Shaun Leonardo

Shaun’s varied identities, talents, and charismatic candor help make him a uniquely valuable artist for our students. Yes, Shaun Leonardo has an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. Yes, he is increasingly visible on the national stage as an artist. But what also gives Shaun a lot of cred with my students is his having played college football at Bowdoin College, and having been a wrestler. Shaun, based in Brooklyn, NY, has a multidisciplinary practice with which he negotiates societal expectations of manhood surrounding black and brown masculinities. Football, wrestling, and Ralph Ellison’s novel The Invisible Man all figure in Shaun’s early work. In his most recent visit to WMU (November 2019), Shaun talked with our students, but also met with and talked with the entire Western Michigan ‘Bronco’ football team. He also delivered a well-attended public lecture. During his 2016 visit with DEARTS, Shaun taught our students defensives skills, including how to get out of a chokehold. This and similar exercises Shaun did with us originated in his “I Can’t Breathe” workshops, created after the murder of Eric Garner in 2014, caused by an illegal chokehold. 

https://elcleonardo.com/