| news, views
and interviews etcetera |
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225
Canyon Road
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 |
phone 505.820.2787
fax 505.984.2787
info@altitudefineart.com |
I
am now represented in New Mexico by a new gallery in
Santa Fe, Altitude Fine Art, located on Canyon Rd.
The vision of gallery owner/director Christopher Rote
(see his mission
statement) is to bring high quality figurative
work to Santa Fe and I am happy to be showing my work
amidst such good company.
Other artists currently represented
are: Rupert Alexander, Lyndall Bass, Paige Bradley, Kevin
Gorges, Dan Hughes, Jean Charles Lopez, Leo Mancini-Hresko,
Predrag Pajdic, Christopher Rote, Cody Swanson..
Gallery Hours are :
10 am - 5 pm Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday
and Sunday, 10 am - 6 pm Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
http://altitudefineart.com/
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| 'WHAT MAY BE' |
| February 16 - March 1, 2008 |
I have been
invited to take part in a show at the Douglas Udell gallery
in Vancouver, British Columbia, which opens on February 16th
2008 and runs for two weeks until March.
I have not had the opportunity to exhibit in Canada before
and I happily welcome this chance.
The show will be viewable online onwards from a week before
its opening - DouglasUdellgallery.com |
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'40
PORTRAITS / 40 ARTISTS' |
| January
7 - March 1 , 2008 |
Who says all artists are self
obsessed?
My red self-portrait is in a show right now at Gallery One
in Ellensburg, Washington until March 1st. Curated by gallery
director Robert Tomlinson and dedicated to artists' portraits
of themselves.
Artists included
are: Lauren Ari,
Ree Brown
Justin Colt Beckman,
Therese Brown,
Rory Burke,
Larry Calkins,
Steve Davis,
Dianna Elliott,
Richard Elliott,
Stephen John Ellis ,
Carlee Fernandez,
Scott Fife,
Geoff Flack,
Angela Fraleigh ,
Mary Frances,
Jazno Francoeur,
Barbara Fugate,
Anne Grigich,
Joseph Guggino ,
Molly Hill,
Claire Johnson,
Scott Kolbo,
Mona Kuhn,
Geoffrey Laurence,
Donna Malek,
Fiona McGuigan,
Steven Miller,
Charlotte Niel,
Jane Orleman,
Alan Pace,
Ann Ploeger,
Dorothy Rissman,
Stephen Rue,
Tom Semple,
Anne Siems,
John Sloan,
Francesca Sundsten,
Kate Stigdon ,
Joanna Thomas,
Keith Tilford,
Amanda Triggs,
Elliott Wall ,
Tilde Weems ,
John White,
Helene Wilder,
Claude Zervas.
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408 N Pearl Street
Ellensburg, WA |
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THE
ASHEN RAINBOW |
| Essays on the Arts
and the Holocaust |
| by Ori Z. Soltes |
| published by
Eshel Books, 2007 |
Professor
Soltes has a written a series of essays, now pubished as a
book, on the arts in relation to the Holocaust and in it he
refers to some of my work. It is serious and thought provoking.
From his preface:
" The juxtoposition
of the terms 'Arts' and 'Holocaust' seems inherently paradoxical;
the one pertaining to creation and the other to destruction.
The fact is the two not only coexist, they are the mirror
of the coexistent power of creation and destruction across
the history and geography of human beings."
to read a further excerpt click here |
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| The
Teaching Company |
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| 'Art
across the Ages' |
| Taught by Prof.
Ori Z. Soltes - Course # 7150 |
The Teaching Company is famous for its many fascinating
courses on tape and DVD and I am honoured to be included in their
latest art history course. Ori Soltes, professor of Theology
and Fine Arts at Georgetown University has created a series
of lectures called
'Art across the Ages', filled with
unique and new insights into the history of western art
. Following one of his recurring themes - that of the transformation
and reconfiguration of ideas in art across the centuries - he
discusses my painting 'Hold Fast' in some depth in the lecture
entitled "Art, Politics and Religion from era to era". |
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| Photo
by Peter Ogilvie |
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Santa
Fean Magazine |
| October / November issue
2007 |
Its rare that I get the pleasure of actually seeing my work hanging
in the homes of my collectors, so I am thrilled to see a
picture of George and Lynn Goldstein's living room in the
October issue of Santa Fean magazine. |
"The
couple hang the art they both feel most passionate about
in the public areas of their home. The living/dining area's
diamond plaster walls are replete with large-scale figurative
paintings by New Mexico artists including Geoffrey Laurence" |
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| 14th ANNUAL REALISM INVITATIONAL 2007 |
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| October 5 -
November 5 ,
2007 |
If you are around in Santa Fe in October, I have work in
the invitational realism show at Klaudia Marr Gallery on
Canyon Rd, now in its 14th year.
Artists included this year
are: William Barnes, Michael Bergt, David Michael Bowers,
Robert Brawley, Laura Brink, Pamela Carroll, Tricia Cline,
Julie Comnick, Morgan Craig, Craig Cully, Daniel David,
Lynn Davison, Marc Dennis, Mary Frances Dondelinger,
Don Eddy, Emilia Faro, Toc Fetch, William Fogg, Steven
Graber, Tyson Grumm, Julia Hunkins, Daniel Jackson, Jared
Joslin, Steven Kenny, , Alan Magee, David Mauldin, Susan
McDonnell, Heidi McFall, Kenney Mencher, John Nava, Brian
O'Connor, Larry Ogan, Laura Orchard, Jaime Valero Perandones, Robert Peterson, Antonio Roybal, Aristides Ruiz, Jorge Santos, Gustavo Schmidt, Myra Schuetter, Jeanette Pasin Sloan, Steve Smulka, Michael Sokolis, JoanneTeasdale, Jared Antonio-Justo Trujillo, Timur Tsaku, Eric Wert, Rodney Wood, Irina Zaytceva, Eric Zener, Baochi Zhang... and of course myself.
View the show online at KlaudiaMarrGallery.com |
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New York Academy 'SUMMER
EXHIBIT 2007' |
| June 7th through July 18th |
If you happen to be in Manhattan over the next
month, I am currently in a group show at the New York Academy
of Art, curated by
Vincent Desiderio,
Eric Fischl and
Jenny Saville.
The show is open daily from 1:00 pm - 7:00 pm at 111 Franklin
Street, New York, tel
212.966.0300
The show is viewable online on the NYAA site: |
| Summer Exhibition
2007 |
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| Albuquerque
Journal North |
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| Friday, March 23,
2007 |
'Santa Fe Artists
Share a Passion at Their Weekly Sessions
by Kathaleen Roberts |
"Painter Geoffrey Laurence takes an ambidextrous approach
to charcoal and pastel, his blackened fingers testament to his
dual skills as he captures steep contrasts in shadows and light.
Laurence shows his work at LewAllen Contemporary. He likens
drawing to a musician's scales.
"Artists have to draw all the time," he said. "Rembrandt
was sketching constantly. It's like exercise. If I don't draw
for three weeks, it starts to go. It's just like a muscle."
He taught himself to work with both hands, insisting each appendage
possesses its own character.
"The left is more female; the right is more male," Laurence
said. "The left is curvilinear, the right is more linear.
Why walk around with this one thing that's hanging down there
like a dead limb? We don't use one foot." |
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Photo:
Eddie Moore |
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| Art In America |
| March 2007 issue |
'Artworld'
Not to be outdone by Art
News magazine's mispelling of my first name in the April 2002
issue, Art In America magazine decided this month to have done
with the weird spelling altogether and changed it to "Gregory".
Thanks!
George Sugarman (1912-1999), was a prolific and controversial
American artist. Always interested in the well-being of dedicated
artists, Sugarman provided for them in his will.
In an era
when much visual art fails to address the profound existing
issues of violence, poverty, war and discrimination, the George
Sugarman Foundation offers annual grants to painters and sculptors
who are engaged in the creation of artworks that incorporate
humane themes. |
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Howard
Tullman's Collection |
| 'Hindsight'
blog' |
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| Collector Howard Tullman
posted his purchase of my painting '9-11' on his blog
site 'Hindsight' so I am returning the compliment here.
Scroll down
and click on any name to view works in his amazing collection.
I'm in good company! |
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| Art-Talk magazine |
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| February 2007 |
| 'Hocus Pocus' by Renee Targos |
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| REMEMBER.ORG -
HOLOCAUST WEBSITE |
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| Remember.org
is currently featuring an online exhibit of my holocaust
related work . The site includes many interesting holocaust
related items. I am honored to be on it. |
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| Los Angeles Art Show 2007 |
| January 25th - 28th |
Booth P-129 |
Lewallen
Contemporary will be showing my work, along with other gallery
artists at the Los Angeles Art Fair in Santa Monica, CA.
at the end of this month.
Look for
their booth in the Barker Hangar if you happen to be visiting. |
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| American Art Collector magazine |
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| January
2007 issue #15 |
| 'The art of the 'other'
Santa Fe' by John O'Hern |
| "One of
the group members is Geoff Laurence, whose large figure paintings
are accomplished with great skill and insight.
Often the subject is posed before a classic
painting, adding another layer of interpretation and demonstrating
his mastery of technique. His work, Collateral Damage
(page 45), features a businessman talking on the phone, wearing
a jester's hat and seated before a large painting of a vanquished
foe.
Laurence's comfortable and well-lighted
studio contains myriad studies and sketches
for his paintings, as well as finished drawings
which are works of art in themselves. The
record of the process is fascinating to see." |
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 'THE'
magazine ~ November 06 issue. |
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"Talk
of how the notion of "truth to materials" fits
into your work process." |
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| "Artists prior to
the 20thC made incredibly varied paintings with far fewer
choices of material, just a handful of colors, really, and
much cruder brushes than those manufactured today. My experience
in art has been that less creates more and I usually restrict
myself to a limited palette of no more that 3 or 4 colors.
I don’t
really understand the term ‘realism’ in
painting. Rather than obliterating the brushstrokes, I try
to remain truthful to the materials and let the paint look
like paint. My figures will never walk off the canvas no
matter how much I torture the paint with a fan brush. The
challenge is to make paintings that ‘feel’ like
the life I experience around me and inside me." |
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| Photograph
by Stanley Darland |
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| Profile
on the website 'www.ArtQuotes.net'
up for the month of November 06. Here's the
interview: |
| +1
::: Why are you an artist Geoffrey, and how did you first decide
that art was your path in life? |
I knew
I was interested in art when I was 10 and had a painting
accepted in an exhibit in Nassau, Bahamas where my parents
were then living. I had a very hard time convincing them that
that was my chosen path and in fact they were dead set against
it. I ended up leaving home at 15, moving to London and going
to art school. |
| +2
::: Could you tell us some more about your work? |
I
have always been interested in figure and narrative painting.
I was drawn to classical painting early on, when everyone around
me was into pop art and installations. They bored me stupid
and I couldn’t wait to get back to the National Gallery
every time to find some sanity. I did respect the early 20thC
experiments and was much taken with Picasso for a long time.
I start losing interest somewhere in the painting of the 1950s.
My desire has always been to somehow find a way to marry the
elements of the past with the present. To use classicism in
a modern way. But how? I am still searching. I have absolutely
no interest whatsoever in conceptual art. It means nothing
to me.
I am also driven to paint about the Holocaust as my parents
were both survivors. I keep thinking if I can paint the right
picture, my murdered aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents
will finally leave me in peace. |
| +3
::: In some of your more recent works the backgrounds are painted with Rubenesque nudes and angels. Is there a relationship between them and your subject? |
| Very
much. At first I was using the paintings in the backgrounds to
stop deep space from occurring. I go to great lengths to compress
the space in my paintings and achieve a tension between flatness
and three dimensionality. I realized that I could play narrative
games between the ‘painted’ space in the paintings
in the background and the painted space in the painting. It is
at its most obvious in my latest paintings ‘Quetzal’ and
The Reality of Things’ where the cloth on the foreground
figure literally goes into the painting behind her but she is
painted in a very different way to the ‘painting’.
I never directly copy paintings but rather paint ‘in the
style of’ and manipulate the images for my purpose. I seem
to like painting flying babies a lot at the moment! |
| +4
::: What artists have influenced you, and how? |
| It depends
what year you ask me – Francis Bacon, Picasso, Egon Schiele,
Ferdinand Hodler, Klimt, Munch, Van Dyke, Vermeer, Rubens, George
de la Tour, Fragonard, Boucher, Watteau, Vincent Desidirio, Odd
Nerdrum, etc etc - the list is very long and my interest
comes and goes. They have all given me something even if its
just a feeling that I am not alone or completely crazy. We are
all in this together you know. Art is a relay race going all
the way back to the caves. We hand the baton on and hope the
next guy runs like hell with it. |
| +5
::: You are also an art teacher. How has this influenced your career as an artist? |
| I like
to think that I am of some help to people who have not travelled
so far down the road yet. Making art is a scary experience for
a lot of people and I try and make them feel less scared. I can
help with the how part but not the why part. I wish someone would
help ME with the why part! |
| +6
::: What inspires you to paint and how do you keep motivated when things
get tough in the studio?
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I don’t
know where my ideas come from. They just appear by themselves.
I never feel like its ME making the art, I just turn up for the
job and get my orders. I meet a new model and just start working.
I always work from life. I can’t get anything out of photos
other than photographic reality, which is not what I see when
I look at things around me.
I am usually motivated by boredom more than anything. When my depression reaches
stranglehold pitch, which it seems to do on an increasingly frequent basis, I
try and just get involved in painting or drawing something, anything really,
and within a short while I am usually again absorbed in creating and listening
to the painting instead of my self. I always, however, find I return to a sense
of disbelief in myself and of failure once again to reach whatever I had
felt inside. It’s a cycle that never seems to change. I wish it would.
Its painful. |
| +7
::: How have you handled the business side of being an artist? |
| Badly.
That’s why I am still broke after 45 years of being an
artist. |
| +8
::: Where do you see yourself in 10 years? |
| Hopefully
still painting and not dead. I would like to think that the work
will get better, though that may be too much to ask for. |
| +9
::: What's the best and worst parts of being a full time, working artist? |
| The best part is feeling alive making paintings and the worst part is needing to make paintings to feel alive. In that I mean, when I am painting there are moments that I am actually truly happy. Brief and sporadic as they may be, for those moments I am really one with the universe and not totally dominated by self. But those experiences are highly addictive and have been keeping me obsessed for 45 yrs. It has led me to living a very hard life that is filled with anxiety and fear financially and that most ordinary people cannot even imagine and would not tolerate. It seems to be the lot of artists through the ages. Quite why or what it achieves for us mystifies me. |
| +10
::: What advice would you give to an artist just starting out? |
| Don't give up your day job. Lack of money is the worst part of any artist's career and having another form of income is the best thing an artist could have. I wished now that I had trained as a plumber or an electrician when I was a teenager, as well as art. I would have had choices that are no longer available for me.
Believe in your dreams above all. Without them there is no art. |
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Artwork
images and Web pages from this site are copyright of Geoffrey Laurence and
may not be duplicated
or redistributed
in any form without written permission.
If you would like to use images from this site, please
contact the artist for permission.
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