Leila Noorani

About

...From street-front architecture and sparsely furnished interiors to vintage travel trailers and fading scenes of daily life, the commonplace scenery we encounter while in transit is her inspiration. Leila encourages us to feel our desire for place with reflections of these well-lived environments. Her scenes of dust-filtered interiors expressed through plate glass windows call us in to remember the bitter aroma of coffee set upon the burner in a corner cafe or the pinching zing of laundry soap and fabric softener aloft and tumbling through the air at the local laundr-o-mat. We feel the prickle of thorny weeds poking at our socks alongside a forgotten trailer that sits adrift among power lines and cawing crows and the lonely thirst of un-set-upon chairs fading in the afternoon sun. Leila’s paintings bring to mind a “binocular” view into a Richard Diebenkorn landscape, where her close-up observations seem to allow us to peer into the details she masterfully captured with distant abstract elegance. Leila’s rich color palette, her use of light and interest in scenes of everyday life are a nod to the California Style so prevalent in the middle 20th century. We re-live a bygone time with her here in the present with these new paintings.

Leila Noorani, born in Reigate, England, was raised in Northern California and moved with her family to Loomis in 1978. She holds a BFA in Fine Art from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and an MFA from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. 

- James Aarons, Artist, Curator.


CV:

Education:

MFA: Printmaking, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
BFA: Printmaking, Academy of Art College, San Francisco, CA
Additional Coursework: San Francisco State University, Masters Program in Educational Technology, Comic Book Illustration --Parson's School of Design. 

Awards and Publication:

Jury of Peers Award, 5th Annual A & D Alumni Show, Ann Arbor, MI
Featured 3D computer artist in the book '3D Graphics and Animation' by Mark Giambruno
Dybvig Award from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Rackham Fellowship Scholarship Award, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Reviewed in The Anchorage Times, Achorage, AK
Merit Scholarship Award Finalist, Academy of Art College, San Francisco, CA

Teaching Experience:

Academy of Art College Instructor of Design Principles, Drawing. Graduate Advisor. Summer High School Arts Program.
University of Michigan School of Art Adjunct Faculty, Design, Drawing and Design for Non-Majors, MFA Mentor.
SeeSaw Studios, Comic Book Art Summer Camp, middle school aged group.
The Scrap Exchange, Durham, NC.

Work Experience:
Computer Game Artist, Environmental Artist, and Flash Animator at Mondo Media, SF.
Graphic Artist, Flash Animation Director, PearTransmedia Design, SF, Ca.
Design Director, Chart Lane LLC. El Sobrante, Ca
Interactive Designer, Monster.com, NY, NY
Asset Manager, Brace Taylor LLC.

Exhibitions:
2013 Minna Gallery -Gallery Walls, Group Exhibition, San Francisco
2013 Artspan Open Studio, Hunter Point Shipyard, San Francisco
2013 City Art Gallery, June and Oct. Group Exhibition, San Francisco, Ca
2013: Studio Gallery, "94109", Group Exhibition, San Francisco, Ca
2013: Fine Eye Gallery, "Encounters and Contemplations", Two Artist Exhibition, Sutter Creek, Ca
2013: University of Michigan, "Transition", Alumni Exhbition, Ann Arbor, MI

2012: Inclusions 4, Inclusions Gallery Group Exhibition, San Franciso, Ca
2012: "Flags, UFOs, and Bad Weather" A Group Exhibition. LuminArte Gallery, Dallas
2012: "Inside Out", Rotunda Gallery, USF School of Law
2012: SoundsSpace! Artspan Open Studio

2011: Velcrow Studios Holiday Art Group Show. San Francisco, Ca
2011: Open Studios San Francisco -Hunter's Point Shipyard Colony
2011: 5th Annual A & D Alumni Exhibition. Rackham Gallery. Ann Arbor, MI      
2011: Solo Exhibition -Encuetro Cafe and Wine Bar, Oakland, Ca
2011: Spring Open Studio, Hunter's Point Shipyard, San Francisco

2010: SoundSpace! Artspan Fall Open Studios, San Francisco, CA
2010: Open Studio Hunter's Point Shipyard, San Francisco, CA
2010: Cafe Que Tal, San Francisco, CA
2010: California Breast Cancer Research Program's Biennial Exhibition, Oakland, CA

2009: Open Studio, Art Explosion, San Francisco, CA
2009: Sunflower Caffe, Sonoma, CA
2009: Cafe Que Tal, San Francisco, CA
2009: Body Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2008: Graphic Arts Workshop, Holiday Art Sale and Exhibition. San Francisco, CA
2008: Cafe Que Tal, San Francisco, CA
2008: Luvajava, San Francisco, CA
2007: ProArts Open Studio, Emeryville CA

1996: Media Alliance, San Francisco, CA
1994: B. Beamsderfer Gallery, Highland Park, NJ
1995: The Hamlin School, San Francisco, CA

1994: Academy of Art Gallery, San Francisco, CA
1993: Graphic Arts Workshop, San Francisco, CA
1992: Slusser Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
1992: Detroit Focus Gallery, Detroit, MI
1991: Horace H. Rackham Gallery, Ann Arbor, MI
1989: Visual Arts Center of Alaska, Anchorage, AK
1989: Pacific Arts League, Palo Alto, CA
1989: Werner Roberts Gallery, Palo Alto, CA
1988: Artisans Gallery, Mill Valley, CA
1987: Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois
1987: Alligator Gallery, San Francisco, CA