Angel De Leon
Angel de Leon is a young, promising artist from Spain. Often described as satirical, his works speak of social roles and aesthetics and stand out because of their vibrance, expressiveness and energy. Besides painting, Angel runs and curates a contemporary art space focusing on early and mid-career artists in Barcelona.
For more of Angel’s work, please visit his website, drop by his art space Plataforma2 and give him a follow on social media.
About:
Born in Barcelona in 1995, Angel de Leon was first determined to build a career in design and engineering. However, after being pushed back and called “too artsy” for Design at university, Angel dropped out of school and moved to London to study art.
He completed a BA course in Painting at the Wimbledon College of Arts and got his MA in Fine Art degree from the Chelsea College of Arts. London’s art scene was welcoming for the artist. Angel’s works quickly gained recognition and exposure. They were soon included in shows, such as the “London Grands Now” exhibition at Saatchi Gallery in 2020, and formed part of several important private art collections.
Angel de Leon, Covid and Goliath, Oil on Canvas, 170cm x 200cm, 2020.
Angel de Leon’s works are eye-catching and easy to spot. Rich in colour and recognizable for the artist’s technique and brushstroke, they are also thought-provoking. Angel is fascinated with fundamental topics – beauty, social roles, vanity, greed. He advocates for powerful painting that kindles debate and mocks society for being artificial and obsessed with consumption.
Angel’s works cite familiar images and symbols: Holbein’s dancing skeletons, vanitas/memento mori skulls, Hokusai’s wave and Picasso’s bulls. Collaged together, often absurdly, they speak to the viewer about contemporary values and humanity.
Angel de Leon, Pictures Of The Floating World, Mixed Media on Fabric, 180cm x 150cm, 2020.
Matching the scope of these issues are Angel’s fundamental, large-scale works. They include expressive murals, a media that the artist himself describes as eye-opening, liberating and awakening.
Angel de Leon, El Cardenal, Mixed media, 7m x 4m, 2021.
Stepping away from the modern education model designed to convert artists into rivalling entrepreneurs, in 2020 Angel launched a contemporary art project space Plataforma2 with a mission to empower the artistic community and bring creators together. Originally used as his summer studio, Plataforma2 is now open to visitors by appointment and boasts an ambitious exhibition programme.
The theme of Plataforma’s most recent show, Contemporary Voices, was uncertainty and existential search. The exhibition featured works by artists from Cuba, Colombia, the US, Mexico and several European countries.
Contemporary Voices show at Plataforma2, Barcelona, Spain, 2021. Works by Raul de Nieves, Mattea Perrotta and Aurea Tanttu.
As well as continuing his artistic practice, Angel is determined to realise the potential of Plataforma2 as a safe space for exchanging ideas, communicating with the public and encouraging critical reflection.
Selected exhibitions:
Solo exhibitions:
2020 New Coat of Paint, Plataforma2, (Spain)
Group exhibitions:
2021 Contemporary Voices, Plataforma2, (Spain)
2020 London Grads Now, Saatchi Gallery, (United Kingdom)
2019 UN1T, The Triangle, (United Kingdom)
2019 Simultensive, Cookhouse Gallery, (United Kingdom)
2019 Degree Show, Wimbledon College of Arts, (United Kingdom)
