leonard reidelbach

Instagram: @justhavefunandbeyrself

Bio: Leonard Reidelbach is an artist, educator, and organizer from Richmond, VA; who lives and works in San Francisco, CA. Leonard uses silkscreen to make narrative figurative paintings and sculptural installations that complicate visibility and connection through a trans lens. Reidelbach holds an MFA in Visual Art from San Francisco State University (2023). He has exhibited at ICA SF, Berkeley Arts Center, Kala Institute, Hashimoto Gallery, CUBE Space Berkeley, and Adobe Backrooms. He was a recipient of the Murphy and Cadogan Contemporary Art Award and participated in Recology’s Artist in Residence Program. He participated in fellowships at the Headlands Center for the Arts, Kala Institute, and Lucas Artist Residency at Montalvo Art Center.

Statement: My work opposes the legislature's strategy to weaponize trans rights, pushing a fascist agenda threatening everyone's privacy and autonomy. The media intentionally strips trans narratives of nuance and pleasure- qualities that define humanity. By controlling the viewer’s access and making seeing an active process in my work, I invite the audience to the joy that comes from opacity. I use silkscreen to create variations in matrixes. Pattern carries a history that I reconfigure physically, bringing in the infinite potential of past and future realities. New ways of seeing and relating are a way to invite a more welcoming future. Not only for transexuals, but for all of us as we navigate a global shift in privacy, information, and access to truth as a collective.