THE WORK


Athena

Inspired by John Singer Sargent’s major exhibition at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 1999, Athena is the Artist’s first full-length portrait and presents the Greek goddess as a strong, contemporary figure. Powerful and statuesque, she dominates the stage before a fragment from the Parthenon - the temple devoted to her honor. With an olive branch at her feet, unadorned and barefoot, echoing those in the procession - yet with her flesh exposed and revealed; she represents the goddess of wisdom and art in her own age. 

Carrie Barrier Able, Ms. Adams’ protégé, who has become a promising young artist in her own right, posed for this work as well as Young Woman with a Red Scarf (2000). Athena, which has become a “signature” piece, has received numerous awards and has been exhibited broadly. It was one of only twenty works included in the 2001 International Portrait Exhibition held at the Art Student’s League in New York City. In 2007, prior to being exhibited at the Ella Sharp Museum of Art and History on the occasion of the Artist’s premiere solo exhibition, it was selected by the jury of Vincent Desiderio, Eric Fischl, and Jenny Saville for inclusion in the New York Academy of Art’s 25th Anniversary Summer Exhibition.

Exhibitions

Krasl Art Center, St. Joseph, Michigan; Leslie Adams, Focus on the Figure

Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center, Birmingham, Michigan, A View from Toledo

The New York Academy of Art, New York, New York; 25th Anniversary Summer Exhibition

Ella Sharp Museum of Art and History, Jackson, Michigan; Leslie Adams, The Power of Portraiture

Monroe County Community College, Monroe, Michigan; Leslie Adams,Recent Work 

Paint Creek, Rochester, Michigan; Selected Works from the Toledo Federation of Art Societies

The Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio; 67th Annual Midyear Exhibition

20 North Gallery, Toledo, Ohio; 20 North Gallery, 10 Year Anniversary Exhibition

The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio; Toledo Area Artists, 84th Annual Exhibition

Kreft Center Gallery, Ann Arbor, Michigan; Kreft: Red

The Center for Visual Arts at the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, Ohio; The University of Toledo Alumnae Exhibition

Art Student's League of New York, New York, New York; American Society of Portrait Artist's Foundation International Exhibition

Awards

Finalist, 2001 International Portrait Competition, American Society of Portrait Artists Foundation
Canaday Award for Best Painting, 84th Annual, Toledo Area Artists Exhibition, The Toledo Museum of Art