Spotlight
Spotlight artist Leila Lallali
Championed by Lucy Kent
Above Leila Lallali, that´s the question | acrylics and oil pastels on canvas, 40 x 40 cm. 2024
ONES TO
WATCH
WATCH
ONES TO
WATCH
WATCH
Above Leila Lallali by Jeannine Unsen
Interview
Leila Lallali
Photography
Jeannine Unsen
Interview
Leila Lallali
Photography
Jeannine Unsen
The Berlin-based painter Leila Lallali creates feel-good works: lucidly coloured canvases celebrate the mundane and the overlooked in languid, graphic brushwork – often simple scenarios and still life scenes are cut with Lallali’s whip smart sense of humour, pithy texts and mishaps that make you smile. “I’m inspired by the every day, and by the Freudian slips my mind thinks to have heard, and by absurd imagery, real or imaginary.” Shoes, boots, bowls of fruit, vases and horses are all subjects that Lallali returns to frequently – images that transcend boundaries of time or place, but are all connected in some way to the earth – interesting for a woman who spent much of her time growing up on the move with her family, and who says she gets many of her best ideas while on a plane.
Lallali’s champion for The Wick is British artist and founder and curator of Art For Charity Collective Lucy Kent, who recently came across Lallali’s work on Instagram. “I was immediately struck by the bold colours and the graphic illustrative shapes of her subjects – every day objects with a comical, quirky spin. Immediately they made me feel joy and laugh all at once. This is the reason I love art: the power it has to make us feel deeply and provide escapism into another world momentarily. And with these challenging times we find oursleves in, the need for joy through things like art is more crucial than ever. Artists have been painting the everyday for centuries but Leila’s work really brings this subject matter into the 21st century with a colour-filled, glorious bang: cigarette butts, fried eggs and cowboy hats splling off her canvases. Leila is self-taught which I think lends an authentic purity to her paintings: they are simple, almost child-like, unbridled celebrations of colour, pattern and the little things in life that we should all cherish more.”
Indeed painting came later for Lallali, who is also an actor and has appeared in various short and feature films over the last decade, including the biopic of Hannah Arendt, and A Grand Affair, starring Marianne Faithfull and Ed Stoppard. Describing becoming a visual artist as “a leap of faith,” Lallali considers it among her proudest achievements to date. ‘It’s been the greatest blessing and something I am grateful for every day.”
Lallali is hard at work in her studio in Berlin at present – with some “really cool projects in the works” soon to be announced, including a special collaboration with a brand that she is especially excited about. This is the beginning of a new adventure for Lallali, and that whatever is next, she is relishing this time. “The more time I spend in the studio and the more I mature as an artist and person, the less serious I take things which in turn gives me a lot of freedom in creation. That’s something I am exploring at the moment, how much or how little can I get away with. It’s truly liberating.”
Indeed painting came later for Lallali, who is also an actor and has appeared in various short and feature films over the last decade, including the biopic of Hannah Arendt, and A Grand Affair, starring Marianne Faithfull and Ed Stoppard. Describing becoming a visual artist as “a leap of faith,” Lallali considers it among her proudest achievements to date. ‘It’s been the greatest blessing and something I am grateful for every day.”
Lallali is hard at work in her studio in Berlin at present – with some “really cool projects in the works” soon to be announced, including a special collaboration with a brand that she is especially excited about. This is the beginning of a new adventure for Lallali, and that whatever is next, she is relishing this time. “The more time I spend in the studio and the more I mature as an artist and person, the less serious I take things which in turn gives me a lot of freedom in creation. That’s something I am exploring at the moment, how much or how little can I get away with. It’s truly liberating.”
About the champion
Lucy Kent is a British artist living and working in Wiltshire, UK. She works in oil, both en plein air and from the studio. Her paintings are a direct response to my environment, inspired by shifting light and colour and the interactions between high skies and wide landscapes. Kent is the founder of ARTCH (Art for Charity Collective), an artist-led platform dedicated to promoting art with purpose. ARTCH has raised £320,000 for various charities to date and were awarded the Points of Light Award by Downing Street in 2022 for its services to society. Their current charity partner is Arts Emergency, with 10% of all sales going directly to the organisation. Kent is also an Ambassador for the UK-based charity A Space Between, who are passionate about elevating creativity as a pillar of health.
“Artists have been painting the everyday for centuries but Leila’s work really brings this subject matter into the 21st century with a colour-filled, glorious bang: cigarette butts, fried eggs and cowboy hats splling off her canvases.”
Lucy Kent
Above Leila Lallali, that´s the question | acrylics and oil pastels on canvas, 40 x 40 cm. 2024
Above Leila Lallali, A bowl of very ripe lemons, 2023
Courtesy of Artistellar Gallery
Above Leila Lallali, ‘had nice nails for about three minutes,’ 2024
Above Leila Lallali, ‘real ripe plantains,’ 2023
Above Leila Lallali, that´s the question | acrylics and oil pastels on canvas, 40 x 40 cm. 2024
Above Leila Lallali, A bowl of very ripe lemons, 2023
Courtesy of Artistellar Gallery
Above Leila Lallali, ‘had nice nails for about three minutes,’ 2024
Above Leila Lallali, ‘real ripe plantains,’ 2023
