| "These days when it seems everybody is collecting flotsam in various arrangements, it is a joy to find an artist who can work in this way with expressiveness and sensitivity. Leo Kaplan's assemblages evoke whole worlds of haunting poignancy. His assured handling of disparate elements that become distilled and unified in his compositions makes for works that transcend the precious and banal. His obvious delight in his materials and his discerning eye for design are evident in each of his works. To enter the worlds he creates is to experience a poetic voyage to a romantic past we've never known - yet feel we have known always." |
| "In an art world that seems disproportionately preoccupied with exploiting new synthetics and exorcizing old demons, it is a welcome and delightful change to be confronted with the commonplace and the familiar infused with a gentle nostalgia. Using objects of everyday life form the recent past, Leo Kaplan abstractly organizes materials, surfaces,colors and spatial patterns so that we realize we are seeing these objects truly for the first time. Without disturbing their separate identities, he combines them into a new and highly personal imagery which is unforgettable. Leo Kaplan has the wit, the discerning eye, the creative imagination to take the ordinary and transform it into the extraordinary." |
| "Leo Kaplan turns dross into art. His small and elegant assemblages
encased in boxes delight the eye and stimulate the mind with their energy
and mystery. At once maintaining their basic character, banalaties of life
lose their humble identities to become integral parts of the whole, taking
on new meanings and generating praise for this alchemy.
Each viewer brings his own background and associations to the nostalgic gatherings of disparate objects exquisitely juxtaposed for maximum compositional effect. The muted tones and intriguing combinations reveal a sensibility that evokes universal appeal, and yet leaves one to ponder the emotions recalled. Always stimulating, never boring, these works command attention and lend themselves to multi-faceted comtemplation." |
| "Leo Kaplan's assemblages appeal to both the collector's eye and the artist's expressive sense. More than a grouping of materials in random arrangement, the elements are enclosed within a framework and are organized within their spatial context. Compositionally they read from the inside out as well as the outside in. The obvious delight at the discovery of each individual object is enhanced by the complete pictorial aspects of the overall composition." |
| Leo Kaplan was born in Binghamton, New York and is a graduate of the
College of Art & Design at Rochester Institute of Technology. The artist's
work has been presented in numerous museums and galleries in the northeastern
and southeastern United States including the Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester,
New York; the Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford, Connecticut; the Tampa Museum,
Tampa; and the Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale. He is represented in many
permanent collections including the Everson Museum, Syracuse, New York
and the Strong Museum, Rochester, New York. Among corporate collections
his work is owned by Champion Products, chase Manhattan Bank and Eastman
Kodak.
Leo lives and works in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA |