I recently became very busy during my travels. From Guatemala to Costa Rica I was touring around, backpacking, and checking out the sites. In San Jose, Costa Rica, however, I bunch of opportunities to paint came my way and I jumped on it. Here are some shots of the works I did throughout San Jose. I also decided to open a new section on my site, dedicated to murals. More info on these pieces can be found there.. and more works to come!
My latest painting. This one is done with acrylic wall paint, about 7×7 feet and done on a metal door of El Buho Vegetariano restaurant in San Jose, Costa Rica.
I´m hoping to find some more walls to paint on my travels in Central America this Winter and Spring. If you are interested in having a mural done for a residence, business or institution, hit me up at kevin(at)kevinledo.com
I’m very happy to announce that my work will now be represented by Yves Laroche Gallery in Montreal, Canada.
I am presently traveling around and working out of different countries in Central America, therefore, for the next few seasons, Yves Laroche Gallery will be my primary dealer and contact in Montreal. Please check them out!
Note that the gallery also has access to more paintings than those appearing on their site.
I haven’t had time this summer for keeping this site updated and fresh, let alone most other things in my life. I have been so busy that all I can do is sleep when I get the chance, however, I’ve been busy with good things. For the past 3 months or so, I’ve been working on some special effects for the film “Noah,” a film by Darren Aronofsky starring Emma Watson, Russell Crowe and Logan Lerman. It’s basically based off of the biblical story Noah’s Ark.
This is the first time I work in special effects and I quite like it. The studio that I’m working for is full of talented and friendly special effects artists, and learning from them has been, and is, a great experience. I’d love to show you pictures of the animals we are creating, but then I’d get fired.
A few things have been on the back burner in the mean time, slow cooking, and eventually getting done. Just this past month I participated in a group art show in Portland, Oregon. The show is still up and running at Hellion Gallery and is called “Live Free.” The show was curated by a talented artist and friend of mine, Mike Maxwell. Mike put together a selection of artists that he has had on his series of podcasts called “Live Free.” The artwork and participating artist list is quite impressive and I’m happy to be part of it!
I recently finished a few little commissioned artworks. From time to time I take these on and it usually brings me out of what I normally do, which is more of a challenge, but always a good experience in the end. I normally don’t post my commissions in my regular portfolio, but here are 3 that I recently finished. (the shots aren’t the best quality)
Next on the agenda is a BIG change. I’ll be moving to Guatemala in November for 6 to 8 months to learn Spanish, travel around some, and set up a studio to continue doing art. It’s just time to get out of the routine and freshen up my outlook, hopefully create some great art. My plan is to continue writing this blog out there, where I imagine I’ll have more time than I do now.
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Last Fall I was fortunate enough to be part of En Masse’s biggest project yet! 30 artists got together to take over one whole room at the Museum of Fine Art of Montreal! It was a huge success and loads of fun. Check out this sweet video that Fred Caron from put together.
I’m having my next exhibition on April 6th, 2012 at Ayden Gallery in Vancouver, titled Awakening the Fire.
I’ll also be showing along side Jose Rivas, an awesome artist from Vancouver, as well as Lawrence Nerbonne, another great artist from Montreal.
I’ll be featuring 14 new works that range in size from 12″ x 18″ to 4′ x 5.’ I will be presenting, for the first time, my latest mixed media works on wood. I’m feeling good about the work in this exhibit and I hope you get the chance to check it out.
At the beginning of the month, I was in San Diego with Montreal’s art based initiative, En Masse, to do some live painting for Art San Diego. There was four of us from Montreal, Jason Botkin, Fred Caron, Kirsten McCrea and myself, and we joined forces with San Diego’s Mike Maxwell and Kevin Peterson. We painted throughout the fair, completing the collaborative piece by the last day. It was a huge success and we were told it was a definite highlight of the event.
I’m really happy to participate in this project whenever I can, and look forward to it growing all across the continent.
Check out more about En Masse here.
http://www.coolhunting.com/culture/en-masse.php
I’m going to Burning Man, 2011!
I’ll be heading from Montreal, Canada, to Nevada by truck! This is about 48 hours of driving.. so needless to say, we’ll be there in about 5 days from when we leave.
This will be my first burn and I really don’t know what to expect. I’m part of a team that will be putting up an art installation piece: nitwhips.com
Wish me luck!
Here are a couple of t-shirt designs that I created for VirginX Industries clothing line. They have been kicking around for quite some time now, though I’m not sure if they have ever been printed or whether they ever will. Either way, I think they are pretty dope and wanted to share.
My latest painting, “Natural Phases,” is oil and bronze leaf on wood panel, 48″ high by 36″ across.
It’s an interesting thing that happened with the creation of this painting; I had put together my composition, which I was happy with, and then printed out my references and was set to begin. I had printed out the design in it’s entirety, as well as two details, or close ups, so that I can get good references for my painting. Then, there I was before the panel, all set to commence. I laid out the three reference pages and one of the close ups caught my eye. It was intriguing as it was, only displaying a portion of the full image. It left elements of the image in question and it posed more questions than the initial idea. I liked the ambiguity it presented. And so, after about a day of contemplation, I decided to go for it. The rest of the painting happened in a similar fashion. Imagery came to mind as I painted which led me to add elements as well as take them away.
This is my latest painting which remains untitled. It runs along the same lines of my previous painting, but was initially thought out a little more than the last one.
I had set out to paint the figure in dark, natural flesh tones, but just as I was about to start applying the paint, the painting caught the eye of one of my studio mates. At that point the skin was just the colour of the underpainting, which is red. She loved how it resembled a two tone screen print or poster.. and that got me thinking. I started considering a red skin tone and how that could change the painting’s impact.
This painting draws influence from religious paintings. I love the power of religious iconography, and this painting uses the languages of Tibetian thangka paintings, and Christian icon paintings.
This painting is 36″ x 24,” and is oil and bronze leaf on wood panel.
This is my latest painting. It’s a portrait of my father, Antonio Ledo.
Painting someone that I know is always more interesting than someone from a found image, and painting someone like my father takes the experience to a new level. It was a whole lot of time to contemplate this man who tag-teamed to give me life. I found myself filled with random memories and contemplated what it would be like for myself at his age. Not that I don’t consider my mortality on a daily bases, (whether that is a morbid or buddhist habit I don’t know), but I thought about the stages of life, from what I have already experienced to getting to where my dad is and beyond.
I wanted to make the painting an accurate depiction of him. The photo I worked from was not too different from the painting itself, which has a contemplative tone. The painting is oil on canvas and is 14″ x 18″.
Ayden Gallery’s 7 Year Anniversary Exhibtion
I’ll be participating in next week’s exhibition in Vancouver along with a crowd of fantastic artists. The opening is on Friday the 18th of February.
Toms Shoes handed out a pair of their shoes to every artist to paint on which will be part of the exhibition. 
Here is my latest painting along with a pair of shoes that I bronze leafed and painted for Ayden Gallery’s 7th year anniversary exhibition, simply called 7.
This painting is a first attempt at some imagery I’ve had hovering in my mind over the past couple of months. When I began, I didn’t know exactly what it would turn out to be. I had an initial sketch for my idea, but once I began working on it, new ideas emerged. The dark form behind the woman took a form of it’s own and it began suggesting a cobra snake. I focussed on not over analyzing or intellectualizing what I was doing, but to be honest there were times when this painting was pretty challenging.
I hope to expand and explore similar ideas in my next paintings, hopefully further develop what it is I am trying to achieve as I still feel I’m in the preliminary stages.
This painting, entitled “Rising,” is 36″ x 24″, acrylic, oil and bronze leaf on wood panel. Ayden’s 7 exhibition is February 18th in Vancouver. If you’re in that part of the world I suggest checkin it out. It’s going to be dope!
