint and create objects of great beauty. At the next level, it is about telling a story. On the third level, my work is a testament to the stories left behind from the great masters that through the centuries have raised the bar for others to see the ever more unlimited possibilities for human achievement. Finally, at its zenith, my practice is a cognitive experience of wonder and awe for an ever expanding human paradigm. For me, art is a vehicle to fuel self-realization. It’s a search for profound knowledge and a journey to discover the highest concept of self. It’s the inspiration to achieve mastery through constant and continuing improvement that initiates invention and the genesis of all possibilities.

It’s with this passion for learning, that my kinship to all manner of Painter Poet Prophet and Priest is firmly rooted.

Edward Lentsch

December 2015

Lentsch’s work has the pathos of Rembrandt, and the atmosphere of Kiefer.

Tonya Turner

Turner Gallery Santa Fe, NM

EDWARD LENTSCH

American born April 14 1959 California

Profile

Edward Lentsch is a well-established mid-career painter working in mixed media on canvas. Lentsch’s monumental sized works exhibit unique surfaces and refined textures while also reflecting a contemplative element of alchemy and spiritual introspection. The spiritual overtones of Lentsch’s painting are captured by his titles, where he uses mystical images and esoteric subjects to inspire the imagination of his viewer. His titles are compelling as he reaches for what he refers to as a “dialog that defines synectics…” (a concept first coined by Buckminster Fuller --20th century visionary inventor.) Wikipedia contributor William Gordon describes synectics as: a problem solving approach that stimulates thought processes of which the subject is generally unaware. He describes this method as, “Trusting things that are alien, and alienating things that are trusted.” In Lentsch’s work he often pairs paintings with titles that attempt to explain this idea of synectic reason by connecting a vast matrix of complex relationships between science and mysticism and the metaphysical and spiritual.

“My work is about human potential and consciousness. My passion for painting is intertwined with a passion for science and learning; logic and mathematics, mysticism and mastery.”

EDWARD LENTSCH

APRIL 2015

Selected works from 2015

6

The Intention Experiment

2015-100 x 80 inches

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Edward Lentsch’s expansive artistic practice explores his relationship between the self, nature and the universe. From the Fibonacci sequence to the teachings of Aristotle, Lentsch attempts to create a bridge between the natural world and these intellectual canons, exploring the interconnection between the realms of science and mysticism, the metaphysical and the spiritual. He explores how these three facets are integrated within a global environment and moreover how we, as humans, fit within this complex matrix of thought using the ideas of some of the world’s greatest writers and scholars.

Lentsch works across a variety of media to create an ‘energy of intention’, in which textures, compositions and colours (or their absence) are combined. At first glance, his abstract canvases bring to mind the earthen tones of Kiefer, or the scratched surfaces of Tàpies. Lentsch, however, draws from a broader art historical canon, and painting becomes an extension of the life force around him, a transformative experience through which he can mediate a pure experiential moment. Flowing from a nonverbal intuitive state of creative expression, Lentsch bridges a complex visual language in which colours and textures are lifted from the natural world. On canvas, they are refracted and tessellated, at times put through the process of entropy, which allows for them to be transformed and transmuted.

Lentsch starts with a mastic and polymer foundation, before working with stone powders and dry pigments. Here, while the work is still wet, he uses trowels and sticks creating visual interventions. Before encapsulating the work in shellac and various varnishes, each works’ effervescence is enhanced and its distressed surface is developed. Works take on qualities of organic surfaces, such as sandstone or granite, using an intricate network of flecks and dots of pigment to proliferate the densely worked surface. One can imagine soft, snowy landscapes of white and grey or the verdant green of a tranquil overgrown pond or even the harsh dark lines of barren twigs and brush against an autumn landscape. Lentsch’s technique allows for the translation of our natural landscapes into abstract environments. It is the complex relationship between what is known, or the skill and technique, and what is manifested, the interpretation or intuition, that lies at the heart of Lentsch’s painterly

technique. He uses the force of the paint as it is applied to the canvas as a sensory way to connect with the energy of the life force around him. Lentsch’s paintings also use logic existing within nature; for example, the number sequences that comprise the fractals of a snowflake. This ontological approach is spurred by the artist’s interest in Synectics, a methodology that seeks to explore how creativity works by a connecting of dots to reach a higher plane of understanding that encompasses the physical, psychological and symbolic. In this way Lentsch explores links between elemental phenomena and more ethereal, spiritual and magical experiences.

Each of Lentsch’s works refers to a particular theory, intellectual, mathematical or spiritual intellection. His titles are not intended to act as complete narratives for individual paintings, but rather to demonstrate their significance as a theoretical foundation where each piece is connected to the other. His work becomes a series of links within a chain creating an intuitive dialogue between the conscious and subconscious ---but pushing toward something further. Just as his paintings make connections between the natural world and abstraction, it is the force of painting that helps him completes the circle. In diving into the canvas Lentsch understands his connection to the beauty and complexity of life that allow him to find freedom and personal empowerment.

LONDON 2014

WRITTEN

BY

GALLERIE KASHYA HILDEBRAND

22 Eastcastle Street, London W1W 8DE, United Kingdom

In One Word, be a saint...Virtue is the sun of the microcosm, and has for hemisphere a good conscience. She is so beautiful that she finds favour with both God and man. Nothing is lovable but virtue, nothing detestable but vice. Virtue alone is serious, all else is but jest. A man’s capacity and greatness are to be measured by his virtue and not by his fortune. She alone is all-sufficient. She makes men lovable in life, memorable after death.

The Art of Wordly Wisdom

by Baltasar Gracian 15th Century Spanish Jesuit

In One Word

Brainstorming

2015 86 x 75 inches

The Hill at Tor

2015

The Empress

Know all things to be like this: a mirage, a cloud castle... nothing is as it appears.

The Buddha

Target Unseen

2015· 46 x 76 inches

25

Metanira

2015 58 x 38 inches

An Orchard for a Dome

2015 34 x 22 inches

Flow of Emenations

2015· 50 x 76 inches

The Eye of Horus

37

Vetus Latinas

Knossos

2015- 70 x 90 inches

In Greek mythology, King Minos dwelt in a palace at Knossos. He had Daedalus construct a labyrinth (by some connected with the double-bladed axe, or labrys) in which to retain his son, the Minotaur. Daedalus also built a dancing floor for Queen Ariadne (Homer, Iliad 18.590-2). The name “Knossos” was subsequently adopted by Arthur Evans because it seemed to fit the local archaeology. The identification has never been credibly questioned, mainly because of that archaeology.

Western civilization was thus predisposed by legend to associate whatever palace ruins should be found at Knossos with the legends of Minos and the labyrinth.

2015-42 inches

The City in the Sea

All That Gains

2015-55 x 45 inches

Ta Mysterium

49

The Songs of Destiny Part I

The Songs of Destiny Part II

2015 · 72 x 30 inches

2015- 46 x 46 inches

Aristophanes Peace

Hypothesis Non Fingo 2015-52 x 50 inches

The Randomized Algorithm

2015- 42 x 62 inches

I Believe in Miracles

ONE ARTIST’S PLEDGE

An Artist’s Journey Into Micro-Philanthrocapitalism

Imagine the possibilities if visual artists were to adopt a “greater good” agenda. Imagine the power of artists as micro-entrepreneurs acting as “micro-philanthropists” calling on a ‘definite optimism’ and an “everything is possible” way of thinking. Throughout history, art has highlighted global (social, economic, political) issues, but what if there was also a way in which it could provide tangible tools and skills to make a real, substantial difference? I am working toward changing that paradigm and restoring the image of artists as the ‘grand thinkers’ and ‘experts’ the world looks to for answers.

I’m not a rock star philanthropist like Bono and this isn’t Robin Hood or the CGI (Clinton Global Initiative). This is Artist League making the things that need to be made. I’m hoping that likeminded colleagues from around the globe will join in this movement to look at new ways to serve and bring more intrinsic value to our communities and our planet.

One Artist’s Pledge is the first step to spread the word and set a new benchmark of leadership and inspiration.

What is One Artist’s Pledge?

I, Edward Lentsch, hereby pledge $1,000,000 in total donations of monumen-

tal-sized paintings to more than a dozen “for benefit” institutions that are pushing the envelope through their missions to serve humankind. I see no better way to send a clear message of self-empowerment and no better example of the possibilities for all artists to participate in this new epic paradigm shift, where we can directly make a difference and serve humanity in new and innovative ways.

What is Philanthrocapitalism?

It has been called “The New Golden Age of Philanthropy,” where Social Entrepreneurship is taking the lead with privately funded NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organizations) to the top of the abundance pyramid, leading hands-on initiatives in solving the world’s most challenging problems. The B-Corp (“for-benefit”) business model and L3C (Limited Profit Corporation) are changing the face of what was once a “non-profit” one size fits all approach to “do good for good .org and what now is a new hybrid of creative integration for new platforms for giving--and more importantly teaching people to fish… This is what is not so commonly known as “Philanthrocapitalism.” Micro-Philanthrocapitalism and the Artist’s Pledge.

I Believe in Miracles

My story started a couple of months ago when I was in upstate New York at the Hamptons Art Fair. I had worked for twenty-eight days straight to finish a new collection for display at the fair, followed by a pop-up show in a posh boutique hotel that a special patron of mine had organized. When I awoke that Monday morning headed for Manhattan I had what I was later to discover as an ‘ocular inclusion’ (a very tiny blood clot that had gone to the eye and cut off the oxygen causing a blind spot.) My first instinct was that it was something that could be fixed with a nap and some Visine. This is where an incredibly serendipitous event occurred that changed my life forever.

As I arrived in New York, I received a phone call completely out of the blue from the executive assistant of one of my collectors, a doctor in NYC. I remembered him and his wife and the painting they had bought. I especially remembered how they spent time talking to my wife about Alzheimer’s Disease, which her mother was suffering from. They were incredibly smart and exceptionally kind. They had even sent me a couple of thoughtful notes over the years telling me how much they enjoyed their painting. We were not friends by any means, just a casual acquaintance that I met at an art fair. So this phone call came on their behalf to set up a private appointment to see my new work ahead of the fair.

I remember saying, “I have a thing with my eye and I wonder if I could call you back?” The reply was, “Wait a second what exactly is going on…” and after a couple more seconds this Assistant said something I will never forget. She said sternly, “The doctor will want to know about this right away--you just stop whatever you’re doing and take a seat and please wait to answer my call ---I’ll call you back in a few minutes; it might take a while for me to track him down but don’t you do a thing until you hear back from me!” It turned out this client of mine was not just a prominent New York doctor, but he was also the CEO a major hospital in NYC. A few minutes later my phone rang again and his assistant said, “He wants you to go in to see a particular doctor friend immediately. Your eyes are nothing to mess around with. They are expecting you and will take it from there.” Before I knew it I was in the ICU ---turns out that my heart had been in A-fib for several days and was throwing clots to my brain. My quick-fix approach could have been a deadly mistake. My heart was in such a stressed state they ended up putting in a temporary pacemaker. Lying in hospital, I realized a couple of things: One, this arbitrary call out of the blue and the unique timing of this phone call felt like divine intervention; and two, being an artist had been extremely important and I was significant. Later, when my doctor collector visited me in hospital and told

me stories about how he and his wife would go to their retreat in Aspen simply to read and sit in front of the fire to look at my painting and how profoundly it moved them. “It just looks like it was meant for the space we get so much joy from it!” he said.

At that moment I realized something I had almost forgotten: I am an artist of consequence and my work can create joy and inspire people. I am powerful in my ability to serve and make a difference! I don’t need to be famous! It’s not an exhibition at a “grand museum of museums” that will validate me and fulfill me as an artist? At that moment an incredible sense of gratitude filled me to tears as I had a profound moment of clarity. I thought: Is this it? Am I going to “die with my music still in me...” A long time ago my mentor and friend Rabbi Bernie told me, “I’ve never heard anyone on his deathbed say—I wish I worked harder…” but that was exactly what I was thinking. Over the following weeks, as I lay there and recovered, I was compelled to give something back. I asked myself again and again, what is it that truly serves to further? I thought I have some huge paintings that in the $50,000-100,000 range. How many years have I wasted waiting for that famous curator from a top museum to walk into the studio and discover my genius? The moment of clarity was realizing what can I do with them now and how many more

pieces do I have still in me! What if I offered to donate one of my best works to the hospital as a way of giving back? It wasn’t in place of a financial obligation, but rather, about showing my appreciation with more than words, but through deeds and actions.

What I was to discover was that they (not just the doctor but others at the institution) were extremely excited about this gift and had an amazing new state of the art building that could use a monumental sized scale painting. The joy of giving was quickly transformed into self-realization and empowerment---I have the resources to make a difference now!! Not when I’m rich and successful, but now! I now know I can do this for others as well. The next thing I did was contact what is probably my favorite institution on the planet, Singularity University, the quintessential example of the “For-Benefit” model (where, in my opinion, the most brilliant minds on the planet gather to solve some of today’s most challenging problems). I contacted them and before I knew it, I was donating one of my works, for a new building scheduled to open in 2017.

My current plan is to find new platforms for exposure, and start this ‘movement of giving’ as a model for other likeminded colleagues to participate in. It’s the oldest and most human paradigm, the idea that “what you give is what you get.” In the

past two decades I have witnessed and participated in many fundraising events for all manner of non-profits where artist’s donations of their work has contributed greatly to the success of the organization. I personally have gifted dozens of individual works that have raised sums between $2000-10,000 in gala events by either silent or live auction.

The power of giving in this class could be called the “micro-philanthropy of the small as the mighty.” It’s been an enormous source of both pride and fulfillment to be able to give something that would inspire someone else “to give to get!” This synergy has both the power of the small and the mighty. I think of Sister Teresa, a modest woman of little education, creating something from the most humblest of roots and becoming a global symbol for love. Given the fact that her funeral witnessed the world’s most powerful and affluent individuals joined by its poorest is a testament to the power of the “one”. I think of one of my all-time greatest influencers Tony Robbins, with only a high School diploma, feeding over a million people each year with a foundation that started with a couple of station wagons and a half dozen turkeys on Thanksgiving.

Modeling the Social Entrepreneurs with Big Vision and a Brilliant Purpose

You don’t have to have a multimillion

corporation behind you to make a difference – you can make a difference in the smallest and simplest of ways. Sometimes these are the most powerful. According to “The Butterfly Effect” from Tony Robbin’s blog Human Elevation “we spend $59 billion on ice cream each year… Although it may echo of the butterfly effect, it’s true that small, seemingly insignificant choices can make a huge impact. For example, Americans spent an estimated $3.25 billion this year on potato chips and $70 billion on lottery tickets. And yet it would take only $6 billion to provide basic education worldwide.” I think as an artist, how could we model more initiatives that pair to this culture and what Peter Diamandis refers to as the abundance pyramid? What is the conceptual language and vocabulary that can redefine our collective mission to serve what only furthers.

I think to myself that after this fiftythousand mile overhaul, a second chance and a shiny new pacemaker; what are the possibilities? How do I live my personal legend, think big, act boldly, and reach for the seemingly unreachable!

2015-

Hermeticum 55

2015- 60 x 50 inches

Mixed Media Polymers, Stone Dust, Shellac reduction, raw pigments, Oil and Canvas, with Giusto Manetti 24k Gold

Eponymous

2015- 76 x 54 inches

Mixed Media Polymers, Stone Dust, Shellac reduction, raw pigments, Oil and Canvas, with Giusto

Manetti 24k Gold

69

ENtRopy ANd thE LANdSCApE

La

Punctilious

2015 35 x 30 inches

Part I

Liberation from Jupiter 2015- 35 x 30 inches

Appolonius

2015 86 x 120 inches

Prophet Proffessor and the Linguist

2015 72 x 16 inches each

The Isle of Man

2015 46 x 76 inches

2015-

The Straight Path

The Passions are the Windows

2015- 45 x 35 inches

The Definite Optimist

Duties of the Heart

2015-80 x 60 inches

Heavenly Stems

2015-42 x 30 inches

Earhly Branches

2015-42 x 30 inches

The Miracle of Watermelon II

Six Around One

2015-50 x 40 inches

Dover Beach

2015-35 x 35 inches

2015-35 x 35 inches

In the City by the Sea

2015-35 x 35 inches

Miracle of the Blue Morpho

2015-55 diameter x 1 1/2 inches

White Gold, Shellac reduction, imitation pearls

oil varnish reduction pigmented on canvas

intrinsic motivation

SELECTED WORKS FROM 2010-2014

Here this first, I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor, what I have must come out, that is the reason I compose.

Ludvig Van Beethoven

The Sawyer Effect for Daniel Pink 2012- 120 x 80 inches

From Jonah Lehrer, an illustration of the power of intrinsic motivation — the desire to do a thing because you enjoy it, rather than for any extrinsic reward like a paycheck:

Argumentum Ad Hominum

2012 100 x 80 inches”

The Hypothesis of Formative Causation

The Exponential Calculus

Eleusinian Mysteries Part IV

2014-66 x 88 inches

Fragments of the Presocratics

2012-100 x 80 inches

2011- 78 x 132 inches

Lady of the Mountain

The Cracked Brass Bells 2014- 40 x 62 inches

Raimundus Lullas

2014-50 x 80 inches

INSpIRAtIoN ANd gRAtItudE

Concept

The Polar Equation

Libre Abacci 2012-60 x 50 inches

Tasso’c Three Wishes

2012-66 x 55 inches

2012-65 x 55 inches

Ravenloft

New Mysterianism

The Halo Effect

2012-35 x 35 inches

Nortique Part II

Lau Tzu’s Three Treasures

2011-35 x 30 inches

Moment of Reflection

Conversations with God

2006-84

Apocrypha Synecticus

Pistis Sophia

201o-55 x 45 inches

Grizzled

Pod of the Milweed 2010-66 x 88 inches

White Admiral

2010-44 x 40 inches

Cleopatra

2010-44 x 42 inches

Seven of Music

2010-46 x 40 inches

2010-46 x 40 inches

Seven of Music II

Sinan the Architect

Fire of the Golden Dawn

2014-46 x 42 inches

Tensegrity

2012-88 x 66inches

Oil of Neroli 2010-66 x 88 inches

Anglewing

2010-60 x 50 inches

The Architect 2010-80 x 60 inches

Gypsy Moth

2010-90 x 50 inches

2013-76 x 54 inches

Setpum Planetarum

Didactic Method of Elenchus

Staccato Blue

2013-46 x 68 inches

Seven Books of Osan 2013-42

The Mastery of Te’ Part III

The Soul of Dosuka

2011-50 x 60 inches

Gypsy Moth

2013-50 x 42 inches

2013-50 x 80 inches

219

Sanctum Sanctorum

Ars Magna

2012-11 x 16.5 feet

My career as an artist really began very early in life, around some particularly painful and extraordinary events. At age twelve I first encountered this life changing event that would shape my future as an artisan-craftsman and “person who makes things.” After severe domestic abuse my mother was forced to file bankruptcy and start over with no assistance from my father, I remember sleeping on one mattress with my two younger brothers. I remember her sleeping on a sofa in the living and walking to a bus stop six days a week, with me in charge of many of the duties at our house. This is the first moment where a light bulb turned on ---the feeling of total self-empowerment; that my talent and drive to make things could make a difference! With a house empty I made our first dining room table with a piece of plywood I dragged home from a construction site. It wasn’t big, but with a bed sheet and a jar of cut flowers, I knew I could do something that made things a little better. I also learned to cook and pretty much did all the cooking-- taking care of my younger brothers and even still do with my wife and kids. A couple of years later that piece of plywood would be moved into the basement which was my first studio. This is where I built my first body of work. My first “portfolio was put together with cheap paper and fat pencils I stole from the bowling

alley. I struggled with being poor and I know it shaped the strength of my convistion and drive to do good work and serve the greater good with these special skills that I was so passionate about learning. I also learned about leadership and mental toughness. And, not being able to work officially for minimum wage in the traditional ways available, I made my first deal as an entrepreneur---I talked the manager of a small store that sold bicycles on putting them together for him. Soon I had helpers and a team to divi-up the cash—and whatever I did I found a way to buy art supplies. A couple of years later by age fourteen I road my bike with my drawings in hand to a small Atelier a few miles from my house to seek painting lessons. This was the next in an extraordinary synchronicity when the owner of this atelier, a prominent and mature artist and her husband, who only taught adults, asked my mother to let them train me and take me to small art fairs. They paid for many of my materials starting out, and later in life this would be my inspiration for founding Artist League. At age sixteen I bought our first car and started entering local contests. I had many mentors along the way especially thru high school.

I went on to win the “Minnesota Best 100,” prizes at the State Fair, the MCAD Portfolio Scholarship, a fellowship to the

Summit Academy of Fine Art in St Paul all in period between 1975-77. After one year at Minneapolis College of Art and Design I quit and went into the design build business. As I grew up one thing that always bothered me was our broken down house, and eventually I was compelled to learn the trades and by my mid-twenties our house was no longer in a shambles. I think that this struggle with poverty and my family compelled me to master every facet of building. In my earlier construction business I have made everything from a 15ft high end conference table to stone wall waterfall sculptures to designbuild entire building-conversions. I had a design patent for my first invention the “Weathermation Cabinet” which I sold to Pan Am World Services---ourclients included the Helicopter Marine Squadron for the President of the United States. The royalties made it possible that I was able to move to Paris, France to study painting in my mid-thirties and again reinvent myself several times after that, developing new avenues for invention creating the seed money for my artistic pursuits. In 1999 I founded the original Artist League as artistleague.com a think-tank for emerging artists---this was my first attempt at the “Big Idea” or “Mastermind.” It is a fact that I haven’t ever received any honors, degrees, fellowships or grants, but I am very proud of this fact that I have created abundance for those around me

and have educated and trained myself in ways that few could comprehend or compete with. To me the greatest honor of my life was in 2007 when Ivan Karp the legendary art dealer in NYC told me that my paintings were “the best abstract paintings he had seen in fifteen years.” Today at age fifty-six I celebrate over forty years of paintings as my greatest professional accomplishment. The sale of my work has raised tens of thousands for many diverse charities and made hundreds of thousands of dollars for art dealers. Besides providing for my family raising two children I have reinvested everything I make financially back into my work. I am most proud to have created jobs and found ways to contribute to both community and country despite my lack of advanced education and/or recognition from academia. In some ways I have felt like an “outsider.’ My credentials as an artist are pretty simple: These achievements include over five hundred sold works in public and private collections worldwide. I have made and continue to make a cognitive effort to serve and bring value to all those in my reach. And it is my most important intention that not only does my reach continue to grow, but I challenge myself with more ambitious and seemingly impossible goals pushing the envelope beyond fear to reverence---beyond approbation to endorsement.

Sunset Plaza opening at Tobi Tobin 2011

OK HARRIS EXHIBITION 2007

International Art Fair Exhibitions

2015 Scope Miami

2015 SCAPE Corona Del Mar/Newport Beach, CA

2015 Dallas Fine Art Fair

2014 Abu Dhabi Int’l Fine Art Fair

2014 KFIAF Seoul South Korea

2013 Costello Childs Scottsdale

2012-14 Art Aspen

2012 Art San Diego

2012 Palm Springs International Art Fair

2012 Art Hamptons

2011 Art San Diego

2011 San Francisco Fine Art Fair

2010 Art Hamptons

2005 Art Chicago Navy Pier, Chicago, IL

2003 Art Chicago, Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA

2002 Palm Springs International Art Fair, Palm Springs, CA

2000 Palm Springs International Art Fair, Palm Springs, CA

Gallery Exhibitions

2010 Tobi Tobin, Los Angeles

2010 The Edge, Santa Fe

2010 Costello Childs Gallery Scottsdale

2010 Budwell Middle East Muscat, Oman

2010 “Paradigms and Paradoxes” Forré and Co. Aspen, CO

2009 “The Iridescence of Lepodoptera” Lanoue Fine Art, Boston, MA

2009 “The Alchemist” Ogilvie Pertl Gallery, Chicago, IL

2009 Madison Gallery, La Jolla, CA

2009 Zane Bennett, Santa Fe, NM

2009 Zane Bennett, Art Chicago

2008 Gallery Moda, Santa Fe, NM

2008-09 Onessimo Fine Art

2008 Ogilvie Pertle Gallery, Chicago, IL

2007-2008 “Return to the Source OK Harris Works of Art, New York, NY”

OK Harris Works of Art, New York, NY

2007 “Lesson’s From the I Ching” Onessimo Fine Art, Palm Beach Gardens, FL

2007 “Remembering Atlantis” Eleonore Austerer Gallery, Palm Desert, CA

2007 Hernandez Contemporary, Scottsdale, AZ

2007 Ogilvie/Pertl Gallery, Chicago, IL

2007 Gallery Moda, Santa Fe, NM

2006 “The Saffron Adhara” Lanoue Fine Art, Boston, MA

2006 “Modern Masters, Santa Fe, NM

2006 Hernandez Contemporary, Scottsdale, AZ

2006 Modern Masters Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA

2005 Flanders Gallery, Minneapolis, MN

2004 Elizabeth Edwards Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA

2004 Flanders Gallery, Minneapolis, MN

MEDIA AND PUBLICATIONS

2014 Cover Luxe Magazine Southern California

2013 Harpers Bazaar Magazine Japan

2013-2014 TV show Million Dollar Listing

2010 Music Video recording artist Enrique Iglesias “I Like It”

2010 Music Video recording artist Ne-Yo “Champaign Life”

2012 Elle Décor Magazine

2011 Angelino Magazine LA

2010 LA Times

2010 Palm Springs Life

2007 Art in America

2006 Palm Springs Life

Bibliography (for title origins)

The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life: Volume 1 by Drunvalo Melchizedek

The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life: Volume 2 by Drunvalo Melchizedek

The Bible Code by Michael Drosnin

The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav

The Dead Sea Scrolls by G. Vermes

The Divine Proportion by H.E. Huntley

Divine Proportion: Phi In Art, Nature, and Science by Priya Hemenway

Egyptology: search for the Tomb of Osiris by Candlewick Press

The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene

The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean translation and interpretation by Doreal

The Fourth Turning An American Prophecy by William Strauss and Neil Howe

God and the New Physics by Paul Davies

God is a Verb by David A Cooper

The Golden Ratio: The Story of PHI, the World’s

Most Astonishing Number by Mario Livio

How to Know God by Deepak Chopra

The I Ching or Book of Changes by Brian Browne

Walker

Living in the Heart: How to Enter into the Sacred Space Within the Heart by Drunvalo Melchizedek

Mathematics from the Birth of Numbers by Jan Gullberg

Morphic Resonance & the Presence of the Past by Rupert Sheldrake

Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner

The Mystery of Aleph by Amir D. Aczel

A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram

The Power of Intention by Dr. Wayne Dyer

The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose

Sacred Geometry: Deciphering the Code by Stephen Skinner

Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice (Art and Imagination) by Robert Lawlor

Sacred Geometry (Wooden Books) by Miranda Lundy

The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra

Wizardology: The Secrets of Merlin by CandlePress (Includes references for painting titles)

The Code Book by Simon Singh

Six Not So Easy Pieces by Fritjof Capra

The Principia by Isaac Newton

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

The Dead Sea Scrolls by G. Vermes

And the Sea is Never Full by Elle Wiesel

The Soul of a Butterfly by Muhammad Ali and Hana Yasmeen Ali

The Notebook of Leonardo DaVinci by Edward MacCurdy

Creating Affluence: A to Z Steps to a Richer Life by Deepak Chopra

Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling by Dr. Wayne

Dyes

The Celestine Prophecy: An Adventure by James Redfield

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

The Transformational Book Circle SeriesThe Yoga of Spiritual Devotion: Narada Bhakti

Sutras by Prem Prakash

The Book of Life: The Master-Key to Inner Peace and Relationship Harmony edited and interpreted by Gay Hendricks and Philip Johncock

Siddhartha an Indian Tale by Hermann Hesse

The Essential Alan Watts: Seven Things We Thought We Knew About God and the Cosmos (But Didn’t) by Alan Watts

The Power of a Single Thought: How to Initiate Major Life Changes from the Quiet of Your Mind revised and edited by Gay Hendricks and Debbie DeVoe

Divine Magic:The Seven Sacred Secrets of Manifestation revised and edited by Doreen Virtue, Ph.D.

What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson

Touching the Divine: How to Make Your Daily Life

a Conversation with God edited and interpreted by Gay Hendricks and James Twyman

The Creative Pocess: Reflections on Inventions in the Arts and Sciences edited by Brewster Ghiselin

MEDIA AND PUBLICATIONS

2014 Cover Luxe Magazine Southern California

2013 Harpers Bazaar Magazine Japan

2013-2014 TV show Million Dollar Listing

2010 Music Video recording artist Enrique Iglesias “I Like It”

2010 Music Video recording artist Ne-Yo “Champaign Life”

2012 Elle Décor Magazine

2011 Angelino Magazine LA

2010 LA Times

2010 Palm Springs Life

2007 Art in America

2006 Palm Springs Life

COMMUNITY

Founder Artist League.com a think-tank studio for emerging artists. Artist League Projects has hosted dozens of internships and apprenticeships for emerging artist in the past ten years. Lentsch mentors and invests both his time and personal capital into exhibiting others work in art fairs and selling/marketing initiatives. He continues to fund emerging artist’s projects and art works in his new studio in St Louis Park. Currently sponsoring Thaddius Jameson (Autistic-

Idetic memory-nominated for Fulbright Scholarship.) Past artists sponsored by Artist League include Coleman Miller, David Bonagurio, Becca Shewmake and Alicia Dvorak.

Art Donations for Auctions (partial list):

MOCA

Minneapolis Institute of Arts

William Shatner’s Hollywood Charity

Auction

Big Brothers and Sisters of America

American Cancer Society

Perspectives

Greater Minneapolis Crisis Center Nursery

“My paintings are derived from a source of contemplation and fascination with the wonders of an awesome logic that exists in nature,” Lentsch explains. For Lentsch, “As words define those things that are most important to our definition of self, art is the translation of those same but most important definitions.”

Lentsch is an artist, author, architectural builder, designer, inventor, and entrepreneur. He resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota and works out of his studio located in Minneapolis. Lentsch is also the founder of Artist League Studios, a Minneapolis based think-tank/studio for emerging artists.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the many galleries I have had the opportunity to work with through the years, it’s with great appreciation for your commitment, support and friendship. Also to my assistant Casey Fredlund for his awsome attitude dilligent work ethic and amazing enthusiasm. and always my Debbie, Sarah and Theo.

Reckless the recluse reasoned his way to remarkably remember reinventing himself, and as he reflected upon the renewal of his invention he came across what he had forgotten, Hope

EDWARD LENTSCH

I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES

by Edward Lentsch

…For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance ... I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul…

Invictus by William Ernest Henley

Dear Reader,

If I could sum up my intention, narrow down my purpose, and explain my practice as an artist, it would be with these four archetypes:

On the first level it is a drive to simply paint and create objects of great beauty. At the next level, it is about telling a story. On the third level, my work is a testament to the stories left behind from the great masters that through the centuries have raised the bar for others to see the ever more unlimited possibilities for human achievement. Finally, at its zenith, my practice is a cognitive experience of wonder and awe for an ever expanding human paradigm. For me, art is a vehicle to fuel self-realization. It’s a search for profound knowledge and a journey to discover the highest concept of self. It’s the inspiration to achieve mastery through constant and continuing improvement that initiates invention and the genesis of all possibilities.

It’s with this passion for learning, that my kinship to all manner of Painter Poet Prophet and Priest is firmly rooted.

Edward Lentsch

December 2015

Lentsch’s work has the pathos of Rembrandt, and the atmosphere of Kiefer.

Tonya Turner Turner Gallery Santa Fe, NM

EDWARD LENTSCH

American born April 14 1959 California

Profile

Selected works from 2015

Edward Lentsch is a well-established mid-career painter working in mixed media on canvas. Lentsch’s monumental sized works exhibit unique surfaces and refined textures while also reflecting a contemplative element of alchemy and spiritual introspection. The spiritual overtones of Lentsch’s painting are captured by his titles, where he uses mystical images and esoteric subjects to inspire the imagination of his viewer. His titles are compelling as he reaches for what he refers to as a “dialog that defines synectics…” (a concept first coined by Buckminster Fuller --20th century visionary inventor.) Wikipedia contributor William Gordon describes synectics as: a problem solving approach that stimulates thought processes of which the subject is generally unaware. He describes this method as, “Trusting things that are alien, and alienating things that are trusted.” In Lentsch’s work he often pairs paintings with titles that attempt to explain this idea of synectic reason by connecting a vast matrix of complex relationships between science and mysticism and the metaphysical and spiritual.

“My work is about human potential and consciousness. My passion for painting is intertwined with a passion for science and learning; logic and mathematics, mysticism and mastery.”

EDWARD LENTSCH

APRIL 2015

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

Edward Lentsch’s expansive artistic practice explores his relationship between the self, nature and the universe. From the Fibonacci sequence to the teachings of Aristotle, Lentsch attempts to create a bridge between the natural world and these intellectual canons, exploring the interconnection between the realms of science and mysticism, the metaphysical and the spiritual. He explores how these three facets are integrated within a global environment and moreover how we, as humans, fit within this complex matrix of thought using the ideas of some of the world’s greatest writers and scholars.

Lentsch works across a variety of media to create an ‘energy of intention’, in which textures, compositions and colours (or their absence) are combined. At first glance, his abstract canvases bring to mind the earthen tones of Kiefer, or the scratched surfaces of Tàpies. Lentsch, however, draws from a broader art historical canon, and painting becomes an extension of the life force around him, a transformative experience through which he can mediate a pure experiential moment. Flowing from a nonverbal intuitive state of creative expression, Lentsch bridges a complex visual language in which colours and textures are lifted from the natural world. On canvas, they are refracted and tessellated, at times put through the process of entropy, which allows for them to be transformed and transmuted.

Lentsch starts with a mastic and polymer foundation, before working with stone powders and dry pigments. Here, while the work is still wet, he uses trowels and sticks creating visual interventions. Before encapsulating the work in shellac and various varnishes, each works’ effervescence is enhanced and its distressed surface is developed. Works take on qualities of organic surfaces, such as sandstone or granite, using an intricate network of flecks and dots of pigment to proliferate the densely worked surface. One can imagine soft, snowy landscapes of white and grey or the verdant green of a tranquil overgrown pond or even the harsh dark lines of barren twigs and brush against an autumn landscape. Lentsch’s technique allows for the translation of our natural landscapes into abstract environments.

technique. He uses the force of the paint as it is applied to the canvas as a sensory way to connect with the energy of the life force around him. Lentsch’s paintings also use logic existing within nature; for example, the number sequences that comprise the fractals of a snowflake. This ontological approach is spurred by the artist’s interest in Synectics, a methodology that seeks to explore how creativity works by a connecting of dots to reach a higher plane of understanding that encompasses the physical, psychological and symbolic. In this way Lentsch explores links between elemental phenomena and more ethereal, spiritual and magical experiences.

Each of Lentsch’s works refers to a particular theory, intellectual, mathematical or spiritual intellection. His titles are not intended to act as complete narratives for individual paintings, but rather to demonstrate their significance as a theoretical foundation where each piece is connected to the other. His work becomes a series of links within a chain creating an intuitive dialogue between the conscious and subconscious ---but pushing toward something further. Just as his paintings make connections between the natural world and abstraction, it is the force of painting that helps him completes the circle. In diving into the canvas Lentsch understands his connection to the beauty and complexity of life that allow him to find freedom and personal empowerment.

LONDON 2014

WRITTEN

BY

GALLERIE KASHYA HILDEBRAND

22 Eastcastle Street, London W1W 8DE, United Kingdom

7

In One Word, be a saint...Virtue is the sun of the microcosm, and has for hemisphere a good conscience. She is so beautiful that she finds favour with both God and man. Nothing is lovable but virtue, nothing detestable but vice. Virtue alone is serious, all else is but jest. A man’s capacity and greatness are to be measured by his virtue and not by his fortune. She alone is all-sufficient. She makes men lovable in life, memorable after death.

The Art of Wordly Wisdom

by Baltasar Gracian

15th Century Spanish Jesuit

In One Word

2015- 7o x 100 inches

The Hill at Tor

18

The Intention Experiment

2015-100 x 80 inches

The Empress

Know all things to be like this: a mirage, a cloud castle... nothing is as it appears.

The Buddha

Metanira

2015 58 x 38 inches

An Orchard for a Dome

2015 34 x 22 inches

32 The Eye of Horus 2015 · 86 x 120 inches

Vetus Latinas

In Greek mythology, King Minos dwelt in a palace at Knossos. He had Daedalus construct a labyrinth (by some connected with the double-bladed axe, or labrys) in which to retain his son, the Minotaur. Daedalus also built a dancing floor for Queen Ariadne (Homer, Iliad 18.590-2). The name “Knossos” was subsequently adopted by Arthur Evans because it seemed to fit the local archaeology. The identification has never been credibly questioned, mainly because of that archaeology.

Western civilization was thus predisposed by legend to associate whatever palace ruins should be found at Knossos with the legends of Minos and the labyrinth.

The City in the Sea

2015-42 inches

My

All That Gains

2015-55 x 45 inches

Ta Mysterium

2015 50 x 80 inches

Of Unmeasured Capacity II

2015- 28 x 22 inches

Aristophanes Peace 2015- 46 x 46 inches

Hypothesis Non Fingo

2015-52 x 50 inches

ONE ARTIST’S PLEDGE

An Artist’s Journey Into Micro-Philanthrocapitalism

Imagine the possibilities if visual artists were to adopt a “greater good” agenda. Imagine the power of artists as micro-entrepreneurs acting as “micro-philanthropists” calling on a ‘definite optimism’ and an “everything is possible” way of thinking. Throughout history, art has highlighted global (social, economic, political) issues, but what if there was also a way in which it could provide tangible tools and skills to make a real, substantial difference? I am working toward changing that paradigm and restoring the image of artists as the ‘grand thinkers’ and ‘experts’ the world looks to for answers.

I’m not a rock star philanthropist like Bono and this isn’t Robin Hood or the CGI (Clinton Global Initiative). This is Artist League making the things that need to be made.

I’m hoping that likeminded colleagues from around the globe will join in this movement to look at new ways to serve and bring more intrinsic value to our communities and our planet.

One Artist’s Pledge is the first step to spread the word and set a new benchmark of leadership and inspiration.

What is One Artist’s Pledge?

I, Edward Lentsch, hereby pledge $1,000,000 in total donations of monumen-

tal-sized paintings to more than a dozen “for benefit” institutions that are pushing the envelope through their missions to serve humankind. I see no better way to send a clear message of self-empowerment and no better example of the possibilities for all artists to participate in this new epic paradigm shift, where we can directly make a difference and serve humanity in new and innovative ways.

What is Philanthrocapitalism?

It has been called “The New Golden Age of Philanthropy,” where Social Entrepreneurship is taking the lead with privately funded NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organizations) to the top of the abundance pyramid, leading hands-on initiatives in solving the world’s most challenging problems. The B-Corp (“for-benefit”) business model and L3C (Limited Profit Corporation) are changing the face of what was once a “non-profit” one size fits all approach to “do good for good .org and what now is a new hybrid of creative integration for new platforms for giving--and more importantly teaching people to fish… This is what is not so commonly known as “Philanthrocapitalism.”

Micro-Philanthrocapitalism and the Artist’s Pledge.

I Believe in Miracles

My story started a couple of months ago when I was in upstate New York at the Hamptons Art Fair. I had worked for twenty-eight days straight to finish a new collection for display at the fair, followed by a pop-up show in a posh boutique hotel that a special patron of mine had organized. When I awoke that Monday morning headed for Manhattan I had what I was later to discover as an ‘ocular inclusion’ (a very tiny blood clot that had gone to the eye and cut off the oxygen causing a blind spot.) My first instinct was that it was something that could be fixed with a nap and some Visine. This is where an incredibly serendipitous event occurred that changed my life forever.

As I arrived in New York, I received a phone call completely out of the blue from the executive assistant of one of my collectors, a doctor in NYC. I remembered him and his wife and the painting they had bought. I especially remembered how they spent time talking to my wife about Alzheimer’s Disease, which her mother was suffering from. They were incredibly smart and exceptionally kind. They had even sent me a couple of thoughtful notes over the years telling me how much they enjoyed their painting. We were not friends by any means, just a casual acquaintance that I met at an art fair. So this phone call came on their behalf to set up a private appointment to see my new work ahead of the fair.

I remember saying, “I have a thing with my eye and I wonder if I could call you back?” The reply was, “Wait a second what exactly is going on…” and after a couple more seconds this Assistant said something I will never forget. She said sternly, “The doctor will want to know about this right away--you just stop whatever you’re doing and take a seat and please wait to answer my call ---I’ll call you back in a few minutes; it might take a while for me to track him down but don’t you do a thing until you hear back from me!” It turned out this client of mine was not just a prominent New York doctor, but he was also the CEO a major hospital in NYC. A few minutes later my phone rang again and his assistant said, “He wants you to go in to see a particular doctor friend immediately. Your eyes are nothing to mess around with. They are expecting you and will take it from there.” Before I knew it I was in the ICU ---turns out that my heart had been in A-fib for several days and was throwing clots to my brain. My quick-fix approach could have been a deadly mistake. My heart was in such a stressed state they ended up putting in a temporary pacemaker. Lying in hospital, I realized a couple of things: One, this arbitrary call out of the blue and the unique timing of this phone call felt like divine intervention; and two, being an artist had been extremely important and I was significant. Later, when my doctor collector visited me in hospital and told

me stories about how he and his wife would go to their retreat in Aspen simply to read and sit in front of the fire to look at my painting and how profoundly it moved them. “It just looks like it was meant for the space we get so much joy from it!” he said.

At that moment I realized something I had almost forgotten: I am an artist of consequence and my work can create joy and inspire people. I am powerful in my ability to serve and make a difference! I don’t need to be famous! It’s not an exhibition at a “grand museum of museums” that will validate me and fulfill me as an artist? At that moment an incredible sense of gratitude filled me to tears as I had a profound moment of clarity. I thought: Is this it? Am I going to “die with my music still in me...” A long time ago my mentor and friend Rabbi Bernie told me, “I’ve never heard anyone on his deathbed say—I wish I worked harder…” but that was exactly what I was thinking. Over the following weeks, as I lay there and recovered, I was compelled to give something back. I asked myself again and again, what is it that truly serves to further? I thought I have some huge paintings that in the $50,000-100,000 range. How many years have I wasted waiting for that famous curator from a top museum to walk into the studio and discover my genius? The moment of clarity was realizing what can I do with them now and how many more

pieces do I have still in me! What if I offered to donate one of my best works to the hospital as a way of giving back? It wasn’t in place of a financial obligation, but rather, about showing my appreciation with more than words, but through deeds and actions.

What I was to discover was that they (not just the doctor but others at the institution) were extremely excited about this gift and had an amazing new state of the art building that could use a monumental sized scale painting. The joy of giving was quickly transformed into self-realization and empowerment---I have the resources to make a difference now!! Not when I’m rich and successful, but now! I now know I can do this for others as well.

The next thing I did was contact what is probably my favorite institution on the planet, Singularity University, the quintessential example of the “For-Benefit” model (where, in my opinion, the most brilliant minds on the planet gather to solve some of today’s most challenging problems). I contacted them and before I knew it, I was donating one of my works, for a new building scheduled to open in 2017.

My current plan is to find new platforms for exposure, and start this ‘movement of giving’ as a model for other likeminded colleagues to participate in. It’s the oldest and most human paradigm, the idea that “what you give is what you get.” In the

64

past two decades I have witnessed and participated in many fundraising events for all manner of non-profits where artist’s donations of their work has contributed greatly to the success of the organization. I personally have gifted dozens of individual works that have raised sums between $2000-10,000 in gala events by either silent or live auction.

The power of giving in this class could be called the “micro-philanthropy of the small as the mighty.” It’s been an enormous source of both pride and fulfillment to be able to give something that would inspire someone else “to give to get!” This synergy has both the power of the small and the mighty. I think of Sister Teresa, a modest woman of little education, creating something from the most humblest of roots and becoming a global symbol for love. Given the fact that her funeral witnessed the world’s most powerful and affluent individuals joined by its poorest is a testament to the power of the “one”. I think of one of my all-time greatest influencers Tony Robbins, with only a high School diploma, feeding over a million people each year with a foundation that started with a couple of station wagons and a half dozen turkeys on Thanksgiving.

Modeling the Social Entrepreneurs with Big Vision and a Brilliant Purpose

You don’t have to have a multimillion

corporation behind you to make a difference – you can make a difference in the smallest and simplest of ways. Sometimes these are the most powerful. According to “The Butterfly Effect” from Tony Robbin’s blog Human Elevation “we spend $59 billion on ice cream each year… Although it may echo of the butterfly effect, it’s true that small, seemingly insignificant choices can make a huge impact. For example, Americans spent an estimated $3.25 billion this year on potato chips and $70 billion on lottery tickets. And yet it would take only $6 billion to provide basic education worldwide.” I think as an artist, how could we model more initiatives that pair to this culture and what Peter Diamandis refers to as the abundance pyramid? What is the conceptual language and vocabulary that can redefine our collective mission to serve what only furthers.

I think to myself that after this fiftythousand mile overhaul, a second chance and a shiny new pacemaker; what are the possibilities? How do I live my personal legend, think big, act boldly, and reach for the seemingly unreachable!

2015- 55 inches

I Believe in Miracles

66

Hermeticum 55

2015- 60 x 50 inches

Mixed Media Polymers, Stone Dust, Shellac reduction, raw pigments, Oil and Canvas, with Giusto Manetti 24k Gold

Eponymous

2015- 76 x 54 inches

Mixed Media Polymers, Stone Dust, Shellac reduction, raw pigments, Oil and Canvas, with Giusto

Manetti 24k Gold

69

La Poule Noire

Punctilious 2015 35 x 30 inches

Part

Liberation from Jupiter 2015- 35 x 30 inches

Let

84 Observe the Ordinary 2015- 42 x 60 inches

86 Prophet Proffessor and the Linguist

2015 72 x 16 inches each

The Isle of Man

2015 46 x 76 inches

90 Preeminence

Ephemeralization

The Straight Path 2015- 34 x 25 inches

The Passions are the Windows 2015- 45 x 35 inches

The Definite Optimist 2015- 46 x 34 inches

The Protagonists of Practical Intention

2015- 46 x 34 inches

Heavenly Stems 2015-42 x 30 inches

Earhly Branches

2015-42 x 30 inches

The Miracle of Watermelon II 2015- 56 x 40 inches

Six Around One 2015-50 x 40 inches

Dover Beach 2015-35 x 35 inches

In the City by the Sea

2015-35 x 35 inches

Do Not Die of the Fool’s Sickness

2015-35 x 35 inches

114 Miracle of the Blue Morpho

2015-55 diameter x 1 1/2 inches

White Gold, Shellac reduction, imitation pearls

oil varnish reduction pigmented on canvas

intrinsic mo - tivation

SELECTED WORKS FROM 2010-2014

Here this first, I have never thought of writing for reputation and honor, what I have must come out, that is the reason I compose.

Ludvig Van Beethoven

The Sawyer Effect for Daniel Pink 2012- 120 x 80 inches

From Jonah Lehrer, an illustration of the power of intrinsic motivation — the desire to do a thing because you enjoy it, rather than for any extrinsic reward like a paycheck:

The Hypothesis of Formative Causation

124

2014-66 x 88 inches

Eleusinian Mysteries Part IV

Eleusinian

128 Fragments of the Presocratics

2012-100 x 80 inches

The Cracked Brass Bells

INSpIRAtIoN ANd gRAtItudE

The Polar Equation 2013 62 x 50 inches

Phase Transition

2013- 68 x 48 inches

The Enthemematic Argument 2011-60 x 50 inches

Libre Abacci

2012-60 x 50 inches

Tasso’c Three Wishes 2012-66 x 55 inches

Ravenloft

2012-65 x 55 inches

New Mysterianism 2013-35 x 35 inches

The Halo Effect

2012-35 x 35 inches

Nortique Part II 2011- 60 x 50 inches

Lau Tzu’s Three Treasures

2011-35 x 30 inches

166 Conversations with God

2006-84 x 132 inches

Pistis Sophia

201o-55 x 45 inches

Grizzled Skipper

2010-44 x 40 inches

Pod of the Milweed 2010-66 x 88 inches

White Admiral 2010-44 x 40 inches

Cleopatra

2010-44 x 42 inches

Seven of Music

2010-46 x 40 inches

Seven of Music II

2010-46 x 40 inches

188

2014-54

Sinan the Architect

Fire of the Golden Dawn 2014-46 x 42 inches

Tensegrity 2012-88 x 66inches

The Architect 2010-80 x 60 inches

198 Lady Slipper 2010-50 x 90 inches

206 Staccato Blue

2013-46 x 68 inches

The Lost Paintings I 2011-28 x 22 inches

The Lost Paintings II

2011-28 x 22 inches

The Mastery of Te’ Part III

The Soul of Dosuka 2011-50 x 60 inches

Gypsy Moth

2013-50 x 42 inches

222

My career as an artist really began very early in life, around some particularly painful and extraordinary events. At age twelve I first encountered this life changing event that would shape my future as an artisan-craftsman and “person who makes things.” After severe domestic abuse my mother was forced to file bankruptcy and start over with no assistance from my father, I remember sleeping on one mattress with my two younger brothers. I remember her sleeping on a sofa in the living and walking to a bus stop six days a week, with me in charge of many of the duties at our house. This is the first moment where a light bulb turned on ---the feeling of total self-empowerment; that my talent and drive to make things could make a difference! With a house empty I made our first dining room table with a piece of plywood I dragged home from a construction site. It wasn’t big, but with a bed sheet and a jar of cut flowers, I knew I could do something that made things a little better. I also learned to cook and pretty much did all the cooking-- taking care of my younger brothers and even still do with my wife and kids. A couple of years later that piece of plywood would be moved into the basement which was my first studio. This is where I built my first body of work. My first “portfolio was put together with cheap paper and fat pencils I stole from the bowling

alley. I struggled with being poor and I know it shaped the strength of my convistion and drive to do good work and serve the greater good with these special skills that I was so passionate about learning. I also learned about leadership and mental toughness. And, not being able to work officially for minimum wage in the traditional ways available, I made my first deal as an entrepreneur---I talked the manager of a small store that sold bicycles on putting them together for him. Soon I had helpers and a team to divi-up the cash—and whatever I did I found a way to buy art supplies. A couple of years later by age fourteen I road my bike with my drawings in hand to a small Atelier a few miles from my house to seek painting lessons. This was the next in an extraordinary synchronicity when the owner of this atelier, a prominent and mature artist and her husband, who only taught adults, asked my mother to let them train me and take me to small art fairs. They paid for many of my materials starting out, and later in life this would be my inspiration for founding Artist League. At age sixteen I bought our first car and started entering local contests. I had many mentors along the way especially thru high school.

I went on to win the “Minnesota Best 100,” prizes at the State Fair, the MCAD Portfolio Scholarship, a fellowship to the

Summit Academy of Fine Art in St Paul all in period between 1975-77. After one year at Minneapolis College of Art and Design I quit and went into the design build business. As I grew up one thing that always bothered me was our broken down house, and eventually I was compelled to learn the trades and by my mid-twenties our house was no longer in a shambles. I think that this struggle with poverty and my family compelled me to master every facet of building. In my earlier construction business I have made everything from a 15ft high end conference table to stone wall waterfall sculptures to designbuild entire building-conversions. I had a design patent for my first invention the “Weathermation Cabinet” which I sold to Pan Am World Services---ourclients included the Helicopter Marine Squadron for the President of the United States. The royalties made it possible that I was able to move to Paris, France to study painting in my mid-thirties and again reinvent myself several times after that, developing new avenues for invention creating the seed money for my artistic pursuits.

In 1999 I founded the original Artist League as artistleague.com a think-tank for emerging artists---this was my first attempt at the “Big Idea” or “Mastermind.”

It is a fact that I haven’t ever received any honors, degrees, fellowships or grants, but I am very proud of this fact that I have created abundance for those around me

and have educated and trained myself in ways that few could comprehend or compete with. To me the greatest honor of my life was in 2007 when Ivan Karp the legendary art dealer in NYC told me that my paintings were “the best abstract paintings he had seen in fifteen years.” Today at age fifty-six I celebrate over forty years of paintings as my greatest professional accomplishment. The sale of my work has raised tens of thousands for many diverse charities and made hundreds of thousands of dollars for art dealers. Besides providing for my family raising two children I have reinvested everything I make financially back into my work. I am most proud to have created jobs and found ways to contribute to both community and country despite my lack of advanced education and/or recognition from academia. In some ways I have felt like an “outsider.’ My credentials as an artist are pretty simple: These achievements include over five hundred sold works in public and private collections worldwide. I have made and continue to make a cognitive effort to serve and bring value to all those in my reach. And it is my most important intention that not only does my reach continue to grow, but I challenge myself with more ambitious and seemingly impossible goals pushing the envelope beyond fear to reverence---beyond approbation to endorsement.

Sunset Plaza opening at Tobi Tobin 2011

“I Like it” music video Enrique Iglasius

EXHIBITIONS (partial list)

International Art Fair Exhibitions

2015 Scope Miami

2015 SCAPE Corona Del Mar/Newport Beach, CA

2015 Dallas Fine Art Fair

2014 Abu Dhabi Int’l Fine Art Fair

2014 KFIAF Seoul South Korea

2013 Costello Childs Scottsdale

2012-14 Art Aspen

2012 Art San Diego

2012 Palm Springs International Art Fair

2012 Art Hamptons

2011 Art San Diego

2011 San Francisco Fine Art Fair

2010 Art Hamptons

2005 Art Chicago Navy Pier, Chicago, IL

2003 Art Chicago, Julie Baker Fine Art, Grass Valley, CA

2002 Palm Springs International Art Fair, Palm Springs, CA

2000 Palm Springs International Art Fair, Palm Springs, CA Gallery Exhibitions

2010 Tobi Tobin, Los Angeles

2010 The Edge, Santa Fe

2010 Costello Childs Gallery Scottsdale

2010 Budwell Middle East Muscat, Oman

2010 “Paradigms and Paradoxes” Forré and Co. Aspen, CO

2009 “The Iridescence of Lepodoptera” Lanoue Fine Art, Boston, MA

2009 “The Alchemist” Ogilvie Pertl Gallery, Chicago, IL

2009 Madison Gallery, La Jolla, CA

2009 Zane Bennett, Santa Fe, NM

2009 Zane Bennett, Art Chicago

2008 Gallery Moda, Santa Fe, NM

2008-09 Onessimo Fine Art

2008 Ogilvie Pertle Gallery, Chicago, IL

2007-2008 “Return to the Source OK Harris Works of Art, New York, NY”

OK Harris Works of Art, New York, NY

2007 “Lesson’s From the I Ching” Onessimo Fine Art, Palm Beach Gardens, FL

2007 “Remembering Atlantis” Eleonore Austerer Gallery, Palm Desert, CA

2007 Hernandez Contemporary, Scottsdale, AZ

2007 Ogilvie/Pertl Gallery, Chicago, IL

2007 Gallery Moda, Santa Fe, NM

2006 “The Saffron Adhara” Lanoue Fine Art, Boston, MA

2006 “Modern Masters, Santa Fe, NM

2006 Hernandez Contemporary, Scottsdale, AZ

2006 Modern Masters Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA

2005 Flanders Gallery, Minneapolis, MN

2004 Elizabeth Edwards Fine Art, Palm Desert, CA

2004 Flanders Gallery, Minneapolis, MN

MEDIA AND PUBLICATIONS

2014 Cover Luxe Magazine Southern California

2013 Harpers Bazaar Magazine Japan

2013-2014 TV show Million Dollar Listing

2010 Music Video recording artist Enrique Iglesias “I Like It”

2010 Music Video recording artist Ne-Yo “Champaign Life”

2012 Elle Décor Magazine

2011 Angelino Magazine LA

2010 LA Times

2010 Palm Springs Life

2007 Art in America

2006 Palm Springs Life

Bibliography (for title origins)

The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life: Volume 1 by Drunvalo Melchizedek

The Ancient Secret of the Flower of Life: Volume 2 by Drunvalo Melchizedek

The Bible Code by Michael Drosnin

The Dancing Wu Li Masters by Gary Zukav

The Dead Sea Scrolls by G. Vermes

The Divine Proportion by H.E. Huntley

Divine Proportion: Phi In Art, Nature, and Science by Priya Hemenway

Egyptology: search for the Tomb of Osiris by Candlewick Press

The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene

The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean translation and interpretation by Doreal

The Fourth Turning An American Prophecy by William Strauss and Neil Howe

God and the New Physics by Paul Davies

God is a Verb by David A Cooper

The Golden Ratio: The Story of PHI, the World’s Most Astonishing Number by Mario Livio

How to Know God by Deepak Chopra

The I Ching or Book of Changes by Brian Browne Walker

Living in the Heart: How to Enter into the Sacred Space Within the Heart by Drunvalo Melchizedek

Mathematics from the Birth of Numbers by Jan Gullberg

Morphic Resonance & the Presence of the Past by Rupert Sheldrake

Multiple Intelligences by Howard Gardner

The Mystery of Aleph by Amir D. Aczel

A New Kind of Science by Stephen Wolfram

The Power of Intention by Dr. Wayne Dyer

The Road to Reality by Roger Penrose

Sacred Geometry: Deciphering the Code by Stephen Skinner

Sacred Geometry: Philosophy and Practice (Art and Imagination) by Robert Lawlor

Sacred Geometry (Wooden Books) by Miranda Lundy

The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra

Wizardology: The Secrets of Merlin by CandlePress (Includes references for painting titles)

The Code Book by Simon Singh

Six Not So Easy Pieces by Fritjof Capra

The Principia by Isaac Newton

Angels and Demons by Dan Brown

The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown

The Dead Sea Scrolls by G. Vermes

And the Sea is Never Full by Elle Wiesel

The Soul of a Butterfly by Muhammad Ali and Hana Yasmeen Ali

The Notebook of Leonardo DaVinci by Edward MacCurdy

Creating Affluence: A to Z Steps to a Richer Life by Deepak Chopra

Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling by Dr. Wayne Dyes

The Celestine Prophecy: An Adventure by James Redfield

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

The Transformational Book Circle Series-

The Yoga of Spiritual Devotion: Narada Bhakti Sutras by Prem Prakash

The Book of Life: The Master-Key to Inner Peace and Relationship Harmony edited and interpreted by Gay Hendricks and Philip Johncock

Siddhartha an Indian Tale by Hermann Hesse

The Essential Alan Watts: Seven Things We Thought We Knew About God and the Cosmos (But Didn’t) by Alan Watts

The Power of a Single Thought: How to Initiate Major Life Changes from the Quiet of Your Mind revised and edited by Gay Hendricks and Debbie DeVoe

Divine Magic:The Seven Sacred Secrets of Manifestation revised and edited by Doreen Virtue, Ph.D. What Dreams May Come by Richard Matheson

Touching the Divine: How to Make Your Daily Life a Conversation with God edited and interpreted by Gay Hendricks and James Twyman

The Creative Pocess: Reflections on Inventions in the Arts and Sciences edited by Brewster Ghiselin

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MEDIA AND PUBLICATIONS

2014 Cover Luxe Magazine Southern California

2013 Harpers Bazaar Magazine Japan

2013-2014 TV show Million Dollar Listing

2010 Music Video recording artist Enrique Iglesias “I Like It”

2010 Music Video recording artist Ne-Yo “Champaign Life”

2012 Elle Décor Magazine

2011 Angelino Magazine LA

2010 LA Times

2010 Palm Springs Life

2007 Art in America

2006 Palm Springs Life

COMMUNITY

Founder Artist League.com a think-tank studio for emerging artists. Artist League Projects has hosted dozens of internships and apprenticeships for emerging artist in the past ten years. Lentsch mentors and invests both his time and personal capital into exhibiting others work in art fairs and selling/marketing initiatives. He continues to fund emerging artist’s projects and art works in his new studio in St Louis Park. Currently sponsoring Thaddius Jameson (Autistic-

Idetic memory-nominated for Fulbright Scholarship.) Past artists sponsored by Artist League include Coleman Miller, David Bonagurio, Becca Shewmake and Alicia Dvorak.

Art Donations for Auctions (partial list): MOCA

Minneapolis Institute of Arts

William Shatner’s Hollywood Charity Auction

Big Brothers and Sisters of America

American Cancer Society

Perspectives

Greater Minneapolis Crisis Center Nursery

“My paintings are derived from a source of contemplation and fascination with the wonders of an awesome logic that exists in nature,” Lentsch explains. For Lentsch, “As words define those things that are most important to our definition of self, art is the translation of those same but most important definitions.”

Lentsch is an artist, author, architectural builder, designer, inventor, and entrepreneur. He resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota and works out of his studio located in Minneapolis. Lentsch is also the founder of Artist League Studios, a Minneapolis based think-tank/studio for emerging artists.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the many galleries I have had the opportunity to work with through the years, it’s with great appreciation for your commitment, support and friendship. Also to my assistant Casey Fredlund for his awsome attitude dilligent work ethic and amazing enthusiasm. and always my Debbie, Sarah and Theo.

Reckless the recluse reasoned his way to remarkably remember reinventing himself, and as he reflected upon the renewal of his invention he came across what he had forgotten, Hope

EDWARD LENTSCH