About/CV
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, Parson's School of Design.
Exhibitions
2025 “Echoes from Land and Sky”, Inclusions Gallery, SF CA
2025 “Four Square” Arc Gallery, San Francisco, Ca
2024: “Two Pillars”, Arc Gallery, San Francisco, Ca
2023: “Retrospective 16”, Inclusions Gallery, San Francisco
2023: “Cross Sections”, Inclusions Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2023: “Moving Pictures: Art and Transit”, 1890 Bryant St, San Francisco, CA
2023: “Lymelight Foundation Dart for Art” Palo Alto Event Ctr, Palo Alto, Ca
2018-2021: Group Shows, City Art Gallery, San Francisco, Ca
2020-2024: Open Studios/Auction, Hunters Point Shipyard Gallery,
2013: “Gallery Walls”, Mina Gallery, San Francisco
2013 - 2024 Open Studio, Hunter Point Shipyard, San Francisco
2010-2014: Group Shows, City Art Gallery, San Francisco, Ca
2013: "94109", Studio Gallery, San Francisco, Ca
2013: "Encounters and Contemplations", Fine Eye Gallery, Sutter Creek, Ca
2013: "Transition", University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
2012: “Inclusions 4”, Inclusions Gallery Group Exhibition, San Franciso, Ca
2012: "Flags, UFOs, and Bad Weather", LuminArte Gallery, Dallas, TX
2012: "Inside Out", Rotunda Gallery, USF School of Law (Solo)
2010-2012: Open Studio, SoundsSpace! Artspan Open Studio
2011: Holiday Art Show. Velcrow Studios, San Francisco, Ca
2011: 5th Annual A & D Alumni Exhibition. Rackham Gallery. Ann Arbor, MI
2011: “Weaving It Open”, Encuentro Cafe and Wine Bar, Oakland, Ca (Solo)
2011-2014: Open Studio, Hunter's Point Shipyard, San Francisco
2010: “The Herd”, Cafe Que Tal, San Francisco, CA (Solo)
2010: California Breast Cancer Research Program's Biennial Exhibition, Oakland, CA
2009-2011: Open Studio, Art Explosion, San Francisco, CA
2009: “Last Herd”, Sunflower Caffe, Sonoma, CA (Solo)
2009: “Wild”, Body Gallery, San Francisco, CA (Solo)
Awards and Publication:
Jury of Peers Award, 5th Annual A & D Alumni Show, Ann Arbor, MI
Featured 3D computer artist in '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