Luc Leestemaker
| Luc Leestemaker | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Lucas Christiaan Leestemaker May 18, 1957 Hilversum, Netherlands |
| Died |
May 18, 2012 Los Angeles, CA, USA |
| Nationality | American, Dutch |
| Education | Self-taught, being influenced by long lineage of artists before him (his grandfather and great grandfather were painters) |
| Known for | Abstracted Landscapes, Abstract Expressionism |
| Notable work | Voyagers, Map of The Wind, Allegories, Songs of the Unconscious |
| Movement | Being interested in exploring multi disciplinary interchanges, Leestemaker created art-collectives of artists, composers, musicians, actors, early on in career in the Netherlands; "Groenlandsestraatweg" and "Hart Poetry." |
| Patron(s) | President and Mrs. Bill Clinton, Mrs. Nancy Reagan, President and Mrs. G.W. Bush, Mrs. Nancy Pelosi, Ms. Drew Barrymore, Ms. Whoopi Goldberg, Mr. and Mrs. D. Gergen, Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Haden, Mr. and Mrs. Esa-Pekka Salonen, Mr. and Mrs. Peter Ueberroth, Mr. Harvey Weinstein. |
Luc Leestemaker (May 18, 1957 – May 18, 2012) was an American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Hilversum, the Netherlands.
His interests in art, theater and communication led him to found an Amsterdam-based performing arts center; organize the Dutch art collective “Hart Poetry;” and for a number of years he headed Leestemaker & Associates, an Amsterdam-based consulting firm specializing in the arts.
Upon moving to the US in 1990, Leestemaker, continuing a longstanding cultural tradition in his family, committed himself to painting full-time, following in the footsteps of other European and Dutch artists, notably Willem de Kooning and Mondrian, for whom living and working in the US inspired a dramatic creative transition. His stylistic journey led from early influences by the CoBrA movement, through densely abstract expressionist compositions, to the Inner Landscape and Transfiguration series, inspired both by Mark Rothko and 17th and 18th Century Dutch and English landscape painters including John Constable and Salomon van Ruysdael.
With his contemporary abstracted landscapes as a solid foundation, more recent compositions, as “Voyagers” and “Map of The Wind” take the viewer into a new generation of abstract expressionism, in which landscape and abstraction increasingly merged. The most recent “Allegories” “Songs of the Unconscious” and "Haiku" explored even deeper layers of fluidity in his painting.
In 2006 the award winning Canadian composer Vincent Ho (Composer in Residence at the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra), used four paintings of the artist as inspiration for a chamber music work in four parts, titled “Four Paintings By Leestemaker.” Funded by the Canadian Arts Council this work was performed at a number of music festivals throughout China. The video artist and animator Edber Mamesao choreographed a 20-minute visual interpretation of this composition and a DVD version of this compilation is part of a new substantial hardcover book about the artist’s life and work, published by Skylark Press. September 2007 saw the world premiere of “Breaking Through the Canvas” at the Pasadena Museum of California Art; a choreography by Lineage Dance Company, inspired by Leestemaker’s paintings, set to music by Vincent Ho.
When not traveling Luc Leestemaker lived and worked in Los Angeles, California. He died of cancer on May 18, 2012.
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