LESLIE DE LEON
SOLD
La Dama (3)
20 × 16 in
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Leslie De Leon
Leslie De Leon's Lotería reinterprets the iconic Latin American card game as a series of oil paintings rooted in the borderlands of South Texas.
For centuries, Lotería has been more than a pastime—it has functioned as a shared cultural text, a visual language passed down through families, layered with symbols that carry both humor and gravitas. De Leon draws on this lineage while reframing the familiar iconography of boots, horses, flora, and fauna in a painterly style that is unmistakably Western yet undeniably Chicana.
By situating Lotería within the Western art tradition, De Leon emphasizes that the story of the West cannot be told without its Mexican foundations. Scholars have long noted the vaquero as the first cowboy, and cultural historians trace Lotería’s origins from 15th-century Italy to its widespread embrace across Latin America. De Leon taps into this long arc of history while making it her own, infusing classical oil technique with a bold graphic sensibility that mirrors the cards’ immediacy.
Coinciding with Hispanic Heritage Month, Lotería resonates as both personal narrative and cultural affirmation, showcasing an emerging voice in De Leon that deserves attention and consideration. This body of work not only upholds tradition but also redefines it, creating a dialog that fills in some of the blanks within the broader canon of the American West.
