Scooter LaForge (born 1971) is an American artist based in New York's
East Village. He is a painter and sculptor, and has a line of clothing for
Patricia Field
Patricia Field (born February 12, 1942) is an American costume designer, stylist and fashion designer.
Early life
Field was born in 1942 in New York City to an Armenian father and a Greek mother, who emigrated from Plomari, Lesbos, Greece. Fi ...
and has collaborated with other fashion designers. LaForge's work is "inspired by gay pornography, cute fluffy animals, and sometimes iconic cartoons,"
drawing from a number of pop culture and artistic references, ranging from
Disney and
Popeye to
Keith Haring and
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (, ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), usually simply known as Rembrandt, was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker and draughtsman. An innovative and prolific master in three media, he is generally consid ...
.
''
The New York Times'' has described his work as "recalling the
Neo-Expressionism that was popular in the '80s, the manic Neo-
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...
of
George Condo
George Condo (born 1957) is an American visual artist who works in painting, drawing, sculpture and printmaking. He lives and works in New York City.
Early life
Condo was born in Concord, New Hampshire. He studied art history and musi ...
, and the comics-to-
graffiti-to-canvas style of
Kenny Scharf."
Pop culture journalist
Michael Musto has called him "my favorite living artist".
Early life
LaForge was born James Edward LaForge in 1971 in
Las Cruces, New Mexico.
Work
LaForge earned his BFA from the
University of Arizona in 1993,
and began his career as a painter in San Francisco.
He moved to
New York City in 2001,
where he attended the
Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (Cooper Union) is a private college at Cooper Square in New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-supported École Polytechnique in ...
School of Art under a fellowship.
His art is in the collections of the
Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art and
Beth Rudin DeWoody
Beth Rudin DeWoody (born 1952) is an American art patron, collector, curator, and philanthropist.[Walter Van Beirendonck
Walter Van Beirendonck (born 4 February 1957 in Brecht, Belgium) is a Belgian fashion designer. He is the head of the Fashion Department at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp.
He graduated in 1980 from the Royal Arts Academy in Antwerp. ...]
. His clothing has been worn by
Susanne Bartsch
Susanne Bartsch (born 1962) is a Swiss event producer living in the United States whose monthly parties at the Copacabana in the late 1980s united the ''haute'' and ''demi-monde'', and made her an icon of New York nightlife. "Ms. Bartsch's name ...
,
Sandra Bernhard
Sandra Bernhard (born June 6, 1955) is an American actress, singer, comedian and author. She first gained attention in the late 1970s with her stand-up comedy, where she often critiqued celebrity culture and political figures.
She is perhaps b ...
,
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
,
Miley Cyrus,
Boy George,
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981.
Born in ...
,
Nicki Minaj,
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
,
Iggy Pop
James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...
,
Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...
,
and
Lil Wayne.
Exhibitions
Solo
* 2002 – ''Suicidal Tendencies'', Build, San Francisco
* 2003 – ''No Sleep till Brooklyn'', Landing, Brooklyn
* 2004 – ''Magic'', San Angel Folk Art Gallery, San Antonio
* 2005 – ''Combines'', 12 Little West 12th Street Gallery, New York
* 2007 – ''Land of Enchantment'', Kanvas Gallery, New York
* 2009
** ''Destroy All Monsters'', Live Fast, New York
** ''Nature's Clown'', Envoy Enterprises, New York
** ''New York Monster'', Envoy Enterprises, New York
** ''New Paintings'', La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa
* 2012 – ''Super Powers and Special Abilities'', Munch Gallery, New York
* 2013 – ''Summer Love'', Deluca Gallery, Provincetown
* 2015
** ''Travels with Johnny'', Munch Gallery, New York
** ''New Paintings'', Galerie MX, Montreal
** ''How to Create a Monsterpiece'', Howl! Happening, New York
* 2016 – ''Everything's Going to Be OK'', Theodore Art, Brooklyn
* 2017 – ''The Odyssey'', Jealous Gallery, London
* 2019
** ''Creation of the Animals'', Empirical Nonsense, New York
** ''Homo Eruptus'', Howl! Happening, New York
Group
* 2000 – ''Confess'', Southern Exposure, San Francisco
* 2001 – ''Frenzy'', The Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco
* 2004 – ''Reactions'', Exit Art, New York
* 2005
** ''4 x 4'', Gallery Artopia, Albuquerque
** ''Wooster Projects'', New York
* 2006
** ''Portraits for Marc Jacobs windows'', New York
** ''Cooper Union Group Show'', New York
** ''Scope Hampton'', Stephanie Theodore, New York
* 2007
** ''Remember Jerome'', Bucheon Gallery, San Francisco
** ''The Comic Uncanny'', Shaheen Modern & Contemporary, Cleveland
* 2009
** ''The Thin Veil'', Antebellum Gallery, Los Angeles
** ''Out of Order'', Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York
* 2010
** ''The Salacious Salon Pool Art Fair'', Gershwin Hotel, New York
** ''Gasoline Rainbow'', CS13, Cincinnati
** ''I See Myself in You'', Bronx Art Space, Bronx
** ''Lingering Whispers'', Crypt Gallery at St. Pancras Church, London
** ''Power to the People'', Feature, Inc., New York
** ''Tom of Finland and Then Some'', Feature, Inc., New York
** ''The London Biennale'', Christopher Henry Gallery, New York
* 2011
** ''Wolfpack!'', Splatterpool Artspace, Brooklyn
** ''Queer from Zero to a Hundred'', theater for the New City Gallery, New York
** ''B-B-B-Bad'', Anna Kustera Gallery, New York
** ''Tattoo You'', Munch Gallery, New York
** ''Dirty Show'', City Center Motel, Los Angeles
** ''I Am Not Monogamous'', I Heart Poetry/Feature, Inc., New York
* 2012
** ''Flesh Garden'', YESSR4, Buenos Aries
** ''Fountain Art Fair'', Munch Gallery, New York
** ''Scooter LaForge/Christopher Moss'', Theodore Art, Brooklyn
** ''Wolfpack: Manhattan to Manchester'', Cube Gallery, Manchester
* 2013 – ''Downtown New York'', Broome Street Gallery, New York
* 2014
** ''Boys Keep Swinging'', Summerhall, Edinburgh
** ''Bibbidi-Bibbidi-Boo'', Here Arts Center, New York
** ''Flesh Garden'', La Petite Mort Gallery, Amsterdam
** ''Mad Maus'', Gallery Hotel Particulier, New York
** ''Watermill Center Benefit Auction'', Watermill
** ''Queer Biennial'', Coagula Curatorial, Los Angeles
** ''NEWD Art Fair'', Bushwick, Bushwick
** ''SummerShow2014'', Munch Gallery, New York
* 2015
** ''Interface'', Leslie-Lohman Museum, New York
** ''Powerful Babies'', Spritmuseum, Stockholm
** ''Drawings'', Theodore Art, Brooklyn
* 2019
** ''ICYMI'', Theodore Art, Brooklyn
** ''Stonewall 50/50'', 1969 Gallery, New York
** ''Pride'', Postmasters Gallery, New York
* 2020 – ''Dogs and Bones'', Theodore Art, Brooklyn
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laforge, Scooter
1971 births
21st-century American painters
21st-century American sculptors
American male painters
American male sculptors
Living people
Painters from New York City
People from Las Cruces, New Mexico
Sculptors from New York (state)
University of Arizona alumni