Overview

Paul Laffoley, who once worked for Frederick Kiesler and Andy Warhol, emerged in recent years as one of the leading visionary artists of our time. Lavishly illustrated, The Essential Paul Laffoley documents the evolution of his unique intellectual, spiritual, and artistic approaches. Living and working in a tiny space in Boston he called the “Boston Visionary Cell,” Laffoley became best known for his large mandala-like paintings filled with symbols and texts. Their titles range from the paranormal and arcane, such as The Ectoplasmic Man and The Sexuality of Robots, to the organic, as with Das Urpflanze Haus, to the erudite, including De Rerum Natura, a reference to the Roman poet Lucretius. Whether focused on working with plants to create living architecture or centered on the process of alchemy, these detailed, brilliantly colored works reflect Laffoley’s utopian hopes and transdisciplinary interests: throughout, he aimed to unite the boundless freedom of human imagination with the mathematical precision of the physical world. Nearly one hundred of Laffoley’s works are showcased here along with his accompanying “thought-forms,” texts specific to each painting that comment on its particular content. Together with an introduction by editor and gallerist Douglas Walla, a biography by fellow artist Steven Moskowitz, and essays by scholars Linda Dalrymple Henderson and Arielle Saiber, this book is a long-awaited celebration of the theories, writings, and artworks of an extraordinary mind.

Full Product Details

9780226315416

Table of Contents

Reviews

Imagine if Picasso or Dali hadn t been discovered as teenagers whose genius would flower and develop in the public eye, but as senior citizens with a fully-formed body of mature work in the closet. This is a document of seismic cultural importance. --Richard Metzger, founder of Dangerous Minds

Imagine if Picasso or Dali hadn t been discovered as teenagers whose genius would flower and develop in the public eye, but as senior citizens with a fullyformed body of mature work in the closet. This is a document of seismic cultural importance. --Richard Metzger, founder of Dangerous Minds

Walla provides an essential and informative study that complements Laffoley's complex painted and constructed visionary narratives. . . . Highly recommended. --Choice This important book in the genre provides a complete retrospective of Laffoley's works, which was lacking during much of his artistic career. --Library Journal This stunning, indeed mind-boggling, monograph is the ultimate resource on the art of Paul Laffoley. --Artblog Imagine if Picasso or Dal hadn't been discovered as teenagers whose genius would flower and develop in the public eye, but as senior citizens with a fully formed body of mature work in the closet. This is a document of seismic cultural importance. --Richard Metzger, founder of Dangerous Minds

Author Information

Paul Laffoley (1935-2015) was an artist and architect based in Boston. Douglas Walla is the founder of Kent Fine Art in New York.

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