Bob Leach

New York artist Bob Leach began painting in early 80's, after an all-night disco marathon. The next day he sols the result for $20.00 in a Greenwich Village café. “It scared the hell out of me." he remembers. “You can't do this! – I told to myself." Luckily, he overcame his initial trepidations and became a prolific painter.  

Leach brought a diversity of influences to his art. After a happy childhood in the Southern New Jersey countryside, he lived and traveled throughout the world from the great museums in Paris and Amsterdam, to the artists ' colonies and “café society" in Majorca.  

In the later 60s he worked as the therapist in Los Angeles and as an early childhood specialist in New York. Through these experiences he developed an intense fascination with the complexity of the human psyche and its development.  

In 1970 he broke with his own culture, embracing the vibrant music, dancing, drama and night life of the Latin and African-American community.  

Leach's mixed media pieces explode with primary colors, reflecting his cross-cultural and societal background. He incorporated strong influences from African art, as well as Picasso and Rouault elements into his work. His paintings have been called a progression of Warhol's concepts, because just as Warhol was never without his camera, Leach is never without his sketch pad. He captures REAL people; the folks one meets in the parks, sitting at bars, dancing in clubs. It is virtually impossible, however, to classify this unique, uninhibited artist. He doesn't consciously censor his art, which communicates at a very visceral level.