Leslie Donahue (b. California, 1996) is a multimedia artist working mainly in acrylic and oil paint. Specializing in strange, atmospheric scenes and images imbued with symbolism, there is tension between what is revealed to the viewer and what is hidden. Leslie has participated in group shows such as a 2022 “Fresh Faces” exhibition (Abigail Ogilvy Gallery) and a 2023 National Prize Show (Cambridge Art Association) as well as a two-month-long painting residency in Mexico City. They currently live and paint in the Boston, Massachusetts area.
STATEMENT
I seek references from unusual places. Advertisements, trash, screenshots from television, low-quality photos sent by my mother, blurry images from online marketplaces, and other fleeting snapshots of the world around me are obsessively collected and carefully analyzed for elements of truth. Painting these images adds to an ever-expanding narrative in which I convey a sense of the strangeness that is living in America today. Emotions are indirectly expressed and dissected through color, composition, and brush strokes. A disillusioned form of social realism approaches abstract expressionism with humor and an appreciation for beauty in the unexpected.
~Leslie Donahue, 2025
EDUCATION
2021- 2023
Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA, Graduate of Masters of Fine Arts Program in Painting
2017-2019
Montserrat College of Art, Beverly, MA Candidate for Masters of Fine Arts Program in Painting
EXHIBITIONS
2023
National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MAWinner of Juror’s Choice Award
Ashes: Art of the Unkempt, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
Birthed in the Bathhouse, Queer Artist Collective of Massart, Boston, MA
Massart Auction, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
2022
All School Show, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston, MA
Fresh Faces, Abigail Ogilvy Gallery, Boston, MA
2020
Small Works Show, Porter Mill Gallery, Beverly, MA2019
Annual Crane Estate Art Show: Earth, Wind, Fire, & Water, Ipswich, MARESIDENCIES
2023
Winner: Mexico City Fellowship (Massachusetts College of Art and Design) 2022
Finalist: FA2D Nominee, Yale Norfolk program (Massachusetts College of Art and Design)GRANTS / AWARDS
2023
Juror’s Choice Award, Cambridge Art Association National Prize ShowFA2D Dean Nimmer Auction Award (Massachusetts College of Art and Design)
2022
Massart Foundation Painting Award (Massachusetts College of Art and Design) 2018
Excellence in Core Curriculum Grant (Montserrat College of Art)PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
March 2022- Present
Painting Instructor (Portraiture/Landscape), Arlington Center for the Arts, Arlington, MA
August-October 2019
Cemetery Restoration Intern, Epoch Preservation, Ipswich, MA
CONTACT
lesliedonahue12@gmail.com
lesliedonahue12@gmail.com