Most of my works have deep roots in my experiences growing up in the South but my intent, as always, is to explore the human condition. It is this exploration, I believe, that makes art endearing and enduring.
Biographical Statement
Leo Twiggs received his BA degree from Claflin University, studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and received his MA degree from New York University where he studied with the famed painter and muralist Hale Woodruff. He received his Doctorate in Art from the University Of Georgia.
He has had over 75 one person shows and his work has received international recognition with exhibits at the Studio Museum in New York and US Embassies in Rome, Dakar and Bern Switzerland among other venues. He has been widely published in text books and featured in several TV documentaries. Myths and Metaphors, a retrospective of his work was organized by the Georgia Museum in 2004. His award winning book, Messages from Home: The Art of Leo Twiggs was published in 2011.
In 2017, he completed a series of nine paintings titled Requiem for Mother Emanuel commemorating the nine victims that were killed at the Church in Charleston. The paintings were exhibited widely and featured on ESPN, CBS Evening News and reviewed in Art in America. He became the first artist from South Carolina to receive the prestigious 1858 Society Prize for Contemporary Southern Art in 2018. Twiggs has received two Verner Art Awards and the Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest civilian honor. In 2020, he was inducted into the South Carolina Hall of Fame.
Artist Statement
My experiments with batik is not just a way of painting it is my artistic voice, an instrument that has become a part of my thought processes. The medium is as much a part of my message as the message itself.
Most of my works have deep roots in my experiences growing up in the South but my intent, as always, is to explore the human condition. It is this exploration, I believe, that makes art endearing and enduring.