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Stephane Leonard (*1979, Berlin, Germany) is a visual artist working across drawing, painting, sound, film, and video. He lives and works in Brandenburg. Leonard studied Philosophy and Art History at the Humboldt University of Berlin before completing his fine arts education at the University of the Arts in Bremen, where he studied drawing, film/video, and sound with Prof. Paco Knöller (master class) and Prof. Jean-François Guiton.
Leonard is a co-founder of the Plastik Club collective in Bremen and of naivsuper, an artist collective, label, and publishing house based in Berlin. Since 2014, he has been a guest lecturer in the Department of Industrial Design at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences for Engineering and Economics, teaching the basics of art and design.
Active as an artist since the mid-1990s, initially as a street artist, Leonard has developed an internationally recognized body of work. In 2007 he received the Video Art Prize from the City of Bremen, followed by further awards at film festivals, residencies in Norway and Portugal, and numerous exhibitions in Germany and abroad. His drawings, paintings, video, and sound works have been shown in cities including New York, Oslo, Vienna, Istanbul, Bangkok, Riga, Sydney, Porto, Hamburg, Bremen and Berlin. He has received exhibition stipends from the City of Berlin and studio grants from the State of Brandenburg, and in 2019 was awarded the Brandenburgischer Kunstpreis, the Art Prize of Brandenburg.
curriculum vitae
| 1979 | born in Berlin – Lichtenberg |
| 2000 | baccalaureate in Berlin |
| 2000-2001 | civil service in Berlin |
| 2001-2002 | studies philosophy & art history at the Humboldt University, Berlin |
| 2002-2007 | studied fine arts, video art, and sound art at the University of the Arts Bremen (Professor Paco Knöller, Professor Jean-François Guiton) |
| 2005-2006 | lives and works in New York, NY, USA |
| 2007 | diploma in fine arts |
| 2007-2008 | Meisterschüler (honor student) at the University of the Arts, Bremen (Professor Paco Knöller) |
| since 2008 | lives and works in Berlin and Brandenburg |
prices/stipends
| 2007 | winner of the Video Art Price from the city of Bremen, Germany |
| 2008 | nominated for the master student scholarship: Junge Kunst Essen, Germany |
| 2009 | composition journey through South and Eastern Europe with the Endlichen Automaten (Laptop Orchestra Berlin) sponsored by the Robert Bosch Stiftung, the Hungarian cultural capital Pécs and the Goethe-Institut |
| 2010 | Artist In Residence at the USF Verftet in Bergen, Norway working grant for the Endliche Automaten (Laptoporchester Berlin) in Pécs, Hungary |
| 2011 | winner of the Award of Excellence at the Los Angeles Movie Awards for the music video: Bodi Bill – Brand New Carpet |
| 2012 | Best Music Video Award at the Porto7 Oporto International Film Festival for the music video: Bodi Bill – What |
| 2013 | exhibition stipend by the city of Berlin for the Galerie im Turm (state-run art gallery) |
| 2015 | Artist in Residence and exhibition stipend at Maus Habitos in Porto, Portugal |
| 2016 | exhibition stipend for the Temporäre Galerie in der Quartiershalle Campus Rütli – CR² |
| 2018 | studio grant from the State Brandenburg |
| 2019 | winner of the Brandenburg Art Prize |
| 2021 | winner “Kunst am Bau” Freie Universität Berlin “Campus of Excellence” |
| 2023 | winner participation 9th drawing-festival Oldenburg |
| 2024 | winner of the Brandenburg stipend “Arbeitspakete” |
achievements / involvements
| 2002 | co-founder of the Plastik Club in Bremen (a group of artists who curated shows, concerts, and happenings in Bremen) |
| 2003 | co-founder of the naivsuper artist collective which later turned into a label for experimental music, a film production collective, and a publishing house for artist books, catalogues and collectables |
| 2007-2009 | curator for the Electronic Church – experimental music & art venue in Berlin |
| 2013 | grand jury member of the Berlin Music Video Awards 2013 |
teaching
| 2014-2026 | guest lecturer for art and design – Industrial Design – HTW / University of Applied Sciences, Berlin |
publications (audio & print*)
| 2003 | Stephane Leonard: Schmalfilmer EP – CDR – Sinnbus Records (GER) |
| 2004 | Stephane Leonard: Schmalfilmer RMX 2003 – CDR – naivsuper (GER) plastic doll: 26 sctbyn – CDR – naivsuper (GER) Stephane Leonard: Hörtheater – CDR – naivsuper (GER) |
| 2005 | Stephane Leonard: bon Voyage – webrelease – plakatif (GER) Stephane Leonard: elegy – web release – Serein (Wales, UK) |
| 2006 | Stephane Leonard: TRi – web release – Luvsound (USA) Stephane Leonard: EXPONAT (taperelease) – Froggi Records (GER) |
| 2007 | Stephane Leonard: Crown Heights, Brooklyn – web release – Luvsound (USA) |
| 2008 | Stephane Leonard: Lykkelig Dyr – LP / CD – Heilskabaal / naivsuper(NL+GER) Leo Mars: lightears – CDR – naivsuper (GER) |
| 2009 | *Stephane Leonard: Au clair de la lune – book – naivsuper / syntagma (GER) *Stephane Leonard: TREES – book – naivsuper + syntagma (GER) |
| 2010 | Stephane Leonard: Please destroy me – webrelease – Frozen Elephants (GER) Endliche Automaten: Composition Journey – DVD- Robert Bosch Stiftung (GER) |
| 2011 | *Stephane Leonard & Martin Eichhorn: LOVE – book – naivsuper / syntagma (GER) |
| 2012 | *Stephane Leonard: SHINE – book – naivsuper / syntagma (GER) *Stephane Leonard: noise – book – PogoBooks (GER) |
| 2013 | *Stephane Leonard / Claudio Pogo: HOUSTON I AM THE PROBLEM – book – PogoBooks (GER) |
| 2015 | *Stephane Leonard: Chasing A Ghost – artist book – PogoBooks (GER) |
| 2022 | *Stephane Leonard: PAUSE – artist book – OuterSpace Press |