giovedì 12 ottobre 2017

Leslie Lumeh 1970 in Dambala Liberia Artist Perseverance in Life and Art

Leslie Lumeh

Leslie Lumeh was born in Dambala, Cape Mount County in Liberia but has lived and worked in the capital city from an early age. He is a self-taught professional who has made remarkable strides both locally and internationally over the 23-year span of his career as an artist, illustrator, cartoonist and teacher, with many brilliant art projects to his credit.

After a civil war erupted in Liberia in 1989, Leslie moved to the Ivory Coast, where he spent nearly a decade living in Abidjan. Today this celebrated Liberian is a regional presence in West Africa, having contributed to a number of creative projects launched in Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Gabon. Returning to his native Liberia in 2005, Leslie has continued to be innovative in all the artistic disciplines, opening and operating his Art of the Heart art gallery in 2008, a first of its kind in the capital city. After operating the gallery successfully for three years he then moved on to establish the Liberian Visual Arts Academy (LivArts) in 2010. The school’s programs currently provide free art education to Liberian youths of all ages with support from several sponsors.

Lumeh’s talent has also travelled to the United States. While visiting a family friend there in 2012, he was invited to Florida where he gave lessons on book illustration to children at the Children’s Reading Center in Palatka. Most recently Leslie was chosen to represent Liberia in a prestigious and historical first of its kind project titled “Lumieres d’Afriques”, which is showcasing the work of one artist from each of the 54 nations of Africa. The exhibition began in Paris, France, last November and has now begun a tour of several major cities around the world, opening in Abidjan in April 2016, where Leslie’s work, titled “The Light Within”, is on show. Three of Leslie’s paintings are in the collection of the Art in Embassies program, a United States of America public-private partnership that promotes cultural diplomacy through exhibitions.

On his style, Lumeh has stated that he takes his inspiration to paint from scenes in the daily lives of Liberians from all walks of life. His unique creation of suggestive imagery is neither exact or precise yet provides all necessary elements for the viewer to know exactly what is presented. This approach has been described by critics as somewhat romantic, for what appears to be a simple mode of execution, on closer examination, reveals an intricate mastery of colour and design, coupled with subtlety and dexterity in his brush and palette knife technique.

Leslie holds a diploma in Architectural drafting from the Booker Washington Institute in Kakata, Liberia.

Born in 1970 in Dambala, Western Liberia, Leslie Lumeh is a self-taught artist with a diploma in architectural drafting from the Booker Washington Institute, 1987. Leslie discovered that his paintings had value following the civil war that tore his country into pieces when he started recreating scenes from the war, first in simple pencil sketches, and later in watercolors on drawing paper, then finally onto canvas. These early works attracted an unexpected number of people, not only Liberians but foreigners as well, including international journalists. Soon he was getting commissions from private collectors as well as institutions.

"Community Well" 14"x20", watercolor, 2014

The Light Within, 2015,

Oil on canvas,
69 x 123 cm,
©Mathieu Lombard

"Providence Baptist Church Monrovia", 24"x36" oil on canvas, 2009 This piece is a part of the "Art in the Embassy" collection, US Embassy in Monrovia

"The Look" 12"x15.5", oil on canvas, 2010

"Street Sellers," 18.5x14.5", water color, 2010

"Departure Time," 24"x48", acrylic on canvas, 2010 "Departure Time" is part of the Art in Embassy program, US Embassy, Monrovia, Liberia.

"Musu," 36"x36", oil on canvas, 2011

"Two Women in Conversation," 24"x36", oil on canvas, 2011

"Women and Beauty," 35"x32", mixed media on canvas mounted on natural wood, 2012

"Somu" 18"x14", oil on canvas, 2012

"Water for All" 13"x22.5", watercolor, 2014

"Monrovia Water Trade" 20"x14", watercolor, 2014

"Monrovia Water Train" 13"x22", watercolor, 2014

"The Rain" 20"x 26.5", watercolor, 2014

How an illustrator's images helped the fight against Ebola

(CNN)Artist Leslie Lumeh's images have always been politically charged but he never dreamed they'd one day save lives.
When the Ebola crisis hit Liberia two years ago, the artist was among those called upon by Unicef to develop posters on how the public could protect themselves.

"There was a need to educate the people ..." he explains."You needed a lot of images, drawings, that illustrated how to keep oneself protected from the virus."
"We were grateful that we were able to do something that people were able to use to save so many lives."