In his large scale paintings and more modestly sized collages Bill Leech combines repeating figures, faces, buildings, flora, fauna, and strings of abstract forms. In many works, the individual elements, either stenciled or collaged, act as symbols or icons that play out an open narrative across a landscape-like tableau. Through thin washes of paint or paper Leech’s subjects emerge, sometimes barely, implying glimpses of larger realities. As is typical of Leech’s work, the pieces in That’s not happened in years, are inflected with a sense of uncomfortable nostalgia for something decidedly American. The implied patina of age in combination with the use of colonial stencils, 50’s facial profile drawings and domestic patterns suggest these works are records from a recent past, dug up and discovered anew.

Bill Leech was born in Oskaloosa, Kansas in 1951 and received a BFA from Kansa City Art Institute. In 1987 Leech moved east, establishing his studio and residence in Roosevelt, NJ, a town known since the late 1930’s for its dynamic art community. Among other accolades, Leech received a scholarship to the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and a Fellowship from The New Jersey State Council on the Arts. He has exhibited at such venues as Stephen Harris Gallery, NYC; Alan Stone Gallery, NYC; Adam Baumgold Gallery, NYC; the New Jersey State Museum; William Patterson University’s Ben Shahn Galleries; The Chubb Atrium Gallery, NJ; the Hunterdon Art Museum, NJ; the Nabisco Gallery, NJ and Barbara Gillman Gallery, Miami, FL. His work is included in many private collections, including those of Nicholas Lehman, Judith Shuleveitz, Grahm Gund, Jack Nicholson, Joel Becker, Kitty Hawks, Yossi Friedman, Fred and Marlene Levinson, Steven Harris and Lucien Reese Roberts, among many others.

Accola Griefen Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 AM to 6 PM. For more information visit accolagriefen.com, contact [email protected] or call 646-532-3488. The gallery is closed for the holidays from December 23, 2011 through January 2, 2012.