F. Lennox Campello is an American (born in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, 1956) artist,

art critic An art critic is a person who is specialized in analyzing, interpreting, and evaluating art. Their written critiques or reviews contribute to art criticism and they are published in newspapers, magazines, books, exhibition brochures, and catalogue ...

, author, art dealer, curator, and visual arts

blog A blog (a truncation of "weblog") is a discussion or informational website published on the World Wide Web consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries (posts). Posts are typically displayed in reverse chronological order ...

ger. In 2016 ''

The Washington City Paper The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial mix is focused ...

'' called him "one of the most interesting people of Washington, DC."

Early life and education

Florencio Lennox Campello was born in

Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba is the second-largest city in Cuba and the capital city of Santiago de Cuba Province. It lies in the southeastern area of the island, some southeast of the Cuban capital of Havana. The municipality extends over , and contains t ...

, Cuba in 1956, and immigrated as a child to the United States in the 1960s along with his political refugee parents. He studied art at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

(BFA, 1981), where he was commissioned as a U.S. Navy officer, and subsequently received an MS from the

Naval Postgraduate School The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. It offers master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 70 fields of study to the U.S. Armed Forces, DOD ci ...

Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under both ...

, California in 1987.

Artwork

Campello's art is predominantly narrative and storytelling in nature, and often incorporates technology such as video, sound, and miniature spy cameras into the finished pieces. He has exhibited widely in the United States, Europe and Latin America, including in the McManus Museum in

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, the Brusque Museum in Brazil, the San Bernardino County Museum in California, the

Meadows Museum of Art The Meadows Museum of Art at Centenary College of Louisiana in Shreveport is charged with the collection, conservation, preservation and interpretation of visual art works of museum quality. It is also a vital resource for students studying art hi ...

in Shreveport, Louisiana, the

Hunter Museum of American Art The Hunter Museum of American Art is an art museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The museum's collections include works representing the Hudson River School, 19th century genre painting, American Impressionism, the Ashcan School, early modernism, ...

in Tennessee, the Sacramento Fine Arts Center in California, the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art in

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, the Schneider Museum of Art in

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population was 21,360 at the 2020 cen ...

, the A.S. Popov Central Museum of Communications in Russia, the

American University Museum The American University Museum is located within the Katzen Arts Center at the American University in Washington, DC. History and description The American University Museum consists of a three-story, museum and sculpture garden. The region’ ...

, the

Boise Art Museum The Boise Art Museum (BAM) is located at 670 Julia Davis Drive in Boise, Idaho, and is part of a series of public museums and cultural attractions in Julia Davis Park. It is the permanent home of a growing collection of contemporary realism, mod ...

in Idaho, the Jordan Schnitzer Museum at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

, the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora in Miami, Florida, and

The Phillips Collection The Phillips Collection is an art museum founded by Duncan Phillips (art collector), Duncan Phillips and Marjorie Acker Phillips in 1921 as the Phillips Memorial Gallery located in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Phillips was the ...

in Washington, DC.

The Cuba series

This body of works was started in the 1970s while the artist was in art school, and uses the shape/map of the island of Cuba as the unifying element in paintings, prints and drawings. In the works, the island is often depicted as behind jail bars (such as on the cover of the poetry book ''Cuba in Verse: The Island Behind Bars'' by Ada Bezos, Editorial Betania (2012) ), or with oars, or surrounded by tears, etc.

The Superhero series

Campello's artwork often appropriates American comic book

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

themes, most often

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

Spider-Man Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...

and others. He has also curated several group art shows where the artwork is focused on multiple artistic interpretations of the superhero

iconograph {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 An iconograph is a picture formed by a word or words. It can take the form of irregularly shaped letters or (especially in the case of poems) irregularly aligned text. American poet May Swenson popularized such ...

Pictish Nation series

This series focuses on interpreting the

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several Process of tatt ...

artwork of the original people of

, known as the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...

. Campello was exposed to

Pictish culture Pictish is the extinct Brittonic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geographic ...

while living in Scotland in the 1990s, and began focusing a series of drawings and paintings which over the years have interpreted and reproduced the Pictish tattoos on a variety of male and female nude studies.

Awards

Campello was awarded the 1979 First Prize (Drawing) by Renton Art Society

Renton, Washington Renton is a city in King County, Washington, and an inner-ring suburb of Seattle. Situated southeast of downtown Seattle, Renton straddles the southeast shore of Lake Washington, at the mouth of the Cedar River. As of the 2020 census, the ...

, 1981 First Prize (Drawing). from the Keene-Mason Gallery National Competition

New York, NY New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, 1981 First Prize (Printmaking), Whipple Gallery National Competition, Marshall, MN, the 1995 Best of Show at the 20th

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of K ...

Art Show in

Virginia Beach, VA Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...

, Best of Show at the 1996 Festival in the Park in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is lo ...

, and the Best in Show at the 2007 Stockley Gardens Art Festival in

Norfolk, VA Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Bea ...

. He was most recently awarded a Maryland State Arts Council Individual Artist Award in 2019, and one of his works was acquired in 2018 for the permanent collection of

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous county in the state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat and largest municipality is Rockville, although the census-design ...

Reviews

In a review of his 1996 exhibition of portraits of Internet porn stars, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' noted that his artwork "manages to find a delicate balance between the black charcoal and cream-colored paper resulting in a grainy,

film-noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarde ...

effect, making his subjects, traffickers in mass-consumption prurience, seem tough but vulnerable, like a flowering plant in a sexual wasteland." A more recent review of his 2017 solo show in ''

'' explained that "His technique is classical, but he sometimes incorporates a contemporary technology: embedded video. “Portrait of You” features a live feed of the picture's viewer, and “

Cuban Cuban may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Cuba, a country in the Caribbean * Cubans, people from Cuba, or of Cuban descent ** Cuban exile, a person who left Cuba for political reasons, or a descendant thereof * Cuban citizen, a perso ...

by Ancestry, but American by the Grace of God" (seen last year at the

) chronicles his family history on a video loop." In reviewing the same show, ''

'' noted that the solo show focused "on a couple of his far-ranging "artistic obsessions," as he calls them, from

Frida Kahlo Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo y Calderón (; 6 July 1907 – 13 July 1954) was a Mexican painter known for her many portraits, self-portraits, and works inspired by the nature and artifacts of Mexico. Inspired by the country's popular culture, ...

to the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...

to the

." American art critic Dr. Claudia Rousseau observed that "Campello is a prolific artist who has had an interesting and compelling trajectory of work since the 1980s." ''

Brickell Magazine ''Brickell Magazine'' is a magazine headquartered in Miami, Florida. It is published by TAG Media, Inc. It is distributed to residences and businesses in Miami's financial district, which is often referred to as "The Manhattan of the South" and "T ...

'' described him as "a thought leader in the world of the arts on a global scale." In 2020 ''

'' characterized him as a "prominent figure" in discussing artistic responses to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and a year later described one of his works at

as a "clever combination of low and high tech, pairing a simple charcoal drawing of a child looking at her reflection, which is shown as a revolving series of electronic images of diverse faces." In 2022, during the annual Art Basel Miami Beach week of art fairs in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, he was described as one of the "most intriguing creative minds in the city."

Solo shows

1979 The HUB Gallery. University of Washington.

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, Washington 1981 Arts Northwest Gallery.

, Washington 1992 Warehouse Gallery.

Banff, Scotland Banff ( gd, Banbh) is a town in the Banff and Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is situated on Banff Bay and faces the town of Macduff across the estuary of the River Deveron. It is a former royal burgh, and is the county town of th ...

1993 Chevrier's Presidio Gallery.

Sonoma, California Sonoma is a city in Sonoma County, California, United States, located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sonoma is one of the principal cities of California's Wine Country and the center of the Sonoma Valley AVA. Sonoma's p ...

1994 Chevrier's Presidio Gallery. Sonoma, California 1996 Fraser Gallery. Washington, D.C. 1997 49 West.

Annapolis Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

, Maryland 1997 Fraser Gallery. Washington, D.C. 1998 Fraser Gallery. Washington, D.C. 1999 Fraser Gallery. Washington, D.C. 2000 Eklektikos Gallery. Washington, D.C. 2001 Fraser Gallery. Washington, D.C. 2002 Fraser Gallery. Washington, D.C. 2003 Fraser Gallery. Washington, D.C. 2004 Fraser Gallery. Washington, D.C. 2005 Fraser Gallery. Washington, D.C. 2008 Red Door Gallery.

Richmond, VA (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

2011 Featured Artist, Aqua Art Fair,

Miami Beach Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which sep ...

, Florida 2017 Artists & Makers.

Rockville, Maryland Rockville is a city that serves as the county seat of Montgomery County, Maryland, and is part of the Baltimore–Washington metropolitan area. The 2020 census tabulated Rockville's population at 67,117, making it the fifth-largest community in ...

2019 Stone Tower Gallery, Glen Echo, MD 2020 Featured Artist, Art on Paper Fair, New York, NY

Blogger

His blog, Daily Campello Art News has been published since 2003 and has been called "indispensable", and also "a bona fide fixture" by the ''Washington City Paper'', which also credits the blog with being the potential "inventor" of the

ubiquitous Omnipresence or ubiquity is the property of being present anywhere and everywhere. The term omnipresence is most often used in a religious context as an attribute of a deity or supreme being, while the term ubiquity is generally used to describ ...

acronym "DMV" to refer to the Greater Washington, DC area (it stands for District, Maryland, Virginia). The local CBS TV station included it in its "Best Local Bloggers" list. The blog is included in the various "Top 100 Art Blogs in the World" listings, and in 2022, the blog was listed as the 11th top ranked art news websites in the world.

Books

Campello is the author of ''100 Artists of Washington, DC'', Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. (June 1, 2011) . He is also the cover artist for ''Cuba in Verse: The Island Behind Bars'' by Ada Bezos, Editorial Betania (2012) , and the cover artist and interior illustrator for ''Winging It!-In Europe'' by Linda and Jim Stringer, Suncity Pub (January 1, 1993)

Gallerist

In 1996 Campello, together with his then wife, the British photographer Catriona Fraser, co-founded the Fraser Gallery in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, DC. In 2002 they opened a second gallery in

Bethesda, MD Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which i ...

. The two galleries closed in 2011, as the couple had divorced earlier, and Campello had moved to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in 2006, where he lived until 2009, before returning to the Washington, DC area in 2010.

Curator

Campello has curated many visual art shows, most generally around the Greater Washington, DC region, including several seminal art shows focused on dissident Cuban artists, and has been referred to as "one of the most well known faces on the local art scene."

References

External links

F. Lennox Campello website

Daily Campello Art News Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campello, F. Lennox Living people Artists from Washington, D.C. Artists from Maryland University of Washington School of Art + Art History + Design alumni Naval Postgraduate School alumni 1956 births American art critics American art dealers American bloggers American non-fiction writers Cuban exiles Cuban expatriates in the United States Exiles of the Cuban Revolution in the United States People from Santiago de Cuba Cuban-American culture Cuban artists Cuban art critics American video artists Painters from Maryland Cuban emigrants to the United States American contemporary painters