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Leelee Kimmel

Leelee Kimmel’s paintings aren’t specifically referential, though there are references to be had: from Miró and Masson to Twombly, Basquiat, Jonathan Lasker. And there’s a strange connection to Philip Guston, too—Kimmel’s abstractions have Guston’s nervous line recrudescences; think of the textures of his forlorn shoes. Kimmel deals in a kind of electrocuted biomorphism that’s descended from Surrealism, but the life’s been polluted by the morph: incandescent amoebas, skittering deep-sea/outer-space/inner-voyage paramecia, flagella, the world of Ernst Haeckel pumped up with unreal colors. Even the pastels are harsh, bright.

A sort of Habsburg-chinned specter in Little Screaming Rig (all works cited, 2017), radiant in red against the black ground, veers more toward figuration than most of Kimmel’s paintings, even without benefit of the title. The composition moves in and out of representation, in and out of focus; acrylic paint dribbles luxuriously. Though modest in size compared to several of her other paintings, such as Ice and Soft Spot (very large pieces that feel like late Pollock shot through with Tanguy), it is a standout nonetheless. The method of paint application suggests the confectioner; jets of color mimic frosting. Yet there’s a trace of poison—it’s a nuclear Betty Crocker bake-off.

Kimmel reframes the ongoing question of abstraction as a severely controlled discipline—the art is abstract so it has to be extra tough formally, you know—and the regressive and infantile pleasures in just letting go . . . just. But such regression should never be underestimated; it is a generative and profound force. Kimmel’s paintings traffic in mess and spillage, and there is more than a hint of the nursery room. It’s all very antic and a little bit scary, this loud Kimmel world.

— David Rimanelli, 'Leelee Kimmel', Artforum, 2018

  • Biography

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  • Bibliography

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Selected artworks

  • Leelee Kimmel, Knight, 2021

    Leelee Kimmel Knight, 2021

    Acrylic, oil,oil stick on canvas 
    276.9 x 190.5 cm
    109 x 75 in

  • Leelee Kimmel, Pieds dans l'eau, 2021

    Leelee Kimmel Pieds dans l'eau, 2021

    Acrylic, oil paint and oil stick on canvas
    203.2 x 177.8 x 3.2 cm
    80 x 70 x 1 1/2 in

  • Leelee Kimmel, Hyrule, 2021

    Leelee Kimmel Hyrule, 2021

    Acrylic, oil, oil pastel, and oil stick on canvas
    188 x 218.4 cm
    74 x 86 in

  • Leelee Kimmel, Fork it, 2021

    Leelee Kimmel Fork it, 2021

    Acrylic on wood panel
    76.2 x 101.6 x 4.1 cm
    30 x 40 x 1 5/8 in

  • Leelee Kimmel, Formula 1, 2020

    Leelee Kimmel Formula 1, 2020

    Acrylic on canvas 
    210.8 x 243.8 x 3.8 cm
    83 x 96 x 1 1/2 in

  • Leelee Kimmel, Lawrence - Shanghai fairs reserved, 2020

    Leelee Kimmel Lawrence - Shanghai fairs reserved, 2020

    Acrylic on canvas
    188 x 198.1 x 3.8 cm
    74 x 78 x 1 1/2 in

  • Leelee Kimmel, Munch, 2021

    Leelee Kimmel Munch, 2021

    Acrylic on canvas
    182.9 x 160 x 3.8 cm
    72 x 63 x 1 1/2 in

  • Leelee Kimmel, Chinese dragon, 2019

    Leelee Kimmel Chinese dragon, 2019

    Acrylic on canvas
    169,9 x 160 x 3,8 cm
    66 7/8 x 63 x 1 1/2 in

  • Leelee Kimmel, Pinkilicious, 2018

    Leelee Kimmel Pinkilicious, 2018

    Acrylic on canvas
    292,1 x 222,3 x 3,8 cm
    115 x 87 1/2 x 1 1/2 in

  • Leelee Kimmel, The Transfer, 2021

    Leelee Kimmel The Transfer, 2021

    Oil, Oil stick, Acrylic on canvas
    198.1 x 304.8 cm
    78 x 120 in

Gallery exhibitions

Museum exhibitions

Selected press