June Leaf - The Work Isn't Finished

For this intimate, radiant celebration of June Leaf's work, Jem Cohen gathered photographs he shot over decades and sequenced them as a homespun voyage. As Robert Frank's partner for over 50 years, Leaf's own art (which deeply influenced Frank) was perhaps overshadowed, but her focus remained steadfastly on the work at hand with little concern for the vicissitudes of artworld fame and fortune. At 94, June Leaf notes that she has worked every day for 73 years, mostly in the studio, but she actually realized her calling 90 years earlier as a little girl sitting on the floor and wanting to truthfully depict a shoe. This book is a tribute forged in details—Leaf's small figures breathing mystery and humanity, her well-worn face a map of persistence and understanding. Cohen's organic and painterly Polaroids reject the dry factual record-keeping that often constitutes catalogue images of artworks in favor of seeking out the spirit of the works and their maker. A valuable addition to the crucial, overdue recognition of this extraordinary artist's work, the book is a unique study of artistic creation.