Currently based out of San Diego, Lemberg is best known for her highly textured paintings that glow with deep layers of bronze, copper, and gold in attempt to evoke “the magic of time passed and the spirit that continues.” Her naturalist aesthetic also appeals to the fashion industry. While living in New York, Lemberg had her own design business for 10 years, and created fabrics for clients such as Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, MTV, Barneys, and Neiman Marcus. Coming full circle, Lemberg’s paintings are now the stylish accessories in some of the hottest new San Diego restaurants.

Leslie Lemberg met Alexander Salazar on a whim last May while venturing out downtown with her husband for their anniversary celebration. Stopping into his gallery space, Lemberg and Salazar quickly exchanged information and after just a few days, Lemberg’s collection was the top choice to fill the open walls within Tommy V’s. This Del Mar restaurant space radiates with natural hues and organic textures, such as cork accents and woven leather chairs. When interior designer Amy Renda decided on 12 of Lemberg’s pieces, she simply and exquisitely stated: “The paintings are perfect. First you get dressed and then you put on your jewelry.”

Just a few weeks ago, Salazar introduced Lemberg’s work to the design team at the new Eden Restaurant and Nightclub in Hillcrest. A perfect match for Eden’s natural materials and textures, Lemberg’s artwork seemed to be the perfect aesthetic complement. What Lemberg loved most about this new placement project was the contrast between Eden’s high-tech sound and lighting system and soft, organic interior décor, including gnarled wood accents and table tops. Eden is now home to 13 of Lemberg’s original paintings through the restaurant and nightclub.

Every artist who wants to be seen must create opportunities for themselves. For Leslie Lemberg, one unassuming night on the town transpired into a new gallery relationship with Alexander Salazar and high-profile visibility in two top San Diego restaurants.

Recognized internationally for attracting renowned artists worldwide, the International Exhibition offers San Diego some of the finest international and regional art available. Since 1955, SDAI has produced the International Exhibition.

For the hallmark 50th anniversary of the International Exhibition, Julia Marciari-Alexander brings her expertise and vision to the jurying process. Marciari-Alexander is deputy director for curatorial affairs at the San Diego Museum of Art. Previously from the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut, Marciari-Alexander served as the associate director of exhibitions and publications. She is responsible for existing curatorial programs at the San Diego Museum of Art. 86 works were chosen from over 900 international submissions for this exhibit.

Paintings reflect autumnal tones with a metal touch For Leslie Lemberg, texture is always an essential part of her paintings. “I paint with acrylics, but I build it up on the canvas and embed pieces of metal into the work,” she said.

Leslie Lemberg includes modern metal aspects into her Old World style paintings.

For those works that she doesn’t embed with metallic pieces, she builds up the canvas before covering it with a liquid copper, bronze or gold glaze and then paints atop that. Growing up in Rye, NY, along Long Island Sound, Lemberg was surrounded by nature, and her paintings reflect her love of the outdoors. Her pieces favor natural tones in primarily autumn colors. “I want my colors to start off looking faded, but they are all very rich, and I use a lot of glazing to give them that European Old World patina,” Lemberg said. “I love old walls where the paint is peeling.” A recent visit to Tuscany only intensified Lemberg’s love of aged things. “When you’re driving around Italy, everything has this wonderful patina, and I’m starved for things that are old and things that are decayed,” she said. “There’s so little here that’s old or aged, so I’m trying to create it.” Lemberg took many liberal arts classes at Tufts University before finally switching to an art school. At that time, many of the schools required students to choose one medium to major in, but that didn’t suit her craving for variety. “I enjoyed all of the media, and I still believe that one medium informs the other,” she said. She chose Skidmore College, where she experienced the freedom she craved to explore all sorts of media. “I was not really interested in painting at all back then and preferred working with three-dimensional and kinetic sculptures as well as with metal, multimedia, photography, drawing and weaving,” she said. After earning her fine arts degree, she moved to New York City and did post graduate work at the School of Visual Arts. Before long, Lemberg was actively working as an independent graphic artist for the fashion industry. She designed and packaged designer logos, labels and T-shirt graphics for such high-end fashion companies as Ralph Lauren, Guess, Calvin Klein and Neiman Marcus. “Every hour I was working on something different, such as an old Chinese etching piece or something for MTV,” she said. But after 10 years in the fashion world, Lemberg longed to create something more serious with greater longevity, so she started painting 7-by-10-foot abstracts. Her favorite artists include Da Vinci, for his inventions, Cy Twombly, for his large abstracts, and Jean Michel Basquiat, for his freedom of expression. Locally, she admires the work of Fallbrook artist Madeline Engle. Lemberg took an art hiatus after marrying and having two children (now aged 9 and 11). In that interim, she and her family left the East Coast for Fairbanks Ranch. Six years later, she felt the urge to pick up a paintbrush again, but her children were still quite young, so she had difficulty making the transition to being an artist again. Artist Cathy Carey came to her rescue with private lessons. “It came down to my desire to focus on making something for me,” Lemberg said. “It was a desperate need to make art in a way that wasn’t for anyone else but me.” Lemberg also hired Jane Pollak, who coaches women in creative fields. “She just kept saying to put the art first, and she made a huge difference in my being able to be where I am now,” said Lemberg. Lemberg said that she really appreciated Pollak’s ability to structure her day so that she can accomplish what she’s passionate about. “It took me a lot of effort and focus the past couple of years to really get a body of work together,” she said, “because if you sit around waiting for the muse all day, you get nothing done.” Lemberg now works out of her studio in Sorrento Valley where the space accommodates the large scale of her paintings. “I never had a specific goal, like wanting to be in the Museum of Modern Art, but it always gives me joy to make people happy, and seeing people enjoy my work is really a pleasure,” she said. Lemberg has shown her work at the Forseti Gallery in San Diego’s Gaslamp and will open a show at Studio 333 in Sausalito this fall. To learn more about Lemberg’s art, visit her Web site at www.leslielemberg.com or contact her studio at (760) 505-1252.

© 2004–2007, Leslie Lemberg | Article © Del Mar Times