In her first Portland show Leslie Baum presents a series of new works in conversation with her existing painting, co- conspirator. Using differing media and scale each of these new pieces–which include oil paintings, large scale drop-cloth paintings, standing floor panels, and table-top watercolors–engages in conversation with the reference piece. Working both as fully realized objects and in the larger dialogue, the new works are building blocks for her painting-based installation.

Baum’s work embraces memories and accidental gestures. Like in a child’s game of telephone, her work develops through misquotation and distortion creating a vibrant conversation of color, shape and texture.

Baum has shown nationally and internationally including exhibitions at CRG (NYC); Gregory Lind Gallery (San Francisco); Tony Wight Gallery, Devening Projects + Editions, and LVL3 (Chicago); Barone Odom Gallery (Rome, IT); and at the Sosabul Art Expo. Her drawings are in the permanent collection of the Art institute of Chicago and her paintings can be found in numerous private collections. Baum’s work has been reviewed in Artforum and Art in America, among other publications. She has been artist in residence at Yaddo and the Vermont Studio Center, and was nominated for the Richard H. Driehaus Award for emerging artists. Baum received her BA from the University of Vermont and studied at the Glasgow School of Art. She lives and works in Chicago, IL.