Author: Leonard Koscianski

Summer in the City. Leonard Koscianski, 42″x26″, oil on canvas, 2017.

Detail of Summer in the City.

Summer in the City is a medium size painting, in oils on canvas. Its based on childhood memories of summers spent at the municipal pool in Parma, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. Everyday in the summer the pool was packed with kids from the nearby neighborhoods. Except for the lifeguards, and the managers, there were no adults. Its not that they weren’t allowed, they just never came in the afternoons. In the background – the Cleveland skyline as it existed in 1963.

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On the Corner. Leonard Koscianski, 42″x26″, oil on canvas, 2017.

On the Corner is a medium size painting, in oils on canvas. It is a night scene with different color light coming from different sources – interior lighting, a TV screen, a traffic light, the moon, a stain glass window. This manmade lighting creates our night time world. It is Surrealist Art combined with American Scene painting, and American Primitive art. The lighting combined with the severe simplification of the houses and trees creates a dream world of memory rather than observation.

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The Skater. Leonard Koscianski, 42″x26″, oil on canvas, 2017.

The Skater is a medium size painting, in oils on canvas. The overall whiteness and blue of the colors is intended to create the sense of winter. The style is surreal. In the tradition of American Primitive Art, it is based on a childhood memory. Having grown up on a pond in suburban Cleveland, I enjoyed ice skating in the winter, especially skating at night under the moon. The space is curved, the viewer looks down at the foreground and straight out at the surrounding neighborhood. The house in the lower left is reminiscent of my childhood home.

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To The Lighthouse. Leonard Koscianski, 42″x26″, oil on canvas, 2016.

To the Lighthouse is a medium size painting, in oils on canvas. It is Postmodern Art in style in that it combines styles from the past, to create an eclectic whole. Surrealism is combined with American Primitive art creating a dreamlike scene of life on the shore. Annapolis is a boating haven, and lighthouses are a major attraction on the Atlantic Coast. Artists Grant Wood, Giorgio de Chirico, and Chicago artist Roger Brown are major influences of this work.

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The Fisherman. Leonard Koscianski, 42″x26″, oil on canvas, 2016.

The Fisherman is a medium size painting in oils on canvas. It is an imaginary reconstruction of my favorite fishing spot, near my house, on Spa Creek, in Annapolis. The best time for fishing here is early in the morning, when the night is turning into day. In the painting, it is morning in the foreground, and still night in the blue background. It is Postmodern in that it appropriates different styles and recombines them into an eclectic whole.

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Summer Morning. Leonard Koscianski, 42″x26″, oil on canvas, 2016.

Summer Morning is a medium size painting in oils on canvas. It is a surreal recreation, from imagination of my morning run in Annapolis. The curved space exaggerates the perspective shift from an over head view in the foreground to straight out in the distance. The early morning light transitions to darkness, as the viewer travels along the road, with warm light pouring out of the small house, and a small dog waiting in the door for the runner to pass.

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Messaging. Leonard Koscianski, 9″x12″, tempera on panel, 2016.

Messaging is a small painting in egg tempera on a wood panel. Though imaginary, it is based on a model created first in a 3D animation program. The program determines the perspective, based on the point of view. Oil glazes were applied over the tempera to create the finished colors. The oil glazes give the colors a more luminous appearance.

The scene with its rows of identical suburban houses owes a debt to American Scene painter George Tooker. The figure in the window is texting on a smart phone, while a dog lurks outside. The eclectic combination of styles and subjects makes this a Postmodern art work.

Village Green. Leonard Koscianski, 26″x42″, oil on canvas, 2016.

Village Green is a medium size painting in oils on canvas. Painted from the imagination, it is a horizontal composition where the perspective is exaggerated. The viewer looks down up close and straight out in the distance, where the headlights of cars can be seen on the winding road. The foreground has an early morning light while the background is still in darkness. This suggests a passage of time that parallels the movement into the distance. A woman is running along the road in the foreground, as blue jays fly in from the right. A man looks our his window. The severe simplicity of the houses and the curved space make this a surrealist painting.

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Blue Jay Way. Leonard Koscianski, 42″x26″, oil on canvas, 2015.

Her Morning Run. Leonard Koscianski, 42″x26″, oil on canvas, 2015.