Geoffrey Laurence
Geoffrey Laurence was born in Patterson, New Jersey and moved to England and at the age of four where he lived for the next 38 years. While in England he attended three art schools including Byam Shaw School of Art, and the London College of Printing. Laurence received his Bachelor of Arts at St. Martins School of Art in 1971. Laurence later attended the New York Academy of Art where he attained his MFA Cum Laude in 1995. As a painting and drawing instructor at schools such as Gage Academy of Fine Art, Andreeva Portrait Academy and L.A. Academy of Figurative Art he continues to educate himself and others in the disciplines of art.
Geoffrey Laurence has been drawing and painting the figure for more than thirty years. Not very interested in pop art or conceptual art of his contemporaries he found himself more engaged with the luminosity of the figures seen in the museums of old masters. He works with a three-layer oil painting process known as indirect painting using glazes and color to highlight his structural forms with the objective to use classicism in a modern way. Geoffrey’s work explores the relationship between the contemporary figure and specific classical paintings. Though his work utilizes the knowledge of 600 years of classical painting there is an intention to maintain a connection between the old master's techniques and its relationship to the representation of the modern figure. Laurence does not consider himself a naturalistic realist but is more concerned with the challenges of creating an emotional narrative that speaks to modern times. Laurence considers himself more of an “emotionalist” or “feelist” rather than the typical classification of a contemporary realist.
EDUCATION:
1993-95 New York Academy of Art (MFA cum laude)
1969-71 St. Martins School of Art (BA)
1968-69 London College of Printing
1965-68 Byam Shaw school of Art (LCAD)
SCHOLARSHIPS:
1995 Santa Fe Institute of Fine Art
1994 New York Academy of Art
1993 New York Academy of Art
AWARDS:
2004 Robert Rauschenburg Award
1995 Walter Erlebacher Award
1995 J. Epstein Travel Award
SOLO SHOWS:
2006 LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2005 ‘Iswaswillbe’ Meisel Art Centre, Denver, Colorado
2001 ‘The Shape of Life’ Linda Durham Contemporary Art, New Mexico
2000 ‘The Truth dazzles gradually’ Spazio Gallery, Austin , Texas
1998 ‘New Paintings’ Fred Kline Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1997 ‘New works’ Fred Kline Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1991 Kunstsalon Straetz, Freiburg, Germany
1990 Bartleys Gallery, Dulwich, UK
1990 Pineapple South Kensington, London, UK
1990 Chelsea Arts Club, London, UK
GROUP SHOWS:
2009 Skotia Gallery,Santa fe, New Mexico
2009 Drawings Show Invitational, Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2008 ‘New Realism’, Altitude Fine Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2008 ‘What May Be’ Douglas Udell Gallery, Vancouver, B.C. Canada
2008 ‘40 Portraits/40 Artists’ Gallery-One, Ellensburg, Washington
2007 Altitude Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2007 ‘14th Realism Invitational’ Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2007 ‘Summer Exhibition ‘07’, New York Academy, New York City,New York
2007 Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2007 ‘LA Art Fair’ Los Angeles, California
2006 ‘Affaire d’Arte’ Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, Florida
2006 ‘The Magnificent Subject’ St.John’s College, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2005 ‘Drawings’ (Curator Sandy Besser) Klaudia Marr Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2005 ‘Small Works’ LewAllen Contemporary, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2005 ‘IX Santa Fe Artists’ (Cur. Prof. J. Mann) Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada
2005 ‘Drawings’ Seattle Academy of Art, Seattle, Washington.
2004 ‘Dualities’ LewAllen Contemporary (Curator K. Chang Liu) , Santa Fe, New Mexico
2004 The Impact of War (Curator D. Dominick Lombardi) online www.art.com
2004 ‘Summer In San Francisco’, John Pence Gallery, San Francisco, California
2004 Pacini Lubel Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2004 ‘Allegory’, John Pence Gallery, San Francisco, California
2004 3rd Annual National Drawing Show, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2004 ‘Re-Presenting Representation’, John Pence Gallery, San Francisco, California
2004 Master Artists Workshop Exhibition, Armory Art Center, West Palm Beach, Florida
2003 2nd Annual National Drawing Show, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2003 Fred Kline Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2003 The Peace Show, Center for Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2003 Portrait of My Mother, Center for Contemporary Art, Sacramento, CA
2003 Re-Presenting Representation VI, Arnot Art Museum, Elmira, New York
2003 New American Drawings, F. Kline Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2003 Master Artists Workshop Exhibition, Armory Art Center, Florida
2002 Fred Kline Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2002 ‘Figurative Works’ Invitational, Armory Art Center, Florida
2002 ‘Take Home a Nude’, New York Academy, New York
2002 ARCO,Linda Durham Contemporary Art, Madrid, Spain
2001 ‘Jewish Artists on the Edge’ Yeshiva University Museum, New York
2001 ‘Take Home a Nude’ New York Academy, New York
2000 ‘The American Scene 2’ Van Vechten-Lineberry Museum, Taos, New Mexico
2000 Lizardi Harp Gallery, Los Angeles, California
2000 ‘Real illusions’ Van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2000 ‘Jewish artists : On the Edge’, The Marion Center, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2000 ‘Paper Made’ Van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1999 ‘Bid for the Birds’, Audubon Society, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1999 ‘The American Scene’ Van Vechten-Lineberry Museum, Taos, New Mexico
1999 ‘Out West’ Plan B Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1999 ‘Liberation’ Van de Griff Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1999 ‘A Figurative Renaissance’ Turner Carroll Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1998 ‘Healing Wings’ W. Campbell Gallery, Ft. Worth, Texas
1998 ‘Dialogues with Visual Tradition’ New York Academy, New York
1998 ‘New Work, New Faces’ W. Campbell, Ft. Worth, Texas
1998 3rd S.F. Invitational Still Life Exhibition, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1998 ‘Take Home a Nude’ New York Academy, New York
1998 ‘Talent’ Alan Stone Gallery, New York
1997 Fred Kline Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1997 ‘An Invasion of Privacy’ J.McEnroe Gallery, New York
1997 William Campbell Gallery, Ft. Worth, Texas
1997 ‘Expressions 97’ Rocky H. Aoki Gallery, New York
1997 ‘101 Cups’ Karen Ruhlen Gallery, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1996 ‘Expressions of Mortality’ Spring St. Studios, New York
1996 ‘Talent’ Alan Stone Gallery, New York
1993 ‘Andrew Ususkind Gallery, London, UK
1992 5th Internationale Kunstaustellung, Freiburg, Germany
1992 Thumb Gallery, London, UK
1992 Helene Marks Ltd.,London, UK
1992 Smith’s Gallery Covent Garden, London, UK
1991 Camden Arts Centre, London, UK
1991 Pentonville Gallery, London, UK
1990 Charlotte lampard Gallery, London, UK
1990 Artemis Art, London, UK
1982 Swiss Cottage Library, London, UK
1982 Francis Kyle Gallery, London, UK
1981 Francis Kyle Gallery, London, UK
1980 Francis Kyle Gallery, London, UK
1979 Francis Kyle Gallery, London, UK
1978 The Brighton Museum, Brighton, UK
1978 ‘Six Artists’ University of Newcastle, Newcastle, UK
1978 Tolly Cobbold Touring Show, various, UK
1976 Carol Mann Gallery, London, UK
TEACHING:
1999 - 2009 Painting, Drawing, Anatomy, Gage Academy of Fine Art, Seattle, WA
2005 - 2008 Painting, Drawing, Anatomy, Andreeva Portrait Academy, Santa Fe, New Mexico
2007 Painting, L.A. Academy of Figurative Art, Los Angeles, California
2003 - 2005 Painting, Armory Art Center, Florida
1999 - 2002 Painting, Drawing, Artisans school, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1998 - 2002 Painting, Drawing, Anatomy, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1998 - 2000 Anatomy for Artists, Santa Fe Art Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1998 Painting, Galisteo, New Mexico
1996 Painting, Drawing, New York
PUBLICATIONS:
Portrait of a man’ – American Art Collector (John O’Hern) – June 2008
‘Classical Painting Atelier: A Contemporary Guide to Traditional Studio Practice’ - Juliette Aristides, published by Watson-Guptill- 2008
‘Ashen Rainbow’ - Prof.Ori Z. Soltes, published by Eshel books- 2007
‘Art across the Ages’ - The Teaching Co. (Ori Z. Soltes) - DVD set - 2007
‘The Ashen Rainbow’ - Ori Z. Soltes - Eshel Books (publ.) - 2007
‘Frame of Mind’ - Santa Fean magazine (Hollis Walker) - October/November 2007
‘Let’s Draw!’ - Albuquerque Journal North (Kathaleen Roberts) - 23 March 2007
‘Artworld’ - Art In America - March 2007
‘Magical Realism’ - Art-Talk (Renee Targos) – February 2007
‘The ‘other’ Santa Fe’ - American Art Collector (John O’hern)– January 2007
Online interview - Artquotes.com – November 2006
‘Studio Visit’ – THE magazine – November 2006
‘Laurence’s Lament’ – Santa Fe Reporter (Zane Fischer) – 4 October 2006
Who’s Who in America - 60th edition (Marquis) - 2006
‘Unfolding Realities’ – Westword (Michael Paglia) – 22 December 2005
‘Art from Pain’ – Rocky Mountain News (Mary Voelz Chandler) – 16 December 2005
‘Iswaswillbe’ – Meisel Gallery catalogue notes (Ori Soltes) – 13 November 2005
‘Model Artists’ - Santa Fe Journal North (Kate McGraw) - 28 October 2005
‘Return to Realism’ – Las Vegas Sun (Kristen Peterson) – 31 March 2005
‘Postmodern Is Over!’ – City Life Las Vegas (Kelle Schillaci) – 24 March 2005
“Fresh Perspective” – Santa Fe Journal North (John Arnold) – 18 March 2005
“Fixing the World” – Ori Soltes – University Press of New England – 2003
“Peace & War” – Albuquerque Journal North (Tom Collins) – 23 May 2003
“Art of War” – Pg 3 - Santa Fe Reporter – 14 May 2003
“The Art Of War” cover story - Santa Fe Reporter – 7 May 2003
“Representing Representation IV” – Arnot Museum (John O’Hern) – April 2003
“Jewish Artists on the Edge” - Art News (Charles Ruas) – April 2002
“Painting the Holocaust” - The Jerusalem Report– April 22 2002
“Who owns the show?” – The Jerusalem Report (Yigal Scheifer) – February 25 2002
“Gallery Previews” – The Santa Fean – January 2002
“Body Language” - Albuquerque Journal North (Joe Basiste) – 21 December 2001
“Jewish Artists on the Edge” – Ori Soltes – Yeshiva University Museum - 2000
Radio interview – KTTX, Austin, Texas - 5 May 2000
“Reality is Focus” – Austin American Statesman (Michael Barnes) – May 2000
“Art of the Covenant” – The New Mexican (Lynn Cline) – 2 June 2000
“Gallery Examines Modern Realism” - Albuquerque Journal North (Joe Basiste) – 14 July 2000
“The Genetic Surprise” - Wilson Quarterly (Philip J Longman) – Autumn – 2000
“Arts & Culture” - Hadassah Magazine (Judith Fein) – October 2000
“Out West” – Harmony Hammond – CCA Inc. – 1999
“Out West” – THE Magazine – October – 1999
“New American Paintings” - #24 – Open Studios Press – November 1999
“Artists Express Visual Truth” Taos News (Phaedra Greenwood) – September 1999
“Gallery Spotlight” – Santa Fe Focus (Emily Van Cleve) – June 1999
“Slice of Life” – Taos News (Rick Romancito) – 9 September 1999
“Tension Gives an Energy Beyond the Ordinary”- The New Mexican (Joe Quattro) - 6 August 1999
“Taos Art Museum” – Santa Fe Focus (Suzanne Deats) – August 1999
“ NM Artists Enjoy National Exposure” - Albuquerque Journal (Wesley Pulkka) – 21 November 1999
“The Missing Nude” – The New Mexican (Hollis Walker) – 10 April 1998
“The Shadow Side” – The New Mexican (Lynn Cline) - 16 October 1998
“In the Galleries” - Dallas Star Telegram (Suzanne Akhtar) – 19 July 1998
“Roadside Visions” - Albuquerque Journal (Michael Pahos) –11 July 1997
“A Second Look” – The New Mexican (Gussie Fauntleroy) – 11 December 1997
“Here’s looking at You, Kid” - Albuquerque Journal North (Malin Wilson) – 25 December 1997
“Painter Dives into Rifts of Human Existence” - Albuquerque Journal (Wesley Pulkka) – 28 December 1997
“Akt Art” – Freiburg Badische Zeitung – Nr.26 Seite 6 – October 1992
“5 Internationale Kunstaustellung Freiburg” catalogue – 1992
Hampstead & Highgate News (London) - 6 December 1991
“Metropolitan” - Cosmopolitan magazine (England) - June 1981
SELECTED PRIVATE COLLECTIONS:
Giorgio Armani
R. Balser
Sandy Besser
George & Lynn Goldstein
Gene Hackman
Karen L. King
R. Lerner
Ernest J. Schwartz
Dennis Smith
Charles B. Wessler
E. Guggenheim Wilkinson
PUBLIC COLLECTIONS:
London Borough of Camden, UK
Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
NM Department of Cultural Affairs