Front Yard, July 4th
Breezeway
Miniature Flag from
the Workshop
Lucien's Flag
Outside St. Cloud
Ernie and Vince Leo
Artist Statement
I tend to collect things until they make some kind of sense together. This installation came from all kinds of stuff I saved from my father's workshop after he died two years ago. In many ways it is a continuation of the work my father made and the way he made it. Starting from cut-out animals, he traced patterns, which he cut out of wood on his jigsaw to produce everything from bookshelves to banks, mainly for children. I have taken two of his rabbits and copied them into a new context with its own audience, expectations, and meanings. I hope to preserve my father's understanding of object-making as gift-making and his sense of wonder with the world of representation.
Biography
Vince Leo was born in Columbus, Ohio and received both his BA (English) and MA (Photography) from Ohio State University. He has published articles in magazines such as Artforum, frieze, and Parkett and continues to photograph a 30-year documentary project about his family called "Three Stories from Little America." Currently, living in Minneapolis, Leo is Vice President of Academic Affairs at Minneapolis College of Art and Design where he teaches photographic history and theory.
