About

Xavier Laurent Leopold is a multidisciplinary artist, author and lecturer whose work emerges from a profound engagement with faith, memory and the dualities of modern life. Raised in South London, with ancestral ties to Sierra Leone and Martinique, Leopold’s practice moves between abstraction, figurative forms and sculpture, interrogating how time, introspection and legacy are inscribed on the body and in material culture.

 

A Sir Frank Bowling Scholar at the Royal College of Art, where he is completing his MA in Sculpture, Leopold’s trajectory defies convention. Prior to dedicating himself to art, he spent years navigating the high-pressure world of asset management as a City trader – a past life that now lends his work an uncommon balance of discipline and vulnerability. His late arrival to painting during the 2020 lockdown catalysed a remarkable ascent: within four years, his works have been exhibited at the Barbican, Christie’s, Sotheby’s Institute and internationally in Dakar and Brooklyn, in dialogue with artists such as Jean-Michel Basquiat.

 

Leopold’s practice is grounded in an ethos of care and transformation. As a vocal mental health advocate and Place2Be Champion, he extends his commitment beyond the studio, leading workshops across the UK and lecturing at institutions including Sotheby’s Institute and UEL. His first book, Art for the Heart, a meditation on creativity and healing, is stocked in museums such as MoMA, Tate Modern and the Wellcome Collection. He also sits on the board of The Africa Centre, continuing to shape cultural discourse through both practice and leadership.

 

At its core, Leopold’s work speaks to the power of reinvention. It reflects an artist unafraid to bring the rigour of one world into the imaginative possibilities of another – proving that creativity and strategy, vulnerability and strength, can not only coexist but create a legacy of enduring resonance.

 
Exhibitions
Solo Exhibition, Gallery@OXO (2020)
Art Number 23 Group Exhibition, Athens (2021)
Xavier Leopold Exhibition, Soho House White City Studios (2022)
Xavier Leopold Installation, Soho House Brixton Studios (2022)
The Lion Mountains Exhibition, Gallery@OXO, Supported by Beats By Dre (2022)
Ambivalent Paradox Group Exhibition, Omaka Gallery (2023) 
Plurality Now Group Exhibition, 198 Contemporary Arts Gallery (2023) 
ING Discerning Eye Group Exhibition, Mall Galleries, co-curated by Peju Oshin, Gagosian (2023)
Together We Thrive, Sothebys Institute and Culture&, in collaboration with Gallery OCA  (2024)
Legacy, Group exhibition, exhibited alongside the late Jean Michel Basquiat, The Bishop Gallery, Brooklyn NYC (2024)

Christies Inc, Christies Lates Group Exhibition, London (2024 )

HSBC HQ, Quasar Group Exhibition, London (2024)

 ‘Reclaiming Narratives’ Group Exhibition, Liberty London (2024)

How Do We Reconcile, Group Exhibition, Copeland Gallery (2024)

Dakar Biennale, Past, Present Future, OFF Programme, Senegal (2024)

Barbican Centre, Echoes of Identity, Group Exhibition, London  (2025)

Ancestral Threads & Present Steps, Royal College of Art, MA Show, London (2025)

 
Publications & Workshops 
The ‘iCan’ workshop, St.Peters Primary School, Documented by The BBC (2020)

Brixton Studios, Soho House, ‘Art For The Heart’  Children's Workshop (2021)

'Art For The Heart' Published, Hachette Book Group Publishing  (2022) 

Edinburgh Book Festival Delivered ‘Art For The Heart’ Children's workshop (2022)

Guest Workshop Facilitator, Kid's Lit Fest, 198 Contemporary Arts Gallery (2024)
Guest Workshop Facilitator, Kid's Lit Fest, Station Hall Herne Hill  (2024)
Art Workshop with Knightsbridge School, Place2be Charity and The Week Junior Magazine (2024)
Commissioned by Wellcome Collection to deliver a project with neurodivergent pupils from their partnering school, Ian Mikardo High School (2024)
Sculpture Making Workshop Host, Dulwich Picture Gallery (2025)
 
Philanthropy, Community Engagement and Professional Contributions

£65,000 raised for Black Minds Matter UK through inaugural solo exhibition (2020)

Judging Panelist for The Week Junior Book Awards (2024) 
Art critc, LA Foundation (2024)
Artwork donation, Place2be Fundraising Gala  (2024)
Artwork donation, Student Mind charirty,  Online Auction   (2025)
 
Public Speaking
Guest Speaker at Charter School East Dulwich, Year 7  (2023)
Guest Panelist, Cromwell Place, 'Diversity in the Arts' , led by Jonathan Woolfson, Director at Sothebys Institute, Hosted by Peju Oshin, Associate Director at Gagosian (2024)
Guest Lecturer at  University Of East London (UEL) Undergraduate Students (2024)
Panel Discussion at Design District, Source The Area (2024)
Guest Lecturer at University Of East London (UEL) Post-Graduate Students (2024)
Guest Lecturer, Sothebys Institute, Post-Graduate Students (2024)
Guest Lecturer at Sothebys Institute, Undergraduate Exchange Students (2024)
In Conversation with Sarah Staton, Dulwich Picture Gallery (2025)
Guest Lecturer at Sothebys Institute, Post-Graduate Students (2025)
 
Notables & collections 
Xavier’s art has been acquired by both private and corporate collections, including global management consulting firm Bain & Company (2022)
Art For The Heart is stocked at institutions such as Museum Of Modern Art (MoMa) and Tate (2023)
Appointed Champion at Place2be Charity - Patron, HRH The Princess of Wales (2023)
Honoured by his former primary school in St.James CE, which named their Year 6 class the “Year 6 Leopold” class in his name (2024)