Leonardo Anker Vandal was born in 1988 in Denmark and is currently based in Brescia, Italy. Vandal is a multidisciplinary artist working across mediums such as painting, sculpture, installation and writing.
Nostalgia and melancholy permeate the experience of his work. The artist transforms his experiences of personal trauma in his early life into a highly personal, visual, poetic and enigmatic language through the use of every medium he finds relevant within his reach. There is an antithesis between presence and absence, being free and being confined, a wandering dialogue between reality and illusion. This invites the viewer to meander in the land of the unwanted and unseen. The title work, Solitary Wanderer, explores the notion and curiousness of reality with the larger works, which he calls Pocket Paintings.
“Vandal’s work is purely based on the inner. The work is a form of catharsis for Vandal, the process in making the work proves therapeutic and the viewer is presented with something deep and serene.”
The artist is best known, perhaps, for his autumnal coloured "Adagio" paintings, otherwise known as his Landscapes, which are made in such a way that he is able to explore the painting in the same way as the viewer.
Vandal’s ideology is based on the poet Keats’ term, ‘negative capability’ and is drawn to various and often unusual mediums for their symbolic potency. He refers to the study of the mind based on Jung’s psychoanalysis, investigating trauma and the life in between the conscious and the unconscious parts of ourselves. Vandal defines his work as a ‘medley of silence’ and ‘the embroidery to the time he is given’.
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I’m weeping with my flowers, 2018 - 2023tea, mordente, dried flowers and acrylic spray on Belgian linen canvas, iron framed150cm x 120cm (59" x 47") -
I want to carve it deep in every tree, 2020 - 2023tea, mordente and acrylic spray on Belgian linen canvas, iron framed160cm x 140cm (63" x 55")
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Wherever you may lead me, 2023tea, mordente and acrylic spray on Belgian linen canvas160cm x 200cm (63" x 79")
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Somewhere, 2023tea, mordente and acrylic spray on Belgian linen canvas160cm x 130cm (63" x 51")
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Wanders nachlied, Wanderer's Nightsong, 2023tea, mordente and acrylic spray on Belgian linen canvas, iron framed160cm x 240cm (63" x 94")
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Das Wandern, Wandering, 2023tea, mordente and acrylic spray on cotton canvas, iron framed160cm x 240cm (63" x 94")
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Der Wanderer (D489) The Wanderer, 2023tea, mordente and acrylic spray on Belgian linen canvas, iron framed240cm x 160cm (94" x 63")
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Where you leading me here, 2023tea, mordente and acrylic spray on primed cotton canvas on wood panel210cm x 280cm (83" x 110")
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Not all who wander are lost, 2023tea, mordente, charcoal and acrylic spray on cotton canvas on wood panel280cm x 210cm (110" x 83")
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Water lilies, 2023tea, mordente, charcoal and acrylic spray on Belgian linen canvas200cm x 350cm (79" x 138")
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I do not know how elastic my spirit might be, Op. 1Industrial rubber and ironH 146cm x W 37cm x D 6cm (57" x 15" x 2")
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Pillars of the damned, 2023tea, mordente, charcoal and acrylic spray on Belgian linen canvas200cm x 350cm (138" x 79")
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
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2024 |
'The Stolen Child,' C.A.R.M.E chiesa dei Santi Giacomo e Filippo, Brescia, Italy. |
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2023 |
'In A Landscape', Cadogan Gallery, Milan, Italy. |
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2021 |
‘Ich Bin Der Welt Abhanden Gekommen’. Numeroventi, Firenze, Italy. |
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2019 |
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‘The Wind Amongst The Reeds’, With Tableau. Copenhagen, Denmark. |
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‘De Profundis - Variation I’, With Sage Culture Gallery. Los Angeles, USA. |
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2017 |
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‘Performance, Coyote - Lo Stato Dell'arte’, 57th Biennale Di Venezia. Palazzo Zenobio, Venice, Italy. |
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‘Negative Capability’, At Palazzo Monti. Brescia, Italy. |
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2014 |
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‘The Narcissist’, With Gallery Etage Project. Copenhagen, Denmark. |
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
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2023 |
'Through The Walls', Cadogan Gallery, London, UK. |
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2022 |
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Orizzonti Del Corpo, Fondazione Palazzo Magnani In Collaboration With Aterballetto. Curated By Marina Dacci. Palazzo Da |
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Mosto, Reggio Emilia, Italy. |
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2021 |
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‘Under A Dome’, Two Person Show At Cadogan Gallery. Curated By Martino Di Napoli Rampolla. London, UK. |
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Gallery Bubble ‘n’ Squek (Gallery Anna Marra & Gallery Nosco & Gallery Montoro12. Hétérotopie Curated By Edoardo Monti. Bruxelles, Belgium. |
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2020 |
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Palazzo Monti Show At Mana Contemporary. New York, US. |
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Art Drive In Generali, At Assicurazion I Genrali, Curated By Massimo Minini And Edoardo Monti. Brescia, Italy. |
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Banners At Palazzo Monti. Brescia, Italy. |
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2019 |
Ark Jornal / Dansk Industri At Kunsthal Charlottenborg. Copenhagen, Denmark. |
ART FAIRS
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2024 |
'miart' Cadogan Gallery, Milan, Italy. |
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2021 |
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Enter art fair, presented by Bubble’n’Squek Gallery. Copenhagen, Denmark. |
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2020 |
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Art Palm Spring, presented by Sage Culture Gallery, Palm Springs, USA. |
| 2019 |
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Art Aspen, presented by Sage Culture Gallery, Aspen, USA. |
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Sofa chicago, presented by Sage Culture Gallery, Chicago, USA. |
Residencies
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2021 |
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Numeroventi, Firenze, Italy. |
| 2017/18 |
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Palazzo Monti, Brescia, Italy. |
Collections
Fondazione Palazzo Magnani
Palazzo Monti
Prizes
2021 Ducato prize nominee