Lesley Schiff

Lesley Schiff in 2018

Lesley Schiff (Born January 27, 1951) is an American artist.[1] She is known for her practice of using color laser printers to create images. Her art covers subjects from worldly affairs to nature and the mystical.[2] Many of her works are included in the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and Buckingham Palace.[3][4]

Artistic Career

Schiff majored in painting at The Art Institute of Chicago. After graduating in 1974 she moved to New York City. The next year she began using a Xerox 6500 color copier as a paintbrush and by 1981 she had completed her first collection of prints titled Seasons, which was acquired by The Metropolitan Museum of Art that same year.[5]

After Seasons was obtained by the Metropolitan Museum of Art's permanent collection, the portfolio was acquired by Gianfranco Ferre, Manufacturers Hanover & Trust, Chase Manhattan Bank Collection, Goldman Sachs, The New York Public Library, and Security Pacific National Bank.[6]

In 1990, Canon USA took notice of Schiff’s work and donated the Canon CLC 500, one of their newest color laser copiers to her studio. Unlike most other color copiers of the time, the Canon CLC 500 was able to use black ink, giving Schiff access to use darker tones in her art. Canon went on to fund her first exhibit using black: The Color of Light and continues to sponsor her.

In 1992, Schiff was commissioned by International Papers, Hammermill brand to endorse archival papers they produced for their laser photocopiers. They sponsored her exhibition Angels & Money which toured around America, going to Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Seattle.

In 1993, Columbia Records commissioned 104 portraits of their recording artists for a permanent installation on 3 floors of their executive offices. This project took her until 1995 to complete.[7]

While on commission, Schiff was introduced to Bob Dylan’s manager in 1997, which finally resulted in a contract in 2005 for a limited edition portrait of Dylan. This portrait consisted of 45 images: 15 divergent images of Dylan, 15 icons that reflected his enigmatic persona and 15 illustrated songs using a font designed exclusively by Matthew Carter for the lyrics.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ "Lesley Schiff". www.whitney.org. Archived from the original on 2019-04-10. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  2. ^ "VIDEO: Legacy in Light: the Art of Lesley Schiff". Musée Magazine. 13 May 2018. Archived from the original on 2019-04-10. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  3. ^ "Collections Database". museums.fivecolleges.edu.
  4. ^ "Lesley Schiff | Distant Systems | the Met". Archived from the original on 2019-04-10. Retrieved 2019-04-10.
  5. ^ Cros, Lolita (April 13, 2023). "Salon at The Wing Soho" (PDF). p. 95. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 11, 2023. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  6. ^ "The Met Collections: Seasons". April 10, 2019. Archived from the original on April 10, 2019. Retrieved July 11, 2024.
  7. ^ Stillman, Neil (1989-01-14). "Copy Cover". How. pp. 124–131.
  8. ^ "'Visual Biography' of Bob Dylan on View at Van Ness". 24 September 2015. Archived from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  9. ^ Oakes, Bob; Dooling, Shannon (September 17, 2015). "With Super-Imposed Lyrics And Portraits, A New Pop-Up Exhibit Depicts Bob Dylan". Boston University Radio. Retrieved July 15, 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)


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