Filed under: News
From NJ.Com/The Star-Ledger:
JERSEY CITY - Muscular brushstrokes bring to life the painting of a young black man who is set against a textured white background. Shades of red, yellow, orange outline angular features on his bowed head. His closed eyes suggest deep thought.
This 24-by-36 inch painting, "Dans L'air," loosely meaning in French "There is a sad or happy air," is a self-portrait of Leonardo Laurenceau - one of the most talented young artists in the country.
The 17-year-old from Jersey City will confess the portrait is part of a story about a boy on the verge of becoming a man.
Laurenceau won this year's Art Portfolio Gold Award from the Scholastic Inc. Art & Writing Awards, joining several world-renowned alumni including Richard Avedon, Philip Pearlstein, Andy Warhol and Zac Posen, among other artists who've garnered the distinction over the past 87 years since its inception.
"Leonardo's work was so surprising and fresh," said Gary Schneider, the director of education at the Montclair Art Museum, where "Dans L'air" and the rest of his eight-piece portfolio was exhibited earlier this year. "He has a 'painterly' style. He uses paint in a way that you see the brush strokes. It's also very well composed and it has boldness that's almost more like graphic design; yet the background is so expressive."
He is one of 16 young artists in the country to receive the portfolio gold honor - a contest that started with 186,000 submissions. Laurenceau, who studied art at Jersey City Arts High School, takes home a $10,000 scholarship with the honor.
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