LEONOVICH GALLERY, 520 West 24th Street, New York City, New York 10011

LEEMOUR PELLI: Crowa and God in Upheaval, May 1st – May 28, 2026.

EXHIBITION OPENING: May 14th, 2026 6-8:00 pm

Leonovich Gallery is pleased to announce a solo exhibition of New York-based artist Leemour Pelli, Crowa and God in Upheaval, featuring a new series of paintings building upon the artist’s longstanding interest in probing the depths of the human condition through painterly viscerality resembling distorted x-rays and anatomical studies. The exhibition runs from May 1 – 28th, 2026, with a press preview and private reception on May 14, 2026 from 6-8 pm. This exhibition was curated by legendary gallerist Annina Nosei, best known for exhibiting Jean-Michel Basquiat, Barbara Kruger, Robert Longo, Shirin Neshat, among many other renowned artists.

A strong literary bent informs the direction of Pelli’s latest paintings as these are an amalgamation of thematic and narrative elements derived from books, most notably her father’s novels God in Upheaval (God Imprisoned) and Al Da’Ateft (For Drowning Others); poet Ted Hughes’s From the Life and Song of the Crow; and Polish-American writer Jerzy Kosinski’s The Painted Bird. Much like an epic literary work, Pelli’s paintings invite a deep and introspective engagement oscillating between psychological states, episodic storytelling, and philosophical ruminations.

According to Nosei, “Though grounded in figuration, her paintings move beyond the visible into a metaphysical realm. We do not see them - we feel them.” Thick and heavy layers of brushstrokes cover her canvases, all but obfuscating her male and female protagonists, Crow and Crowa, who are shown in moments of silence, tension, and pathos.

A corporeality enmeshed in a high emotionality is a consistent visual throughline from one painting to the next. Oversized hearts and limbs are not to be taken literally, but purely as Pelli underscoring the emotional connectedness between Crow and Crowa. Jarring reds and blues further heighten the drama of the couple’s journey that is veiled in a mysterious, indeterminate zone split between being this-worldly and otherworldly.

Nosei reflects on the importance of duality in Pelli’s paintings as a recurring motif in which there is “a quiet dialogue between opposing yet interconnected forces. Her recurring figures, often paired in contrast, are less depictions of reality and more reflections of inner states, fragments of thought and emotion suspended in space.”

What they are pursuing and what they may be evading is left as a deliberate ambiguity that stimulates multiple layers of reading on the part of the viewer. As Nosei ponders, “Pelli’s work lingers in what cannot be fully defined. Perhaps, in doing so, she gestures towards something beyond perception itself - a quiet awakening of the sixth sense?”

Liam Otero

May 2026