Adam Leef, ‘bathers in a landscape, 2023 or 2024′, oil painting.

Exploring moments of expression, gesture, pace and landscape, the aim is to present the first major solo exhibition in London by Adam Leef (b. 1989, Jerusalem, Israel). Presenting a range of his oil paintings and works on paper, the show will be the most important survey to date of Leef’s work and introduce his practice to a new audience in a thoughtful manner that responds to his key tenets of gestuality, art history, memory and space. 

Curated by Jenn Ellis and presented by Apsara Studio, the solo exhibition in early 2025 will comprise a mixture of existing works and new works responding to the secured site. Thinking carefully about art, space and context, the exhibition is conceived with harmonious dialogue in mind, with a location in Central London being selected by Ellis accordingly. Conscious of activating the space and exhibition, it will be accompanied by a concert, dinner and talks programme.

Adam Leef (b. 1989 Jerusalem, Israel) began his artistic studies at age 15. He studied with painters Aram Gershuni, Ran Tenenbaum, and Guy Avital, as well as at the art departments of Haifa University and Shenkar College of Art and Design for limited periods. Early in his practice, Adam realized that the surrounding world and local environment could provide him with the essentials for the development of new harmonies and means of expression. Along with his studio practice, he began working continuously ‘En Plein Air’ in the landscape facing the Mediterranean, studying and embracing the unique light, colors, and physicality through different projects and series he has created for over a decade. This research allowed him to engage with the fundamental pillars of painting and reflect these perceptions onto his studio practice. Subject matters that occupy Adam’s work include landscapes, portraits, the relationship between the painter, his studio, and the landscape, bathers, and mythology. He is inspired by the broad history of the visual arts, and varied literary sources. Music also serves him as a significant source of inspiration in structure, movement within the painterly space, and the dynamics between the various elements within the work itself, corresponding and echoing one another while assembling a whole. Adam works mostly on series on paper and individual paintings on linen/canvas. He has exhibited 8 solo exhibitions in Israel, and in various group shows in Israel, England, France, and Italy, collaborating with curators such as Prof. Micha Levin, former director and head curator of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. His works can be found in private collections in Israel, Europe, and the United States.