Jenson Leonard

Jenson Leonard (b. 1990, Detroit, Michigan) is a visual artist and lecturer in the Media Study Department at the University at Buffalo's College of Arts and Sciences. His practice bridges digital media, theory, and contemporary critique through the lens of internet culture.

Leonard holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Pratt Institute and has completed significant residencies at Obracadobra (Oaxaca, Mexico), Squeaky Wheel (Buffalo, NY), and Pioneer Works (Brooklyn, NY). His work has been featured in VICE Motherboard, Juxtapoz, AQNB, and Rhizome.

His artistic research centers on the collapsed context of the internet, exploring how digital spaces simultaneously critique and participate in techno-capital excess. Leonard's practice examines Blackness and accelerationism, digital identity politics, and the poetic potential of corporate language. His work often employs uncanny humor as a mechanism to expose shared grammars inherent in Afro-pessimism and speculative finance.

His 2023 solo exhibition Workflow at Pioneer Works represents a significant evolution from his earlier meme work as Cory In The Abyss, demonstrating his trajectory from internet-native creator to institutional artist while maintaining critical engagement with digital culture.

As an educator, Leonard emphasizes conceptual exploration over technical mastery, focusing on media literacy and critical engagement with digital systems. His approach to teaching reflects his artistic philosophy that 'art is arriving at art, the process' rather than achieving technical perfection.