Painter, Author, Activist: Jeffery Leving

Jeffery Leving’s work, In the Reeds, is part of former Chicago Alderman Robert Fioretti’s private collection

Jeffery Leving is a passionate artist and the author of three ground-breaking books. His most recent book,  How to Be a Good Divorced Dad, received an endorsement from Cardinal Francis George of the Archdiocese of Chicago and praise from President Barack Obama. President Biden awarded Jeffery Leving the 2023 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award.

A highly esteemed visual artist, Leving first revealed his talent in a solo art show at Southern Illinois University in the early 70’s. His work has since evolved into a unique painting style with mythological content inspired by primitive and surrealistic art. In Leving’s pieces, the artist combines figures and faces with abstract forms, using visceral mark-making and serene compositional economy. These paintings possess an irresistible energy as a product of Leving’s innovative aesthetic.

Leving’s paintings have been exhibited in many prestigious galleries and shows, including Zen: The Spiritual in Art at the Murphy Hill Gallery; Floating Spaces at the William Hill Gallery; Xanadu Gallery; and the Floating World Gallery. Most notably, a piece from his Floating Spaces collection recently fetched a high bid at the prestigious Mid-Hudson Auction Galleries in Manhattan, New York.

Leving’s work has been showcased throughout Chicago and across the nation and featured in ARTnews Magazine, Chicago Gallery News, as well as International Art Magazine.

His celebrated pieces reside in the private collections of popular actress Queen Latifah;  former Endeavor astronaut Senator Mark Kelly ( husband to former US Congressman Gabrielle Giffords); syndicated radio personality Erich “Mancow” Muller; and former Chicago Alderman Robert Fioretti.