Leonard Koren (born January 4, 1948) is an American artist, aesthetics expert and writer.

Leonard Koren in San Francisco, 1985
This Zen garden of Ryōan-ji demonstrates the aesthetic of wabi-sabi. It was built during the Higashiyama period

Life and work

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Leonard Koren was born in New York City in 1948, and raised in Los Angeles. In 1969, he co-founded the Los Angeles Fine Arts Squad, a mural painting group. He attended UCLA, graduating with a master's degree in Architecture and Urban Planning in 1972.[1] After graduation, Koren worked as an artist in Los Angeles, where his work focused on bathing environments.

In 1976, Koren founded WET Magazine – a periodical dedicated to gourmet bathing,[2] which was influential in the development of postmodern aesthetics.[3] In 1981, WET magazine ceased publication, and Koren moved to Japan, where he wrote several works on aesthetics. From 1983 through 1986 produced a column on Cultural Anthropology for a Japanese magazine. In particular, Koren wrote Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers, which helped bring the Japanese concept of Wabi-Sabi into western aesthetic theory.[4][5] Currently Koren lives in San Francisco.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Leonard Koren Bio". Leonardkoren.com. Leonard Koren. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  2. ^ Green, Penelope (September 22, 2010). "An Idiosyncratic Designer, a Serene New Home". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  3. ^ VASQUEZ, PERRY (December 18, 2011). "Leonard Koren Interview: Making WET". agitpropspace.org. AgitProp. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  4. ^ "Leonard Koren's way of wabi-sabi". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  5. ^ GREEN, PENELOPE (September 22, 2010). "An Idiosyncratic Designer, a Serene New Home". The New York Times. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
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