Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard created 29 audiovisual works together. By the time they met in 1988, Leonard was already creating sound for video and performances by Tony Oursler, Constance De Jong and Sam Durant. Leonard created electroacoustic compositions for Campos-Pons’ first film and video, Rito de Iniciación (1988) and Baño Sagrado (1990). Since 2010, all of Leonard and Campos' large scale pieces were co-credited, such as installations and performances for the 11 Bienal de Havana, Guggenheim Museum, Smithsonian Institute National Portrait Gallery, 55th Venice Biennale and documenta 14, for which they developed thematic material, curators relations and explored sites as a team.  

An illustrated version of this document is available upon request. 

CO-AUTHORED WORKS

Commission, concept, execution co-credited Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

1. Bar Matanzas (2017) 

Pavilion by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Visual: 

• Graphic and interior design

• Single channel video 

• Backlit paintings on textile

• furniture by Cuban designer Clara Porsete

Sound: 

• Ten live performances by Leonard with Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, Phill Niblock, Amnon Wolman, Ali Moraly

• 2-channel video score comprising Leonard’s alto saxophone, Cuban field recordings and voices by members of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas 

• Pavilion acoustical design

Commissioned by documenta 14; Curated by Adam Szymczyk and Monika Szewczyk

2. Matanzas Sound Map (2017) 

Installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Sculpture: Cast glass, blown glass, handmade paper, coconut tree bark, coconuts shells, Calea stone

Sound: 10-channel composition comprising Leonard’s alto saxophone, Cuban field recordings and voices by members of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas

Duration circa: 16:00

Commissioned by documenta 14; Curated by Adam Szymczyk and Monika Szewczyk

3. Matanzas (2017) 

Video by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Images: Campos-Pons and Leonard shot at the Robert Rauschenberg Residency, Captiva, Florida

Sound: 2-channel video score comprising Leonard’s alto saxophone, Cuban field recordings and voices by members of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas 

Video editing: Leonard

Duration circa: 6:00

Premiered in Screen Compositions 13, Experimental Intermedia Studio, NYC

Curated by Katherine Liberovskaya

4. Identified (2016) 

Performance by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Performance/spoken word:

• Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons

• Monifa Love

• Dell Hamilton

• Helina Metaferia

Sound for three ensembles in discreet galleries:

• saxophone, trumpet, keyboard, 3 congas (Kogod Couryard)

• jazz orchestra (flanking spiral stairway from 1st to 3rd floor)

• 3 vocal, 3 bata (3rd floor gallery)

Music performed by: 

• Neil Leonard – soprano/alto saxophones, electronics, composer

• Terence Blanchard - trumpet

• Oriente Lopez percussion/flute/piano

• Ramon Garcia Perez “Sandy"

• Lázaro Cárdenas Batel -percussion

• Vanessa Fredrickson voice

• Oscar Rousseaux -Cuban percussionist / vocalist 

• Randy Rosso-Cuban percussionist / vocalist 

• Ernesto Gattel - percussion

• Frank Williams- percussionist

• Duke Ellington School Jazz Band

Duration circa: 40:00

Commissioned by Smithsonian Institute National Portrait Gallery, Washington D.C; Curated by Dorothy Moss.

5. Alchemy of the Soul (2016) 

Installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Sculpture: Cast glass, blown glass, glass running fountain 

Sound: 10-channel composition comprising Leonard’s saxophone, Cuban field recordings and chants by Los Muñequitos de Matanzas

Duration circa: 11:00

Commissioned and purchased by Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA; Curated by Josh Basseches.

6. Agridulce (Bittersweet) (2016) 

Performance by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Sound performed by: 

Neil Leonard - soprano and alto saxophones, composer

Oriente Lopez – keyboard, percussion

Sandy Perez –percussion 

Ernesto Diaz –percussion (January 9)

Yusnier Sanchez Bustamante –percussion (January, 21)

Vanessa Lindberg – voice 

Duration circa: 15:00

Commissioned by Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA; Curated by Josh Basseches

7. Conversando (2014)

Processional performance by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Sound: Performed by Leonard with Brazilian folkloric musicians. 

Commissioned by the 3ª Bienal da Bahia; Curated by Ana Pato.

8. Habla Madre (2014) 

Processional performance by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Performance/spoken word: Campos Pons, Natasha Diggs

Music performed by:

Neil Leonard - bass clarinet, composer

Jen Baker - trombone

Monique Buzzarté - trombone

Dick Griffin - trombone

Kiane Zawadi - euphonium

Jay Rozen - tuba

Joseph Daley - tuba

Oriente Lopez - percussion, flute

Roman Diaz - percussion, voice

Diego Lopez - bata, voice

Duration circa 30:00

Premiered in the rotunda of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY for Carrie Mae Weems, Past Tense, Future Perfect; Curated by Carrie Mae Weems

9. Rosa de los Vientos, Rose of the Winds (2013) 

Processional performance by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Sound performed by:

Neil Leonard – soprano/alto saxophones, composer

Oriente Lopez - bata, flute

Mauricio Herrera - bata, voice

Roman Diaz - bata, voice

Premiered by the Queens Museum of Art, NY; Curated by Rachel Weingeist

10. 53+1=54+1=55. Letter of the Year (2013) 

Installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Sculpture: 100 rattan bird cages; 55 media players for audio and video; 80 bamboo sticks; 18 custom designed audio speakers 

Sound: 18-channel non-repeating sound composition based on Cuban field recordings of street criers (Pregoneros) by Leonard

Commissioned by Cuban Pavilion, 55th Venice Biennale, Italy; Curated by Jorge Fernandez and Giacomo Zaza

11. Fefa (2013)

Processional performance by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Sound performed by 

Neil Leonard, soprano saxophone, composer

Jason Lim, violin

Feliciano Arango, bass, voice, percussion, composer

Eugenio Arango, voice, percussion

Cristina Arango, voice, percussion

Commissioned by Cuban Pavilion, 55th Venice Biennale, Italy; Curated by Jorge Fernandez and Giacomo Zaza.

12. Llego Fefa (2012) 

Performance by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Sound: Pregonero (street crier) completion at Centro Wifredo Lam  

11 Bienal de Habana, Curated by Jorge Fernandez 

13. Llego Fefa (2012) 

Processional performance by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Sound: saxophone and Pregoneros (street criers)

11 Bienal de Habana on Havana Malecon (Detras del Muro), Curated by Juanito Delgado

14. 1470 MB (2010) 

Performance by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Sound: performance by four Pregoneros (street criers)

Casa Las Americas, Havana, Cuba

COLLABORATIVE WORKS

Works by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons in collaboration with by Neil Leonard

1. Llego FeFa.Remedios II (2018) 

Performance by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons with sound by Neil Leonard

Sound: electronic sound composition

Colby College, Maine

2. Cuba Walk (2012)  

Single channel silent video by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons and Neil Leonard

Camera and video editing by Neil Leonard 

Shot on Malecon, Havana, Cuba

3. My Mother Told Me I Am Chinese. China Porcelain (2008) 

Installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons with sound by Neil Leonard

Sound: 2-channel electroacoustic composition

Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 

3. My Mother Told Me I Am Chinese. China Porcelain (2008) 

Performance by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons with sound by Neil Leonard

Sound: 2-channel live electroacoustic composition 

Davis Museum and Cultural Center, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 

4. Paul Robeson Installation (2007) 

Installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons with sound by Neil Leonard

Visual: custom designed wallpaper, video

Sound: Recording of Leonard performing solo bass clarinet composition

Paul Robeson Home, Philadelphia, PA

5. Sono Qui (I Am Here) (2006)  

Performance by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons with sound by Neil Leonard

Music performed by: 

Neil Leonard – alto/soprano saxophones, composer

Gadi Sassoon - laptop/turntables

Ernestico Rodriguez - Cuban percussion 

Galleria Pack, Milan, Italy

6. Interiorita o Luna Sulla Colina (2003) 

Permanent outdoor mixed media installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons with sound by Neil Leonard

Sculpture: alabaster spheres, backlight with text by César Vallejo, video 

Sound: 2-channel electroacoustic composition with text by César Vallejo

Duration circa: 12:00

Commissioned by La Marrana di Montemarcello, Italy; Curated by Salah Hassan and Gabi Scardi.

7. Mil Maneras Para Decir Adios/Threads of Memory (2002) 

Installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons with sound by Neil Leonard

Sculpture: five-screen video installation, cast cut polymer resin, mild steel, rebar

Sound: 2-channel electroacoustic composition 

Duration circa: 7:00

Commissioned by Sonia Henie Onstad Museum, Oslo, Norway; Curated by Selene Wendt.

8. Meanwhile the Girls Were Playing (2000) 

Installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons with sound by Neil Leonard

Sculpture: metallic organdy, silk, embroidered fabric, pâte de verre flowers. four projected video tracks

Sound: 4-channel non-repeating electroacoustic composition 

Commissioned by MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA; Curated by Jennifer Riddell

9. Spoken Softly with Mama (1998) 

Installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons with sound by Neil Leonard

Sculpture: embroidered sild and organza over ironing boards with photographic transfers, embroidered cotton sheets, pâte de verre irons and trivets, wooden benches, six projected video tracks

Sound: 4-channel non-repeating electroacoustic composition 

Commissioned by Museum of Modern Art, NYC, NY. Curated by Sally Berger; Collection of National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Canada 

10. History of People Who Were Not Heroes: A Town Portrait (1994) 

Installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons with sound by Neil Leonard

Sculpture: wood, glass, steel, clay tablets, black-and-white photographs, 3-channel video

Sound: 2-channel electroacoustic composition 

Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 

11. The Herbalists Tools (1994)

Installation by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons with sound by Neil Leonard

Sculpture: acrilic on wood, photographs, aluminum casserole pans, corn meal, machetes, etched glass bowls, pressed word, live plants, fresh herbs

Sound: 2-channel electroacoustic composition 

Commissioned by Maryland Institute College of Art

12. Baño Sagrado (1990) 

Single channel video by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons with sound by Neil Leonard

Video: Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons

Sound: composition for alto saxophone, bells, clay flute, interactive music system by Leonard

Duration circa: 31:00

Commissioned by the Wester Front, Vancouver, Canada; Curated by Kate Craig

13. Rite of Initiation (1988)

Single channel film by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons with sound by Neil Leonard

Film: Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons

Sound: electroacoustic composition for Super 8 film by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons

Duration circa: 10:00

14. A Woman at the border/Una Mujer en la Frontera (1989) 

Invitation card for exhibition by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons designed by Neil Leonard

SOHO 20 Gallery, New York, NY 

Work by Neil Leonard in collaboration with Maria-Magdalena Campos-Pons

1. Reverberations II (2016) 

Performance by Neil Leonard and Rudresh Mahanthappa with Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons

Music performed by:

Neil Leonard, soprano/alto saxophones, live electronics, compositions

Rudresh Mahanthappa, soprano/alto saxophones, live electronics, compositions

Video by Maria Magdalena Campos-Pons

Duration circa 40:00

Premiered at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum; Curated by Pieranna Cavalchini.