Commissioned Painting on Bar Front by Scooter LaForge, 2010
Scooter LaForge (New York, USA), Painting on Wood Panel. Originally the front of the bar at La Petite Mort Gallery. (Only the front wood panel remains now). Designed & commissioned in 2010, entitled ‘Hope, Not Dope’. Made specifically for LPM Gallery, based on the harshness of the neighbourhood of the gallery, at the time.
Private Collection. Not For Sale. Ever. x
Scooter LaForge is a full-time artist living in New York City. In 2015, he was featured in shows at the Leslie-Lohman Museum in New York, the Friedrichshof Museum in Vienna, and the Spiritmuseum/Absolut Art Collection in Sweden. His current solo show, Invitation to Nothingness, is on currently being shown at the 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco.
Last fall, LaForge was commissioned to create garments for Madonna’s performance of her single “Bitch I Am Madonna” on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Beyoncé, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna and Debbie Harry have all worn items from his clothing line.
Artforum, Vogue, Vogue Italia, Vogue Ukraine, V Magazine, T Magazine, W Magazine, Billboard and Spirit & Flesh are among the publications that have recently featured LaForge’s art.
He also presented a solo show at the Howl! Happening Gallery in New York, which Autre ranked as one of the top ten exhibits of 2015.
The artist has recently collaborated with Belgian fashion designer Walter Van Bierendonck, supplying 20 paintings as images to be incorporated into the fabric of his men’s wear line. He worked in conjunction with Norwegian painter Bjarne Melgaard in the creation of sculptures for an exhibit. LaForge was chosen to be a keynote speaker at the Montreal Fashion & Design Festival, and presented a solo show at the Galerie MX in the same city.
In 2015, he was the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Foundation award. Commenting on his exploration of context, Forbes magazine wrote he has found “a new art medium in clothing.”
To that effect, LaForge was commissioned to contribute to a Patricia Field art/fashion retail installation within Commes des Garçons founder Rei Kawakubo’s Dover Street Market concept store. The space housed his sculptures as well as garments incorporating painting . LaForge has worked closely with Field since her brick and mortar days and was recently featured in her Art/Fashion exhibit at Howl! Happening Gallery in New York’s East Village. He remains a fixture of her current venture, an online clothing art gallery.
For a current price list of artworks by the artist, see this link & other available works:
http://111minnagallery.com/invitation-to-nothingness-scooter-laforge-solo-show/
PRESS:
Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamlehrer/2015/08/04/artist-scooter-laforge-has-found-a-new-art-medium-in-clothing-taking-his-career-to-new-heights/#3c39bc48c5cf
New York Times Magazine:
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/scooter-laforge-walter-van-beirendonck/?_r=1
Patricia Field:
http://patriciafield.com/collections/scooter-laforge-for-patricia-field
Fierth:
Scooter LaForge: ‘How To Create A Monsterpiece’
Art Critical:
States of Mind: Scooter LaForge Paints Cross-Country
Former Statement:
I live and paint in a tiny apartment in the East Village in New York.
I am a starving artist who eats black beans and tuna fish out of the can. I love punks, wierdos, femme tops, and butch bottoms. My apartment always smells like oil paint and dirty socks. I make tee shirts and sometimes do ghost drawing for peanuts characters to make money. I know I am popular in Japan. Everyonce and a while I am lucky enough to sell a painting. I am covered in tattoos and love homemade tattoos. My heros are Popeye, Witches & Monsters, Cats, Bunnies, Bears, Owls, and Birds. I am not politically correct and sometimes I fart in public. I don’t have a tv or a computer. Most of my time is spent painting and reading comics. Next time you are in New York stop by my studio for some coffee or tea… I love visitors I promise I will light some insence” – Scooter Laforge. 2009
After receiving his painting degree at the University of Arizona, Scooter LaForge became legendary in the art scene in San Francisco. Having built up an impressive painting career in San Francisco, he packed up his bags and moved to New York City.
Scooter presently lives and paints in his art studio in Manhattan’s famous East Village. He has shown at numerous galleries around the Big Apple, such at Exit Art, Wooster Projects and White Columns to name a few.
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Scooter LaForge / CV
b. 1971, Las Cruces, New Mexico
Lives and works in New York City, USA
Education
BFA, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 1993
Selected Solo exhibitions
2012
Super Powers and Special Abilities, Munch Gallery, NY
2009
New Paintings, La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa, Canada
New York Monster, Envoy Enterprises, New York, NY
Nature’s Clown, Envoy Enterprises, New York, NY
Destroy All Monsters, Live Fast, New York, NY
2007
Land of Enchantment, Kanvas Lounge Gallery, New York, NY
2005
Combines, 12 Little West 12th Street Gallery, New York, NY
2004
MAGIC, San Angel Folk Art Gallery, San Antonio, TX
2003
No Sleep ‘till Brooklyn, Landing, Brooklyn, NY
2002
Suicidal Tendencies, Build, San Francisco, CA
Selected Group exhibitions
2012
Wolfpack: Manhattan to Manchester. Cube Gallery, Manchester UK
Scooter LaForge/Christopher Moss, Theodore:ART, Brooklyn NY
Fountain Art Fair, Munch Gallery, New York, NY
Flesh Garden, YESSR4, Buenos Aries
2011
Dirty Show, City Center Motel, Los Angeles, CA
Tattoo You, Munch Gallery, New York, NY
BBBBAD, Anna Kustera Gallery, New York, NY
QUEER FROM ZERO TO A HUNDRED, TNC Gallery, New York, NY
WOLFPACK!, Splatterpool Gallery, Brooklyn, NY
Drake Hotel, Toronto Canada
2010
The London Biennale, Christopher Henry Gallery, New York, NY
Tom of Finland and then some, Feature inc., New York, NY
Power to the People, Feature inc., New York, NY
Lingering Whispers, Crypt, St Pancras Church, London, England
I See Myself in You, Bronx Art Space, Bronx, NY
Gasoline Rainbow, CS13, Cincinnati, OH
The Salacious Salon, Pool Art Fair, Gerschwin Hotel, New York, NY
2009
Out of Order, Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York, NY
The Thin Veil, Antebellum Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2007
The Comic Uncanny, Shaheen Gallery, Cleveland, OH
Remember Jerome Caja, Bucheon Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2 x 2, Museo Regional de Michoacan, Michoacan, Mexico
2006
Scope Hampton, Stephanie Theodore Dealer, New York, NY
Cooper Union Group Show, New York, NY
Portraits for Marc Jacobs Windows, New York, NY
2005
Wooster Projects, New York, NY
4 x 4, Gallery Artopia, Albuquerque, NM
2004
Response, Exit Art, New York, NY
2001
Frenzy, The Luggage Store, San Francisco, CA
2000
Confess, Southern Exposure, San Francisco, CA
Bibliography: Reviews
Two Coats of Paint, Review for “I am not monogamous, I heart poetry, Feature INC, 2011
T Magazine, New York Times Sunday, August, 2011
NUMERO MAGAZINE, June/July 2011
K48, No. 8 ABRAK48DABRA, 2011
Nally, JD, “Out of Order: Surfing on Confusion’s Clashing Waves.” Leaves of Glass.bolgspot.com 2010.
Utter, Douglas Max. “The Comic Uncanny.” Art Papers, March/April 2008.
Menconi, Lilia, “Laugh In.” Phoenix New Times 2007
Friedman, Roberto, “Whoop-de-damn-do!” Bay Area Reporter, 2007
Collections
Barneys NYC, New York, NY
Bellevue Hospital, New York, NY