Leanne Shapton, Freelance Journalist Profile

Articles

Prelude to Action | Leanne Shapton

1 month ago | nybooks.com | Leanne Shapton

This thirty-second art newsletter, covering the art and illustrations in our May 15 and May 29 issues, comes from the Martha Graham School’s Spring Showcase, where my daughter and her dance class opened the show with a demonstration of the Graham technique. The May 15 issue was our annual Art Issue, and this year’s cover is by the artist Tacita Dean, the subject of a wonderful essay inside by Sam Needleman.
Happy Accidents | Maria-Ines Gul, Leanne Shapton

2 months ago | nybooks.com | Leanne Shapton |Maria-Ines Gul

In early 2021 the artist and jeweler Kaye Blegvad sent me a set of erotic zines, sometimes known as Tijuana bibles, including one by Maria-Ines Gul. I’d seen Gul’s work for years in the pages of Rookie magazine, where she worked as a staff illustrator (and once drew my portrait!). Gul was born in Poland and is now based in London. Her work is bold, graphic, and pointed: feminist without being stereotypically feminine. I might call it “vivid femme,” with hints of surrealism and noir.
“Here Comes Trouble” | Leanne Shapton

2 months ago | nybooks.com | Leanne Shapton

This issue of the art newsletter comes from GoldenEye, the resort on Oracabessa Bay, Jamaica, that was built around the villa where Ian Fleming wrote most of his James Bond novels. For twenty years Goldeneye has hired me to do their hand-painted signage and graphics; this time I brought my daughter and worked on closing the Spring Books issue by the lagoon. The days alternated between sunny skies and downpours, and the water, orchids, and trees shimmered in the humidity.
Far from Heaven | Leanne Shapton

Mar 19, 2025 | nybooks.com | Leanne Shapton

This newsletter comes to you while I’m watching Thunder on the Hill, part of the “Douglas Sirk Noir” series currently streaming on the Criterion Channel. A convicted murderer, bickering nurses and nuns, a risky childbirth, a sadistic composer, and a flood all feature in this appealingly gloomy 1951 movie. I like painting black and white film stills, so Sirk’s high-contrast drama was excellent material.
Far from Heaven | Flipboard

Mar 19, 2025 | flipboard.com | Leanne Shapton

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A Midwinter Swim | Leanne Shapton

Feb 19, 2025 | nybooks.com | Leanne Shapton

Some mornings, after I’ve dropped my daughter off at school, I swim laps at my local YMCA. I do about a mile, enough to get my heart rate up, to ruminate on all the big and little concerns, to stretch my limbs and lungs and hamstrings, and, when I’m kicking with a kickboard, to look at the other swimmers. Most of them are elderly Chinese women; most of them wear pink swim caps, which I find cheering. This art newsletter comes post-swim, midwinter.
Anemones | Leanne Shapton

Jan 15, 2025 | nybooks.com | Leanne Shapton

The new year began with sad, heavy chords. I made a last-minute trip to Berlin for a funeral, while across the ocean friends were evacuating from their homes in Los Angeles. As the winds blew cinders and ash over Altadena and snow fell on the streets of Mitte, I found some brightness by painting anemones with my godson.
Wintry Mix | Leanne Shapton

Dec 18, 2024 | nybooks.com | Leanne Shapton

The last art newsletter of 2024, covering the art and illustrations from our Holiday Issue, comes from a small cabin upstate, where I retreated to work on my book after closing the issue and spending Thanksgiving with friends. The Holiday Issue is one of four each year for which we commission a hand-drawn and -lettered cover. I wrote to the New York–based illustrator, cook, and author Tamara Shopsin to see if she’d do this one.
A New Leaf | Leanne Shapton

Nov 20, 2024 | nybooks.com | Leanne Shapton

The month our office spent working on the November 21 and December 5 issues was marked by the strange New York weather—a drought, temperatures in the seventies—and the anxious drama of the election. During the weekend between issues, I launched a new edition of The Native Trees of Canada, a book of my paintings of trees, at the McNally Jackson bookstore. My Canadian friends Sheila Heti and Jason Logan came to town; Heti had written a new introduction while Logan makes ink from trees.
On the Gray Lakeshore | Leanne Shapton

Oct 19, 2024 | nybooks.com | Leanne Shapton

Between closing the October 17 issue and beginning work on the Election Issue, I spent five nights on a remote lake in Canada with four friends. Every morning and evening I’d sit on the dock and either watch the mists rise or count the seven sisters in the Pleiades. I wished on four shooting stars and swam in the cold, glass-smooth water.