Leo Fitzmaurice

Though British artist Leo Fitzmaurice originally trained as a painter, upon completion of his fine arts education, he shifted his focus to found materials. Cigarette boxes, for instance, are repurposed into tiny sculptures and graphic installations are comprised of advertising fliers. Fitzmaurice presents such imaginatively revised everyday items within both the traditional exhibition context as well as in non-gallery situations. Among the various unconventional locales in which he has staged art interventions—he works closely and collaboratively with fellow artists—was a disused mental asylum.

Born in Shropshire, England, in 1963, Fitzmaurice attended Liverpool Polytechnic before earning his graduate degree from Manchester Metropolitan University. He has exhibited extensively since the mid-90s, including at New York’s White Columns and the Shanghai Biennial, among other institutions and galleries. Fitzmaurice was the winner of the 5th Northern Art Prize. He lives and works in Liverpool.