On this episode of People Painting, the artist Leroy Winter talks with Connor about about his early interest in illustration, searching for the balance between control and letting go in the studio, the lineage of the subject matter that appears in his first solo show, and much more.

Leroy Winter is a painter from San Antonio, Texas, currently based in Chicago, Illinois. Leroy graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in December 2021, obtaining his Bachelors of Fine Art. He has shown in a number of group shows from 2019 to 2021. In July of 2022, he presented his first solo exhibition, Mirage, at Martha’s Contemporary in Austin, Texas. Fascinated by the prominence of mythmaking in American culture, Leroy investigates symbols and iconography closely tied to narratives of the Western frontier and seeks to unearth the significance of these narratives beyond their precarious and hollow qualities. In his recent paintings, Leroy focuses on creatures that we associate with the Frontier, and seeks to portray them as spectral onlookers of the ceaseless expanse of settlers. The ghostly appearance of the creatures portrayed in these paintings, manifesting as apparitions in the distance, aim to provoke the viewer to question their relationship with nature and, more specifically, to challenge the narratives that have been projected on the land that they inhabit.

• Leroy's work: https://leroywinter.com/

• Leroy's Instagram: @leroy__w

For complete show notes, including links to all artists/works referenced on this episode, visit peoplepaintingpodcast.com

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