I am drawn to objects with the potential for transformation...these materials, removed from their original contexts, become sites of transition and connection, sparking opportunities for new form.
My artwork resists fixed definitions in form, medium, and identity. By collaging object making, studio photography, painting, and digital media, I create abstract figurations that reflect a sense of nomadism rooted in my own upbringing. These figures exist in flux, untethered to specific places, mediums, or identities, inviting viewers to question the solidity of our perceived realities.
I am drawn to objects with the potential for transformation—temporary and discarded items like wrappers or torn rubber tires mixed with clay and putty. These materials, removed from their original contexts, become sites of transition and connection, sparking opportunities for new form. Using these things after their prescribed functions opens a space for constant change, mirroring what I believe as the fluidity of Queer existence. When making these pieces, time and space collapse in an ongoing sense of queer presence that defies conventional boundaries.
By reconstructing the edges and barriers of objects and spaces, I seek pathways in a process of painting in layers of pigment and medium, and photographing through layers of lenses. These distortions help me explore the intersections of body and object, photography and painting, and real versus fabricated.
For me, this practice is a byproduct of my active engagement with Queer histories and our public spaces. By restoring and creating monuments, developing archives, and memorializing queer narratives through plaques, publications, and parks, I honor the past while fostering spaces for connection and belonging in the present and a hopeful future.
Ryan Leitner is an artist based in New Orleans whose work explores the fluidity of form through the body, its objects, and environments. Using alternative approaches to collage, his two-dimensional artwork examines figurative objects and their environments through photography, painting, digital media, and sculpture. Leitner is also deeply committed to creating visibility and forms of permanence for LGBTQ+ histories. Through public monument restoration and creation, he engages in archiving, writing, and memorializing queer narratives that might otherwise be forgotten. As an ongoing project titled Strange Inheritance, he has restored and created monuments forQueer histories such as the Up Stairs Lounge Fire of 1973. These efforts inform his practice through the stories and individuals unearthed in his research.
He received his M.F.A. from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, holds a B.F.A. from Regent’s American College of London, and participated in the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2023. Leitner has spoken at the New Orleans Museum of Art, published in The Advocate, was a resident at the Joan Mitchell Foundation, and exhibited at UNO Gallery, Antenna, and other galleries nationally.
Education
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, 2023
School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts, MFA 2016
Regent’s American College London, BFA 2010
Residencies
Joan Mitchell Foundation, New Orleans, LA 2024
Paper Machine, New Orleans, LA, 2020
Art Klub, New Orleans, LA, 2019
Manoog Family Residency, Watertown, MA, 2017
ChaShaMa, NYC, 2012
Lecturer/Talks
Strange Inheritance, Montez Press Radio, 2024
Monuments and Memorials to Queer History, New Orleans Museum of Art, 2024
Riot Book, Paper Machine, 2020
It Does Rhyme, Spark Gallery, 2015
Awards
Research & Development Fund, Antenna Works, 2022
Research & Archives Grant, LGBT+ Archives Project, 2019
SMFA Traveling Fellowship, SMFA at Tufts, 2018
Third place, curated by Ruth Erickson of ICA Boston, Barrett Art Center, 2017
Presidents Research Award, SMFA at Tufts, 2016
Merit Scholarship, SMFA at Tufts, 2014-2016
Merit Scholarship, AIU London, 2008
Publications
The Advocate, 2025
Journal of Homosexuality, 2020
Signal Magazine, 2020
Ambush Magazine, 2019
Organizations
Chairman, Up Stairs Lounge plaque Restoration Committee, New Orleans, LA
Solo Exhibitions
2024
A Queer Park, Antenna Works, New Orleans, LA
2022
Inbetweenkst, The Front Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2020
Strange Inheritance, A Riot Book Paper Machine, New Orleans, LA
2019
Familiar Cast, Art Klub, New Orleans, LA
2018
Resolution, AREA, Cambridge, MA
2017
Past The Curtain to See The Bones, Plumbing Museum, Watertown, MA2015
Bring Me Back, Lohioh Gallery, Cincinnati, OH
2014
I Think it’s What I Want to be, Knock Knock Gallery, Northampton, NY
Like It This Way, traveling show, NY
Group Exhibitions
2025
No Dead Artists, Ferrara Showman Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Sing the Body Electric, Uno Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2024
30/-90, Antenna Works, New Orleans, LA
2023
11:11, Antenna Works, New Orleans, LA
Proximity and Touch, Antenna Works, New Orleans, LA
2022
Good Dog Bad Dog, Shed Gallery, New Orleans, LA
Pride Parade of Books, Magnum Foundation, New York City, NY
2021
Riot Book, VSOP Projects, New York City, NY
The Era of Change, Visionary Projects
It Starts With A Book, Antenna, New Orleans, LA
2019
Red Truck Gallery, New Orleans, LA
2018
Round, BG Gallery, Santa Monica, LA
2017
New Directions, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY
Fuel For The Fire, The Arts Council, Fayetteville, NC
Small Works, Mena Art Gallery, Mena, AR
History Doesn’t Repeat itself, But it Does Rhyme, Piano Craft Gallery, Boston, MA
2016
Fractal, FFAG Gallery, Stephentown, NY
Thesis Show, Cyclorama, Boston, MA
New Landscapes, Spark Gallery, North Eastern University, Boston, MA
2015
Spellbound, 555 Gallery, Boston, MA
Fractal Fest, Plus 1, Stephentown, NY
2014
South Asia Exchange Show, Center for Gov. and Int. Studies, Harvard, MA
Then and Now, Syndicate Gallery, NY
New York Art Book Fair, MoMA PS1, NY
POWERPLAY, Bridgehampton, NY
2013
Spring Break LIC, Chashama, NY
…Like My Love Life, Chashama, NY
Good Bloody Luck, Bedroom Project, NY
2010
Art of Fashion, Carnival, NY
2009
Free-Range, Old Truman Brewery, London, UKCurator:
Louisiana Queer Arts, Marigny Opera House, New Orleans, LA, 2025
30/-90, Antenna Works, New Orleans, LA, 2024
FAB Collections, Frenchman Art, New Orleans, LA, 2019
Violence Transformed, Northeastern University, MA, 2018
History Doesn’t Repeat, But it Does Rhyme, Piano Craft Gallery, Boston, MA 2017
Then and Now, Syndicate Gallery, NYC, NY, 2014
Teaching
Consultant for applicant, Joan Mitchell Center, 2024
Photo Processes, Ohio State, 2023
Workshop, Photo Retouching, Light Work Residency, 2020
Workshop, Water Marbling Techniques, Plumbing Museum. 2017
Teaching Assistant, Photo I, Museum School at Tufts, 2015
Studio Manager, Photo Studio, Regent’s American College London, 2008-2010
Teaching Assistant, Studio Photography I, Regent's American College London, 2009
Teaching Assistant, Photography I, Regent's American College London, 2008
Juror
2023
Antenna Works exhibitions
2022
Paper Machine Residency
2018
Manoog Family Residency
