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Lenny Gerard

@lenny__gerard

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Polaroid + mixed-media
Transforming photography & everyday materials into artifacts of memory, American life & self
Exhibitions & Art Educator

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I created this series, “Day vs. Night,” out of a newfound love for dialectics, the synthesis of opposites. Where there is light, there is also darkness. With the series, I hope to inspire people that when we’re faced with dark times in life, we can also always find available light.
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The daytime half, imbued with warm tones, represents the bustling life of capitalism, while the cool, serene nighttime image symbolizes the unseen beauty, creativity, and exploration that takes a back seat in our work-centric lives. Through these images, I subtly critique the capitalistic society that prioritizes work over art, creativity, and exploration.
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These Polaroids are scanned and enlarged individually to 76.2cm x 76.2cm before framing. #oppositesattract #dayandnight #photoseries #polaroids taken in Downtown Los Angeles by @lenny__gerard

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3 years ago

This tactile approach - weaving Polaroids together - emphasizes the physicality of images while questioning the boundaries of abstraction and portraiture in art. 🖼️ ✨#polaroidoriginals #polaroid taken in Los Angeles, California by @lenny__gerard

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2 years ago

At the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego through April 2026
Where We Stand
@mcasandiego
700 Prospect St.
La Jolla, CA 92037

These three paintings— Clash in the Alleyway, Home Depot, and Airport Security, examine the tension and fear that immigration enforcement brings into everyday American spaces and immigrant communities. Each work begins with screenshots collected after hours of searching through videos on Instagram, documenting moments that circulate widely online but are often quickly forgotten. Some of the paintings still include traces of this digital origin, with Instagram interface icons—such as the like, comment, and repost buttons—visible in the lower corners. These images are then transformed through photoshopped collages and gel transfers onto wood panels, which I paint over using acrylic, watercolor, gouache, and ink.

Home Depot is based on an event I personally witnessed, when ICE officers detained workers outside a Home Depot store. The Home Depot sign is painted backwards to reflect the moral inversion of the moment—an ordinary place of work suddenly becoming a site of surveillance and removal. In Airport Security, a traveler is restrained by plainclothes and uniformed officers while an ICE agent approaches, showing how spaces meant for movement and travel can quickly become spaces of vulnerability. Clash in the Alleyway depicts a man attempting to block ICE officers from reaching students, capturing a moment of resistance and solidarity. Faces are obscured to symbolize shared humanity.

Together, these works reflect how immigration enforcement enters public life in ways that deeply affect immigrant communities, transforming everyday environments into spaces of conflict, fear, and confrontation.
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#iceart #politicalart #iceraids #beyondborders taken in Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego by @lenny__gerard

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7 months ago

I keep coming back to the same question with Polaroid: how far can I push a photograph before it becomes something else?

These are from my Day vs. Night series. I photograph the exact same place during the day and again at night, then cut the Polaroids apart and physically piece the two moments together.

One of the reasons I love shooting Polaroid is that you never have total control over it. Temperature, light, exposure, development time, all of it affects what comes out. And shooting at night makes it even more unpredictable. Instead of trying to fix those differences, I use them.

I leave the cuts and staples visible because I want you to see how the image was made. It’s literally two different moments stitched into one photograph.

I’ve made over 120 Polaroids for this series and somehow I’m still finding new ways to mess with instant film.

Follow me if you want to see what else I’m doing to Polaroids that Polaroid probably never intended. taken in Los Angeles, California by @lenny__gerard

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You’re all invited to the VIP reception of my Solo show Saturday, Oct 17th! VIP = 6-8pm and regular reception 8-10pm

The exhibition reimagines the Polaroid as more than an instant photograph. cuts, staples, stitches, paints, layers, and I physically combine images, embracing the imperfections of instant film. My centerpiece, Day vs. Night series, pairs photographs of the same location taken hours apart, cutting and stapling them together so two versions of the same place exist within a single image.

The exhibition also features an evolving audience-participation installation built around one question: “What is something you’ve never said out loud before?” Visitors anonymously add their responses to the gallery wall, creating a growing collective portrait of private thoughts, fears, secrets, and hopes.

The show also includes my cigar-box assemblages and large-scale resin mixed-media works and framed Polaroid works. Photography has been exhibited internationally, and my work is archived by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).

Opening Reception: October 17, 2026 | All my followers are VIP! 6-8pm for VIP reception and 8–10 PM for general reception

E2 Gallery, Los Angeles | Free and open to the public. Address on flyer. Can’t wait to see u there! Free cameras as prizes will be given out too :)

#artistreception #galleryopening #galleryshow taken in Pico Union by @lenny__gerard

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13 days ago

I made this piece specifically for my solo show this Saturday.

I’ve spent years working with Polaroid and instant film, and I’m still fascinated by how unpredictable light can be. For these images, I created light leaks in the darkroom using laser pointers, flashlights, bulbs, tin foil, my iPhone light and whatever else I could experiment with.

I printed them all in black and white and brought them together into one piece. What started as experiments with light somehow turned into this strange little universe of galaxies, eclipses, stars and cosmic landscapes.

That unpredictability is a huge part of why I still love working with Polaroid. You can control the process, but never completely control the result.

This will be on the wall at my solo show this Saturday ✨

What do you see when you look at these? I want to know because every person I’ve shown sees something different. taken in Los Angeles, California by @lenny__gerard

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3 days ago

Still processing this one: my installation at @hospital.of.emotions was featured by @apnews

What started as an idea built around emotion, memory, and immersive space has now reached an audience far beyond the gallery walls. Moments like this remind me that the work can travel farther than I ever could and connect with people I may never meet.

I’m proud of how this installation has continued to grow, attract attention, and open new doors. More than anything, I’m grateful that a deeply personal body of work is being seen on this scale.

For collectors, curators, designers, and collaborators interested in the work or future installations, my messages are open.

Thank you @jaechongpix jaechongpix

#installationview #installationartist taken in Hospital of Emotions by @lenny__gerard

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3 months ago

Crab-crane 🦀
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#instantfilm #instantfilmphotography #instantfilmmag #diptych #juxtaposition taken in Los Angeles, California by @lenny__gerard

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5 months ago

Can we do this again? The @doanfoundation gala was one of those nights that reminded me why I do what I do. ❤️

I’m so grateful to the @doanfoundation and @dizzydoan for believing in this project and awarding me a grant that’s making “Through My Eyes” possible—an exhibition I’m curating featuring artwork by blind and visually impaired artists from @BrailleInstitute.

I already secured coverage of the event with @latimes!

It was such a privilege to speak about the incredible artists I get to work with and share why accessible spaces in the arts matter. Watching this exhibition come to life has been one of the most meaningful projects I’ve ever been part of.

If you’re in Los Angeles, I’d love to see you there:

✨ VIP, Press & Influencer Preview: August 21
🎨 Opening Reception: August 22 | 3–7 PM
🎤 Live performance: 5:30 PM
📍 E2 Gallery, Washington Blvd., Pico-Union, Los Angeles

A huge thank you to @bakers.bench in Chinatown for sponsoring the event with pastries. They were recognized by @nytimes @nytcooking as one of the 22 best bakeries in the United States, and we’re so excited to have them be part of this celebration.

This exhibition is about creativity, accessibility, and making sure every artist has the opportunity to express themselves. I hope you’ll come experience it, meet the artists, and help celebrate their work. ❤️

Amazing photos: @scottnorlandphotography

#disabilityart #disabilityarts taken in San Diego, California by @lenny__gerard

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3 months ago

Three mistakes I see people make with Polaroid film:
1. Treating it like a sketch instead of a finished object
2. Over-correcting imperfections
3. Forgetting the physicality of the medium
Polaroid isn’t fragile. It’s honest.
That’s where the value lives.

#polaroidphotography #polaroidpicture #polaroidoriginals #polaroidlove #polaroidcommunity taken in Los Angeles, California by @lenny__gerard

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9 months ago

small gods

Desire, Devotion, and the Making of Power

What makes a god? What makes a demon? And what happens when the sacred and the monstrous exchange places?

Opening on Halloween, small gods brings together ten artists exploring desire, mythology, devotion, and the shifting boundaries of power.

Through sculpture, painting, and installation, toys become idols, bodies become offerings, and familiar objects take on supernatural lives.

Perhaps our gods are small because they are made in our own image: fragile, contradictory, playful, and perpetually becoming.

Opening Reception
Saturday, October 31, 2026 | 4–8 PM

Exhibition Dates
October 31 – December 13, 2026

Venue
a poco art
4505 S Slauson Ave, Unit 317, Culver City, CA 90230

Curated by Ann Shi

Featuring
Trevor Coopersmith, Debra Disman, Nancy Evans, Lenny Gerard, Heng Yi, Tom Knechtel, Jenn Lima, Sandeep Mukherjee, Renée Pepion, and Julie Yeo.

Join us for a Halloween opening where the divine meets the delightfully strange.

Dress up not optional 🎃 Ghosts and gods equally welcomed

RSVP via link in bio.

Exhibition in a loft studio, please respect neighbors.

#halloween2027 #culvercity #apocoart #smallgods #laarts

Artwork in flyer by Renée Pepion taken in S Slauson Ave Culver City, CA. by @lenny__gerard

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We all deserve to be seen, heard, and understood. 🤟

I made this piece inspired by my work at @brailleinstitute as an arts instructor as we also rely on ASL for deaf/blind students. using a grid of Polaroids of me signing (the best I could sorry!) because there are so many ways we communicate and connect with each other.

Sometimes you don’t need words to say something at all. taken in Braille Institute by @lenny__gerard

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