Phoebe Leech: Hidden Boys, Open Blue | London

JD Malat Gallery is pleased to present Hidden Boys, Open Blue, the debut solo exhibition by emerging British painter Phoebe Leech (b. 1999, Yorkshire). The exhibition introduces a distinctive new voice in contemporary figuration, one defined by psychological depth, painterly instinct, and an unflinching sensitivity to the body.

 

Following her inclusion in the gallery’s 2025 Summer Group Show, this new body of work marks a defining evolution in Leech’s practice: a painterly exploration of masculinity, innocence, and emotional visibility. Working primarily in oil on a monumental scale, Leech combines gestural mark-making with psychological intensity, intertwining figuration and abstraction to reveal the fragility embedded in human presence. Her paintings examine how identity is formed, concealed, and remembered, using the body as both subject and metaphor.