Biography
Heather V McLeod is an artist exploring identity and concealment. Interested primarily in portraiture and representative work, Heather creates oil paintings with a narrative component. She plays with the use of symbolism and camouflage to enhance the narrative and evoke a quiet yet humorous side to painting.
Born and raised in the greater New York area, Heather received her MFA from The New York Academy of Art in 2021 and her BFA from Rhode Island School of Design in 2016. In addition to her full-time painting practice, Heather has completed artist residences in Nantucket, Rome and New York. Her curriculum vitae includes a solo exhibition in New York City’s Trotter & Sholer Gallery as well as group exhibitions at Sugarlift Gallery in NYC and BBA Gallery in Berlin. In addition, she has received the prestigious Fulbright Research Grant to study in Italy, AXA Art Prize Finalist and two Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grants.
2021 Hide and Seek - Trotter & Sholer Gallery, New York, NY, February 18 – March 14
2018 Più della Pittura - Palazzo Gallenga, Perugia, Italy, June 18 – 24
Solo Exhibitions
Selected Group Exhibitions
2024
True Ecology - East Manning Projects, Providence, RI, March 1-21
2023
Take Home a Nude - Sotheby’s, New York, NY, October 16
Illustration Triennial - Woods- Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI, September 22 – October 8
Artist/ Patron - Cecelia Joyce and Seward Johnson Gallery, Nantucket, MA, August 18 – September 21
Masterworks - Big Gallery, Nantucket, MA, August 10 – September 26
Summer Camp - Lexington House Gallery, Lexington, NY, July 21 – August 6
Self- Portrait Prize 2023 - Ruth Borchard Collection, June 23 – September
Summer Exhibition - The New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, June 7 – July 9
Tribeca Ball - The New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, April 4
2022
The Birds and the Bees - Robert Lange Gallery, Charleston, SC, October 7 – 27
Head to Head - GBS Fine Art Gallery, Wells, UK, September 30 – November 26
Welcome Back - NYC Culture Club, New York, NY, July 21 – August 28
Directions/ Into the Woods - Lexington House Gallery, Lexington, NY, July 22 – August 7
Summer Exhibition - The New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, June 16 – July 17
BBA Artist Prize - Kühlhaus, Berlin, Germany, June 3 – 19
2021
Artists for Artists - Sotheby’s, New York, NY, December 14
FOA Talent - The Artistellar/ Friend of the Artist, Virtual Platform, October 4 – November 4
Bloom - Manifest Gallery, Cincinnati, OH, August 13 – September 10
The Self-Portrait Prize 2021: Exhibition of Long-Listed Works - Ruth Borchard Collection, May 17 – September 30
Give Me Some Skin - Sugarlift, New York, NY, April 22 – May 22
2020
AXA Art Prize - The New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, November 13 – 18
Milieu - The New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, January 30 – February 21
2019
Beneath Notice - The New York Academy of Art, New York, NY, October 25 – December 19
Up-and-Coming Invitational - Shain Gallery, Charlotte, NC, July 12 – 26
2017
I Spy - Ciel Gallery, Charlotte, NC, October 6 – 28
Single Fare 4 - Highline Stages, New York, NY, September 16 – 17
2016
Senior Invitational - Woods Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI, June 3 – 4
Image Landscapes: New Readings in Art, Design and Architecture - Gelman Gallery, Providence, RI, October 29, 2015 – January 17
2015
Carolina’s Got Art – June Salon Competition - Elder Gallery, Charlotte, NC, June 5 – 27
Formal - Beatrice Room, Rome, Italy, May 26
Cinque Figure - Bibliothè Contemporary Art Gallery, Rome, Italy, April 1 – 7
Tiny Portrait Biennale - Temple University Gallery, Rome, Italy, March 31 – April 3
2014
International Wifi Art - Circolo degli Artisti, Rome, Italy, November 2
RISD Fall 2014 Final Show - Beatrice Room, Rome, Italy, December 16
2012
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards - University of Hartford, Hartford, CT, January 29
2011
Young Artists - Katonah Museum of Art, Katonah, NY, May 15
Faces of Spring 2011 - Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists/ The Lyme Art Association, Old Lyme, CT, March 6 – April 23
Rome Art Residency - Rome, Italy, May 2023
Artist Association of Nantucket Residency - Nantucket, MA, July - December 2022
The Hale Masters of Fine Arts Residency - Nantucket, MA, February 2022
NYAA Summer Residency - New York, NY, June - July 2021
Residencies
Awards/ Honors
AAN Artist-Patron Award: Robert C. McDougall Promising New Artist - Award Recipient, August 2023
John Dalton Art Prize - Finalist, November 2022
Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation - 2nd Time Grant Recipient, October 2021
The Leslie T. and Francis Posey Scholarship Fund - Scholarship Recipient, September 2020
Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation - Grant Recipient, July 2020
Academic Service Scholar Award - Scholarship Recipient, September 2020
Fulbright Study/Research Award - Grantee - Perugia, Italy, October 2017 - July 2018
Herbert and Claiborne Pell Award - Recipient, June 2016
Buttonwood Foundation Scholarship - Recipient, May 2012
Press/ Published Works
Fisher Real Estate/ AAN - Interview, August 18, 2023 (https://fishernantucket.com/heather-v-mcleod-aan-featured-artist/)
smART Magazine - Interview, July 28, 2023 (Issue 12)
Friend of the Artist - Interview, March 17, 2021 (https://www.friendoftheartist.com/blogs/heather-mcleod)
ArtSpiel - Interview, March 3, 2021 (https://artspiel.org/heather-mcleod-hide-and-seek/)
Critics At Large - Article, July 22, 2021 (https://www.criticsatlarge.ca/2021/07/reality-redux-elegiac-paintings-of.html)
Sothebys - Art Featured, April 2, 2021 (https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles/new-york-academy-of-arts-virtual-tribeca-ball-honors-eric-fischl)
Juxtapoz Magazine - Studio Featured, March 10, 2020 (https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/installation/getting-schooled-in-the-art-capital/)
EVMO News - Interview, July 27, 2018 (https://www.evmonews.com/articles/heather-mcleod-and-the-symbology-of-ears-in-art/)
Constructed By - Interview, January 19, 2016 (http://constructedby.com/heather-mcleod/)
Highline – The Huffington Post - Illustrations for article “Scenes from a Marriage,” November 12, 2015 (http://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/bibi-obama/)
Representation
Pierce Galleries - Nantucket, MA
The Artists Association of Nantucket - Nantucket, MA
Sugarlift - New York, NY