Laurence Leenaert: Argile et Rêves

Taking inspiration from her home in Marrakesh, Laurence Leenaert’s paintings are a tapestry of different colours, textures and techniques, infused with the joy and the chaos of the city. Argile et Rêves will be Laurence Leenaert’s second solo exhibition with Cadogan Gallery following the huge success of Qalb Dari in 2021 and will run from the 13th of September until the 8th of October. 

These new artworks distil Leenaert’s experience of Marrakesh, her home since moving to develop her studio in 2015. Oilstick, wool embroidery and leather, all sourced locally and inspired by the colours and landscapes of Morocco, are combined to create harmonious, multi-dimensional paintings. Leenaert aschews the use of digital tools or machine led interventions. Designed, painted and woven entirely by her own hand, her paintings are a showcase of her myriad skills. She composes her paintings intuitively moving between mediums as she weaves, sews and makes gestural applications of clay and paint to her canvases. Contrasting materials and colours are layered, revised and reduced until a poetic harmony is found, developed over an extended period of time. Finding freedom in the city’s sense of timelessness, Leenaert admits to working impulsively, destroying more work than she makes. With a fluid method employed across her canvases, aspects from each painting often swapping and changing, her works reflect the spontaneous environment she works in.

"The purpose is to really put my daily life, the chaos of life here in Marrakesh, on paper and textile... It's a happy chaos, it's not dark, just different"