Composite image from animated self-portrait (The Dreamer)
Leo Crane explores creativity and innovation by combining traditional artistic practice with experimental digital technology.
He work includes moving image, figurative fine art and the first ever live opera on the blockchain. It has been exhibited, screened, published and performed across the world from the Southbank Centre in London and Grand Palais in Paris to galleries in Hong Kong, Seoul and New York. He is currently directing and producing the animated film The Masterpiece of Tamagata at Figuration, his production studio in London.
Alongside his creative practice, Leo is co-founder of AIFA Ventures, International Advisor for the OmenaArt Foundation and board member for Animate Projects, Pangaea Sculptors' Centre and Art Voyage Biennial. He speaks internationally on creativity, technology and leadership and serves on the faculty of professional education programmes, including Sotheby's Institute of Art and V&A Academy.
Leo graduated from Bournemouth University with MA (Distinction) in Computer Animation and Oxford University with MA (Hons) in Classics. He studied painting with Maggi Hambling CBE and is the author of Contemporary Figures in Watercolour (Batsford Books, 2021).
SELECTED MEDIA FEATURES
SOLO SHOWS & INSTALLATIONS
POSE! Reclaiming the Nude, Batsford Gallery, London (2023)
The Masterpiece of Tamagata, Galerie IHAM/NFC, Lisbon and Paris (2023)
L’amour rebelle, Galerie IHAM, Paris (six-screen installation, 2023)
Life in Charcoal, West Norwood Picturehouse for Dulwich Festival (2023)
L’amour rebelle, immersive opera performance at LA Convention Center, Los Angeles (2022)
Contemporary Figures in Watercolour, West Norwood Picturehouse (2021)
The Masterpiece of Tamagata, Future Icons x Burlington Arcade, London (2021)
London Parakeets, West Norwood Picturehouse (2019)
Life in Colour: Portraits of Queer Londoners, Pride in London (2019)
TV APPEARANCES
Portrait Artist of the Year (Celebrity choice, series 6, ep 6), Sky Arts (UK, 2020)
Latest TV (artist interview broadcast across UK, 2020 and 2022)
Artist to Watch, Canal Curta! (Brazil, 2019)
PUBLICATIONS
Leo Crane with Roy Joseph Butler, Contemporary Figures in Watercolour (Batsford, 2021)
Maggi Hambling: Teacher (Morley Gallery, 2024)
Decentralization, Please Save Culture (New Society, 2023)
HRH Princes Margaret 20 Years 20 Artists (Ken Griffiths Bureau, 2022)
Tom Croft et al., Portraits for NHS Heroes (Bloomsbury, 2021)
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS AND FESTIVALS
2025: Guildford House Open, Guildford, UK (The Dreamer)
2025: ART-I Drawing the Line, City Arts Nottingham, UK (Tamagata)
2024: Art for Humanity, Superlative Gallery, Bali
2024: Maggi Hambling: Teacher, Morley Gallery, London
2024: The Graphite Method: Lume Studios, New York City
2024: Gallery OCA for Sotheby’s Institute and Culture&, London
2024: Main stage curation: NFTcc Naples
2023: New Society, NFT Factory, Paris
2023: Weple Gallery, Seoul
2023: Galerie IHAM, Seoul (Korea Blockchain Week)
2023: Nematic Gallery Inaugural Show, Carmel, USA (Makersplace)
2023: POP IN NFT, Hvar Arsenal (six animated works in group show with Richard Bernstein)
2023: Galerie IHAM, Paris
2023: Bloomsday Film Festival, WINNER - Best International Animation (L’amour rebelle)
2023: The Collective Solution, Bali (Ithakas)
2023: Tez Art Connect, New York (charcoal drawing)
2023: Heatherley School of Art Staff Exhibition, London (watercolours)
2023: NFT Paris, six-screen installation at the Grand Palais, Paris (L’amour rebelle)
2023: Artcrush, digital billboards across Paris (The Masterpiece of Tamagata)
2023: TezQuakeAid, Times Square billboard, New York, in aid of Turkey & Syria after the earthquake (Tamagata)
2023: ArtCrush, 106 screens across Belgium (Ross Hoffman, Portraits for NHS Heroes)
2023: Next Wave of Cinema, Quantum Art Space, Los Angeles (L’amour rebelle)
2022: This Is England Festival, Rouen (L’amour rebelle)
2022: NFT London, Queen Elizabeth II Centre (L’amour rebelle)
2022: Lancaster Music Festival (L’amour rebelle)
2022: Royal West of England Academy Open, Bristol (L’amour rebelle)
2022: RATMA Film Festival, Keighley (Finalist - L’amour rebelle)
2022: NFT Liverpool, Adelia Gallery, Liverpool (Fly Through to Freedom)
2022: Provincetown International Film Festival, Provincetown (L’amour rebelle)
2022: Saveartspace x Fewocious, billboards across New York City (L’amour rebelle)
2022: Pride Art, Mitsubishi Bank, London (L’amour rebelle)
2022: Princess Project, Ken Griffiths Bureau, London (Yaaasss Kween!)
2022: Heatherley’s Staff Show, Piers Feetham Gallery, London (2 paintings)
2022: Global NFT Exhibition, Palazzo Merulana, Rome (Ithakas/ Nude Triumphant)
2022: Global NFT Exhibition, K11 Musea, Hong Kong (Ithakas/ Nude Triumphant)
2021: Provincetown International Film Festival, Provincetown (Nude Triumphant - Best Animation)
2021: Future Icons/Mayfair Art Weekend, London (Tamagata)
2021: Just Imagine, World Wildlife Fund (The Foundling)
2021: The Starkers Academy, Flatpack Festival (Nude Triumphant)
2021: Cavalry & Guards Club, London (permanent mural with Genevieve French)
2020: Paintings in Hospitals & Google Arts and Culture (Portraits for NHS Heroes)
2020: FilmPride (Nude Triumphant)
2020: Future Icons, Burlington Arcade, London (Nude Triumphant)
2020: Mayfair Art Weekend, Mayfair Hotel, London (Nude Triumphant)
2019: Royal West of England Academy Open (The Foundling)
2019: Future Icons, Goldsmith’s Centre (Parakeets)
2019: Untold Tales, Morley Gallery (The Foundling)
2019: Untold Tales, LUX Moving Image, London (The Foundling)
2019: BL Labs, British Library, London (The Foundling)
2018: Untold Tales, QUAD Derby (The Foundling)
2018: MADE, Morley Gallery, London (figure painting)
2016: Stanley Spencer, The Hepworth Wakefield (Of Angels and Dirt)
2013: National Poetry Day, Southbank Centre, London (Water, Water)
2012: Miami International Animation Festival, WINNER (The Library)