On view through March 8th, 2015
Munch Gallery is proud to present 'Travels with Johnny', a painting exhibition of New York artist Scooter LaForge. This is the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery.
The work is centered around a cross-country roadtrip, late 2013, in the company of his beloved friend, Johnny Rozsa. It’s a recollection of passing land, renewed from destitute to abundant, spun with light and colors. A roadside memorial’s fallen petals, an eye of an owl. The wrath...
On view through March 8th, 2015
Munch Gallery is proud to present 'Travels with Johnny', a painting exhibition of New York artist Scooter LaForge. This is the artist’s second solo exhibition with the gallery.
The work is centered around a cross-country roadtrip, late 2013, in the company of his beloved friend, Johnny Rozsa. It’s a recollection of passing land, renewed from destitute to abundant, spun with light and colors. A roadside memorial’s fallen petals, an eye of an owl. The wrath of nature and man, equally haunting and beautiful, as it unravels the structures of the land, and of the mind. All while flowers lie with the softest intent.
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ARTIST STATEMENT
In November, 2013, I packed my bags for an adventure. I drove with my good friend and brilliant photographer, Johnny Rozsa,and his three dogs, across America and back. I was eager to leave the city. Within our first minutes of driving, I noticed the radio didn’t work. I didn’t care.
Johnny brought the first edition of John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley. I read it aloud while Johnny drove. I read this book cover to cover and it was perfect. Steinbeck’s book is a 1960 road trip around the United States, in the company of his standard poodle, Charley. Johnny and I were doing the same trip with his poodle, Stella, and his two Chinese Cresteds, Hobson and Gypsy.
With my sketch pad, paints and canvases I was all set. Johnny was the perfect traveling companion, and the dogs were angels. We drove from state to state, and stopped where we wanted to. I started to draw and paint small details of beauty that caught my eye. We stopped in Pennsylvania and I saw an incredible spiderweb, with gorgeous butterflies trapped in the web. In Indiana I snapped a photo of a beautiful bullet hole in the window of an abandoned store. These small details of life spoke to me.
I got to visit my family in Arizona and Utah, and draw and paint portraits of my Dad and Niece. I saw my sister Patty. After 10 years of not seeing each other we both broke down in tears of joy. We both have gotten older and have lived our different lives.
I put my heart and soul in these paintings. They are my most personal images and I am very proud of them. I am so grateful to Johnny for inviting me to ride with him across America. The memories will last me for the rest of my life.
I have spent the last year and a half working on these 15 paintings. Each one has a piece of my heart and mind.
Scooter LaForge, January 2015