A photographer and sculptor, Zoe Leonard constructs works that address the continuous evolution of society, exploring the influences of globalization and documenting nostalgic images alike. In Analogue (1998—2007), perhaps her most ambitious project, Leonard captures patterns across the continents, primarily the recurrence of fashion, style, and pop culture, while seeming to lament the slow homogenization of cultures. Her 2012 exhibition, Observation Point, investigates the self-imposed bounds of photography, presenting images of the sun, thereby breaking a cardinal rule of the medium while illustrating the haunting beauty of an elusive subject, as well as abstract photography more generally.
Leonard has been the subject of solo shows at institutions including the Museo Nacional Reina Sofia in Madrid, Dia:Beacon, the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, the Vienna Secession, and the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich. Her work was included in the 1993 and 1997 Whitney Biennials and in Documenta 9 (1992) and Documenta 12 (2007).