James English Leary’s paintings are picture-objects that playfully subvert both comprehension and structure while satirizing commonly accepted “readings” of painting. The artist frequently constructs his compositions out of shaped substrates; he assembles each work from component parts, starting with the stretcher and fabric, and ending with the color and figures. Leary employs serialization and decorative motifs in his paintings to destabilize identity and blur the line between figuration and abstraction.