Leon Cosak Abramson
Born in Lubeck Germany in 1947 to displaced refugee parents from Warsaw Poland and Kiev Ukraine (Russia). Had lived in Israel from 1948 to 1956 and immigrated to Australia in 1956. From his early days as a child Leon enjoyed to draw and paint and his passion for creating art works has never disappeared even when he was involved in business for many years.
Artist’s Statement
“I paint prolifically every day. I am extremely passionate and very driven about painting .At this stage I use acrylic/ mixed media and I am constantly searching for new products and ideas. Having worked in the past in textile factories post art school and spending a major part of my life in the “ rag trade “ - knitwear manufacturing and later in retail clothing , I have developed an appreciation for patterns and colour over the years. I suppose I have been inspired by some of the impressionists,expressionists, modern art, pop art, tribal art and having travelled extensively the love of cultural diversity blended with colours in nature and urban life has inspired me as well. My work is organic, it grows and changes. I am also exploring and developing new abstract and figurative concepts (I am skilled in drawing but prefer the loose and liberated spontaneous style unlike my work in the past. My artistic adventure starts at the blank canvas and as they say “you never know what your gonna get “. I find great pleasure and gratification in creating an art piece”.
Artistic and creative experience
1962 – 1965 Painted Christmas decorations on shop front windows while still at school and some commissions of landscapes, farm scene murals and canvas paintings.
1964 – 1966 Studied Certificate of Art at Preston Technical College (Tafe) covering subjects such as painting, life drawing, printmaking, sculpture, pottery, sketching, graphics and history of art. Sold most of first year art works while “roughing it in Kings Cross Sydney” during the summer break.
1967 – 1968 Worked in a dye factory training and mixing dyes in Preston and then a textile design organisation in South Yarra
1968 – 1971 Worked in the knitwear trade as a machine operator and garment designer.
Part time work as an extra in Crawford TV production shows such as Homicide, Hunter, Division 4
1971 – 1974 Traveled extensively throughout Europe backpacking, hitchhiking, discovering the wonderful cultures, art works, history, architecture, languages and cuisines. Resided mostly in London, Madrid, Southern Spain and Rome.
While living in London sold small drawings and paintings directly to shops, pubs and continued with the Christmas decorations on windows as in Melbourne. Also created “horseshoe nail jewellery” which was very popular at the time and sold them on the Spanish steps in Rome. While living in Spain worked in a number of films - very fortunate to have worked with international actors such as Jack Palance, Stephen Boyd, Richard Crenna, Ty Hardin in “spaghetti westerns” Sue Lyon in a thriller, and Oliver Reed, Michael York, Fay Dunnaway, Richard Chamberlain, Raquel Welsh and Geraldine Chaplin in “The Three Muskateers “. Resided in Rome for a year after that and continued to pursue an acting career. Had taken candid photos on set in Spain and Italy and proudly have an interesting collection of movie memorabilia.
1975 – 2004 Melbourne - Worked in “The Rag Trade” as a knitwear manufacturer and retailer designing garments, sold sketches and paintings to family and friends also continued to work on TV, films, commercials, fashion parades and photographic work.. For a hobby as a passionate video camera enthusiast filmed 50 hours of raw footage of Melbourne life
2003 – 2011 Creating works on canvas, paper and board (see Art Works)
2012 Working on figurative, stylized and experimental paintings
Recent art works
2012
"Fasionista" - Portrait Op Art ( Acrylic on canvas 75w X 100H )
"Hippie Chick" -Figurative Impressionist ( Acrylic mixed media on canvas 75w X 100H )
"Girl sitting on steps version 2" - Figurative ( Pastel on wash on canvas 75w X 100H )
"Every day is a gift when you are over 100" - Russian babushka ( Mixed media on canvas 60w X 90h )
"Nude basking in the mid day sun " ( Pop art - Acrylic on canvas 75w X 100h )
"Nude in red" ( Mixed media on canvas 60w X 75h )
"Nude in deep thought" ( Pastels/ acrylic on canvas 75w X 100h )
"J " (Figurative painting of my wife, Acrylic, pastels on canvas 102 x 102)
“Girl sitting on steps” (Figurative, pastel & wash, on canvas 91 x 91)
"The audition" (Figurative, acrylic, pastel, pencil on canvas 101 x 101)
"Babushka"(Figurative mixed media drawing on canvas 101 x 101)
"Kyoto Geisha" (Figurative mixed media on canvas 91 x 91)
"African woman" - Ivory coast ( Acrylic on canvas 60w X 75h )
"Zulu woman" ( Figurative,acrylic /mixed media on canvas 102w X 152h )
"Bush walking in Gippsland" ( Mixed media on canvas 122w X 92h )
2009, 2010 & 2011
“Autumn in Daylesford “(Abstract, mixed media on paper 100 x 75)
“Harmonization” (Abstract, mixed media on canvas 101 x76)
“Euphoria” (Abstract, acrylic, oil and pencil on canvas 91 x 91)
“Climate change@3 degrees” (Abstract, acrylic on canvas 100 x 75)
“Autumn on show “(Abstract, acrylic, pastel, pencil on paper 94 x 94 framed)
“Autumn in Victoria “(Abstract, mixed media on paper 78 x 102 framed)
“Spring concerto “(Abstract, mixed media on paper 78 x 102 framed)
“An expression of spring “(Abstract, acrylic on canvas 102 x102)
“A floral symphony “(Abstract, mixed media on canvas 102 x 102)
“Leaves on fire – Black Saturday 2009 “(Abstract, mixed media on canvas 102 x 102)
“Floral jazz“(Abstract floral interpretation, acrylic on canvas 75 x 100)
“Torn” (Abstract, mixed media on paper 72 x 52 unframed)
“Torn” 2 (Abstract, acrylic on canvas 101 x 76)
“Soul mates in harmony “(Expressionist, Figurative, acrylic, pencil on ply board 74 x 100)
“Blowing in the wind “(Abstract, acrylic/pencil on canvas 152 x 102)
“Flowers in Provence “(Abstract, acrylic/pencil on canvas 102 x102)
“Still life in brown “(Floral sketch, stain on straw board framed 41 x 59)
“Yellow roses on red “(acrylic/crayon on paper 72 x 89 framed)
“Yellow roses on blue “(acrylic/crayon on paper 50 x 70 unframed)
“Yellow roses on pink “(acrylic/crayon on paper 50 x 70 unframed)
“Yellow roses on purple“(acrylic/crayon on paper 50 x 70 unframed)
“Yellow roses on cobalt“(acrylic/crayon on paper 72 x 89 framed)
“Yellow roses on lime “(acrylic/crayon on paper 50 x 70 unframed)
“H2O – food for thought “(Abstract, mixed media on straw board 102 x 77 unframed)
“Storm brewing” (Abstract, acrylic/mixed media on canvas 121 x 91)
“Desert flowers” (Abstract, acrylic/mixed media on canvas 75 x 100)
“Still life – A quiet spot on a Sunday afternoon” (acrylic/pastel on canvas 102 x 152)
“Surfs up” (Abstract, mixed media on board 122 x 61 unframed)
“Wild roses” (Sketch, mixed media on canvas 90 x 60)
“Geisha sketch” (watercolour/pencil/colour pencil on paper 51 x 59 framed)
“Still life – floral arrangement in the metal vase” (acrylic/mixed media on canvas 60 x 90)
“Flora Rustica” (mixed media on card panels framed 78 x68)
“Exploration of the soul 2D to 3D series – Euphoria” (Abstract, mixed media on canvas 152 x 102)
“Exploration of the soul 2D to 3D series – Windows of the soul” (mixed media on canvas 102 x 152)
“Exploration of the soul 2D to 3D series - Finding a balance” (mixed media on canvas 91 x 91)
“Still life – White flowers in vase on marble” (mixed media on canvas 60 x 90)
“Still life – Roses in the old metal vase” (mixed media on canvas 60 x 90)
“Still life – Raffles vase with cherry blossom” (mixed media on canvas 92 x 122)
“Still life – Wild flowers in the silver vase” (mixed media on canvas 60 x 90)
“Still life – Roses in the glass vase” (mixed media on canvas 60 x 90)
“Still life – Floral display in vase” (mixed media on paper framed 49 x 67)
“Still life – African violets in village pot” (mixed media on paper framed 49 x 67)
“Still life – Inpatients in the terracotta pot” (acrylic/mixed media on paper framed 49 x 67)
“Still life – Flowers in crystal on red” (acrylic/mixed media on paper framed 49 x 67)
“Still life – The 3 red roses” (mixed media/crayon on paper framed 58 x 72)
“Still life – Floral razzmatazz” (mixed media/crayon on paper framed 58x 72)
“Rosa Rustica” (mixed media on card panels unframed 49 x 59)
“Floral Renaissance” (Abstract, mixed media on canvas 102 x 76)
“Still life - Ceramica 1” (acrylic/mixed media on card, framed 76 x 100)
“World in conflict” concept in development (mixed media on straw board unframed 105 x 82)
“Outback Birdseye” concept in development (mixed media on straw board unframed 102 x 77)
“Still Life – Ceramica 2” blue vase (acrylic/mixed media on card panels unframed 45 x 76)
“Still life – Ceramica 3” white vase (acrylic/mixed media on card panels unframed 50 x 76)
“Still life – Ceramica 4 (acrylic/mixed media on card panels unframed 50 x 76)
“Coral reef Birdseye” (acrylic/mixed media on strawboard unframed 102 x 77)
2003 to 2008: A number of prima ballerina color pencil drawings framed and sold privately
1997 to 2003: Entry at the 2003 Daffodil Day Art Exhibition in the Telstra Centre Lonsdale st. – Commended – “ The sweet taste of youth “ ( figurative acrylic on canvas 126 x 91 )
Other works in those years - A number of works on table tops such as a kitchen table ( a stylized acrylic semi biblical theme covered and protected by thick glass, and a café round table ( acrylic in a spring floral scene 98 cms diameter )
“Geisha “(Traditional drawing, acrylic on paper framed 49 x 42)
“Old man “(Traditional, pencil drawing framed 60 x 48)
“Hard edge” (acrylic geometrical shapes on canvas 122 x122)
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