Mask No 343

Lee Waisler California Contemporary artist American, born 1938
Lee Waisler creates a strong sense of character and place through the hard lines and graphic qualities of his paintings. Los Angeles-based Waisler seeks to transcend art historical touchstones such as portraiture and landscape by focusing on expressive colors, textures, and sharp lines on painted wood and canvas. This theme is especially evident in his portraiture, which includes unnamed or unknown figures as well as stalwarts of contemporary life and history, such as Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Barack Obama, and Gertrude Stein. The medium of wood is especially significant to Waisler, as the material endows his work with a sculptural quality.