W42ST Magazine, As it Rises and Rises, Gwyneth Leech Paints The City That’s Never Finished by Sarah Beling, June 18, 2022
Modern Steel Construction Magazine, Oil (and Steel) on Canvas by Geoff Weisenberger, December 1, 2021
Arizona Foothills Magazine, New Exhibition at i.d.e.a. Museum, Mesa Highlights the Power of Architecture, by Christina Silvestri, January 21, 2022
W42ST, "Gwyneth Leech — Making paintings of NYC under construction as the skyline changes before our eyes!", by Phil O'Brien, September 21, 2020
Art Spiel, "Artists on Coping: Gwyneth Leech", by Etty Yaniv, May 29, 2020
City Realty, "Meet Gwyneth Leech, the Artist that Beautifully Paints NYC Construction Sites", Coleman, Michelle Sinclair, September 5, 2018
The Village Voice, "Documenting the New Towers of Old Hell's Kitchen", by Katherine Knowles, April 2, 2018
Real Estate Weekly, "You Should Be in Pictures...", by Sabina Mollet, November 22, 2019
Hazal Sahin Blog, "Gwyneth Leech ile New York’tan tüm dünyaya online galeri: One Vanderbilt yükseliyor!" by Hazal Sahin, November 1, 2020
City Realty, WATCH THE VIDEO: "Artist Copes with Diminishing Views in Documentary 'The Monolith'", by Michelle Mazzarella, November 29, 2017
Colossal, "The Monolith: Artist Gwyneth Leech Turns the Destructive Force of a New Building Into a Source of Inspiration", by Christopher Jobson, November 29, 2017
The Norwalk Hour, "Spanning three generations, a family's art on view in separate Norwalk galleries" , by Francis Carr, April 23, 2015
Azure Magazine, "Grind", by David Dick-Agnew, November/December 2013
Boston Magazine "Cambridge Anthropologie Hosts Live Art Exhibition with Gwyneth Leech", by Olga Khvan, November 22, 2013
Pennsylvania Gazette, "Cup O'Doodles", by Molly Petrilla, July/August 2011
Psychology Today "Do What You Love, Money Follows: The Coffee Cup Artist", by Susan Biali, December 9, 2011
The Spur, "New York Artist Paints Perfect Families and More", by Ben Erickson, January 31, 2007
The Marshall Independent, "Family Impact", by Cindy Votruba , January 30, 2007
The journal of the Lincoln Heights Literary Society, "Don't Talk About Religion or Politics", by Don Newton, January 30, 2006
Art New England, "Gwyneth Leech: the Way of the Cross", by Lois Goglia, October/November 2005
New York Times, Dance Review: Suffering and Rebirth", by Jack Anderson, March 17, 2000
Pennsylvania Gazette, "Visions and Videos of a New Scotland", by Susan Lonkevich, June/July 1998
Penn State Altoona News, "Imprints on a Landscape: The Mining Project", by Noel Feely, May 1, 2006
Faith and Form, "A New Journey: the Stations of the Cross for Our Time”, by Gwyneth Leech, March 2006
From the Floor, The Church and Contemporary Art, by Todd Gibson, October 20, 2006
The Episcopal Church, Contemoporary Icons, by Jerry Hames, March 1st, 2006
Cambridge Anthropologie Hosts Live Art Exhibition with Gwyneth Leech
By Olga Khvan
November 22, 2013
The artist is spending three days drawing on paper cups in the Harvard Square store’s window. Anthropologie has also partnered with Leech to sell ceramic versions of her artwork.
Unlike many of us, Gwyneth Leech does not throw away a paper cup after finishing her daily dose of hot coffee or tea that was served in it. Instead, the artist keeps it and later uses it as a surface for her drawings, each one capturing a social moment, whether it’s an interaction with a friend or simply an encounter with a barista at a coffee shop.
In 2009 when Leech was working a part-time job, her workplace switched from styrofoam to paper cups. That’s when she discovered that she immensely enjoyed drawing on their curved surfaces. Since then, Leech approximates that she has produced around 1,000 of these works.
“At first I thought I was procrastinating—sitting in my studio every day for hours drawing on cups, while the paintings were getting dusty on the wall. But then I realized it’s my art form,” says Leech. “Shakespeare had sonnets, Bach had fugues, and I have used paper coffee cups.”
The project has prompted several live art exhibitions, including one in a storefront in New York City’s Garment District (where Leech has her studio), one in the Flatiron Building, and now, in the windows of Anthropologie’s Harvard Square location at 44 Brattle Street in Cambridge. Leech was approached by the brand’s chief merchandising officer through a chance meeting during an alumni weekend at her old high school in Philadelphia. Shortly afterward, Anthropologie agreed on a collaboration with the artist, transforming eight of her designs into porcelain versions.
After launching the collection with a live art exhibit in the windows of Anthropologie’s Regent Street location in London in September, Leech has now set up shop in Cambridge for three days. Yesterday, on the first day of the exhibit—which includes a display of 365 cups—the artist says she was pleased with the “receptive audience,” including Harvard professors who have provided her with “educated commentary and questions.”
Leech and Anthropologie are now in discussion for further collaboration, with the possibility of three more cup collections that could come out in 2014 and 2015. But for now, the artist plans to continue with the project as is, while also experimenting with reconfiguring them into different forms such as traditional paintings and sculpture.
“The cups are a great form for me because I have so many ideas. I can get them out really fast [on the cups], and they feel really concrete. For me, they have more existence than the images in my sketchbooks. I’ve always had trouble getting images out of a sketchbook—this is my sketchbook now,” she says. “I also like the idea that each one of these images could be the start of another idea—infinite variation.”
Additionally, Leech hopes that the project will disseminate the idea of upcycling.
“The artifacts of the everyday are not just throwaways, but represent actual moments in time and can be turned into symbolic artworks,” she says. “I like the idea that art can be made anywhere, on anything. You can keep going and generating images and ideas and projects. It’s art of the everyday in every place.”
Boston Magazine "Cambridge Anthropologie Hosts Live Art Exhibition with Gwyneth Leech", by Olga Khvan, November 22, 2013