Solo Show By Artist Hugh Leeman Opens Tonight at Lower Haters

You may have noticed some of his posters popping up around the neighborhood this week. On the door of RNM, or the side of the Muni shelter outside Walgreens, or the window of the former Maire Rua salon. It's the work of artist Hugh Leeman, whose new show Putting the Pieces Together opens at Lower Haters Gallery tonight.

Leeman is known for his wheatpaste posters and murals depicting local characters he meets on the street, often in the Tenderloin. If you've seen the Lower Haight mural, you're already familiar with at least one example of his work. Tonight's show will focus on Leeman's drawings, which are the basis from which all of his pieces are derived. In his own words:

This show takes a look at the foundation of my work, which is drawing. All the murals and posters come back to pencil on paper and this show will offer a look at those drawings. In a way its a bit documenting of the process from sketchbook to the street. I really enjoy the opportunity to express an idea in the street, especially when the work itself contextually involves the streets. With my work so often being public there is a part of it, a big part of it, that often goes unseen. These parts occur in my studio when rendering my subject. Though it all really begins when I meet my subjects on the streets through my Tenderloin based T-shirt Project. The projects' shirts bare the likeness of someone I've met during a giveaway. Later they stop by my studio, pick up the shirts and sell them keeping 100% of the profit. The posters and murals you see on the streets are meant to act as advertisements for this potentially self empowering project.

Leeman has sent us a couple of examples of pieces that you'll see in tonight's show: First, a drawing titled "Kenny": And an oil painting dubbed "Running Through the Range": Tonight's reception is scheduled from 7pm to 10pm at Lower Haters Gallery, 597 Haight St. The show runs through February 9th.