Today we’d like to introduce you to Leemour Pelli

Hi Leemour, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.

I was exposed to art and literature at a very young age as a child. My Father is a professor, writer and scholar and he exposed me to writing, literature, classical music, and the love of books and art at an early age. Immersed in the humanities, I discovered a lot about art on my own, and by the age of 15 was reading about the Surrealist artists and writers in France. When, for example, an artist or writer mentioned another artist or writer that intrigued me, I would go read about that artist and writer. Having read some of Rimbaud’s poetry, I wanted to be like the young poet who traveled abroad and wrote, and mostly I wanted to live the life of an artist. I dreamed of living abroad and in Paris, and eventually that dream became a reality. I did become an artist, but in a very circuitous path. Art was part of me and my life, and I ended up traveling to Israel, Paris and Italy to pursue my life of art, and this was not an easy thing.
I was accepted to the School of Visual Arts in New York at the age of 18, but then I decided to leave the U.S. Ironically, I was rejected by an Art School in the other Country where I was staying. I persevered, however, and did art on my own – and later on went to both the School of Visual Arts – (where I received my B.F.A.), and to the other art school that rejected me at the age of 18 a few years later. Even though I faced various hardships I persevered.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

Being an artist and living the life of an artist is not an easy path to undertake. So for an artist, to me, it has to be “a matter of life or death” so to speak – something that you are so impassioned with, that you must do it no matter if you get recognition or not. It is a constant struggle, both to constantly be in a “creative mode,” – and to realize that there will be times where you may not be exhibiting, or may not have a gallery, or may get numerous rejections, or may not get the recognition that you deserve – though you may invest all of your life in it/Art. So to be an artist you really have to want to just make art – no matter what.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

Today – I work in the media of Painting, Sculpture, installations, works on paper, photography, and prints.
In my work I focus on human inter-relationships and states of being. I use poetic, anatomical, and medical imagery as an extension of the figure/body to convey human experiences. By incorporating the latter elements into the work, the paintings often become like x-rays of life, or x-rays of figures or certain situations. This appears in the form of multiple or single figures in heightened states of emotion, states of solitude, creativity, or love and connection. The figures are often merging into one another, and being affected by one another. At times the figures appear with enlarged and out of control hearts, overlapping lungs, and other anatomical organs as an expression of one’s inner realities and dramas. The depths of the human heart and soul are explored within personal and universal struggles and realities. The works are conceived in layers of paint that build up and at the same time disintegrate as an expression of the ambiguous, fragile and temporal nature of human kind.

Alright, so to wrap up, is there anything else you’d like to share with us?

As is written in The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Expury – and as the Fox says to the Prince – “it is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” I try to show what exists but at times is invisible to the eye.

Contact Info:

• Website: http://www.leemourpelli.com
• Instagram: @artistcreator15
• Facebook: facebook/leemourpelli
• Twitter: twitter.com@artistcreator

Image Credits

Image Credits: Courtesy of the artist and the Leemour Pelli Art Studio and Archive, New York, New York