Coming from a family of metal welders, LeRone Wilson learned at an early age through proximity and practice about malleability of materials. Witnessing the bend of a metal form through varied methods of manipulation, Wilson was inspired to bring this technique to his artwork. His encaustic sculptures have been layered, sculpted, and formed into wonderfully organic multidimensional sculpture-paintings.
Wilson begins his process of encaustic sculpting by melting and building layers of encaustic wax. Working with a myriad of geometric forms, whether they’re squares, expanded lines, or circles, the shape of the piece determines the layering and carving process. The natural rhythm of the process is manifest in the organic nature of the piece: the works emerge as live forms, mimicking textures in nature.
Color is just as much an inherent part of Wilson’s painstaking process. Wilson melts down encaustic drops of color to achieve the deep tones and primary colors that make up his work. Finding inspiration for his palette anywhere from the streets of his Harlem neighborhood to characteristics in individuals, Wilson uses color, and sometimes, the lack thereof, to express deep emotions.
Wilson’s titles exemplify the life force that is carried within each piece. Phrases such as Rest Finds Grace or Eternal Passage evoke feelings of permanence through a material that, while at first pliable, hardens to an inflexible shell. The simultaneous strength and softness of the material is what compels Wilson to push the medium to its ultimate breaking point, because right before that precipice lies the work’s greatest strength.
Wilson’s work has been featured in Museum of Biblical Art, and Phiillips de Pury Auction House, he was the winner of the 2011 Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series at Scope Miami, a nominee for the Louis Tiffany Biennial Award and winner of Best In Show at the 19th Carroll Harris Simms National Black Art Exhibition. His works are in several important private collections and has been featured in publications, including Architectural Digest, The Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press, among many others.
EDUCATION
1994 University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Art Design, BFA
SELECT EXHIBITIONS
SOLO Exhibitions
2015 Universal Journey, Gallery nine5, New York, NY
2000 Eruption, Samuel Akainyah Gallery, Chicago, IL
1998 You See My View Twice, Gallery 312, Chicago, IL
GROUP Exhibitions
2015 Wild, Gallery Nine5, New York, NY
Flux Art Fair, New York, NY
2014 Escape, Sol Studio Gallery, New York, NY
Black and White, Art in Flux New York, NY
Cutlog Art Fair, New York, NY
Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series, New York, NY
Harem Biennale, New York, NY
Genesis, Gallery Guichard, Chicago, IL
2013 Ashe to Amen: African Americans and Biblical Art, Museum of Biblical
Art, New York, NY
2012 Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series Winner Exhibition, Rush Arts Gallery,
New York, NY
2011 Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series, Scope Miami, Miami, FL
Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series, New York, NY
H.O.A.S.T, New York, NY
Audemars Piguet, New York, NY
Sasha Finelli Gallery, New York, NY
2010 Now Contemporary Auction Show, Phillips dePury, New York, NY
Red Rooster Harlem, New York, NY
2009 Overlay, Kim Foster Gallery, New York, NY
2008 Staff Show, Phillips DePury, New York, NY
2007 Forms of Abstraction, G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, East Hampton, NY
Affordable Art Fair, G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, New York, NY
Forms of Abstraction, G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, New York, NY
Forms of Abstraction, G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, Chicago, IL
Seven Voices, Seven Views, G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, Chicago, IL
2006 Menagerie, Kim Foster Gallery, New York, NY
Bank of New York, New York, NY
National Black Art Show, G.R. N’Namdi Gallery, New York, NY
Kankeleeba Gallery, New York, NY
2005 Esquire Downtown at Astor Place, Jennifer Post Design/Calvin Klein,
New York, NY
A Tasting, Kim Foster Gallery, New York
2003 Union Pacific Restaurant, New York, NY
Art Expo Chicago, Chicago, IL
National Black Art Show, Kankeleba Gallery, New York,NY
Five Sublime, White Box Gallery, Alisoun Meehan curator, New York, NY
2002 Sugar Craze, A Taste of Art, New York, NY
Dining Haul: Sweets, New York, NY
Blackbird Artist Series, Blackbird Restaurant, Chicago, IL
2000 Group Show, Fassbender Gallery, Chicago, IL
ARC GalleryRegional VII, ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL
Emerging Artists Showcase, 900 Century Gallery, Chicago, IL
1999 Nineteenth Carroll Harris Simms National Black Art Competition
and Exhibition, African American useum, Dallas,
1993 Spin Gallery, Chicago, IL
1992 Spices Gallery, Chicago, IL
Spencer Gallery, Chicago, IL
Kent Law School, Chicago, IL
AWARDS
2012 Bombay Sapphire Artisan Series, Overall Winner, Scope Miami
2003 Nominee, 2003 Louis Comfort Tiffany Biennial Award, New York, NY
2000 Honorable Mention, ARC Gallery Regional VII, Chicago, IL
1999 Best In Show, Nineteenth Carroll Harris Simms National Black Art Competition
