There seems to be a natural progression of the things we hang on our walls.
We start out with, well, anything we feel like pasting up there when we are little kids. Then we move on to movie and band posters in high school. Of course, there's the obligatory dorm room purchases of art posters (Gustav Klimt's The Kiss especially comes to mind) and the next step is limited edition fine art prints. This is where I've been living for the past few years but just a couple weeks ago, I commissioned my first one-of-a-kind, original painting - a family portrait by Rick Schaier.
I'm moving up, baby.
Anyway, the fine art print is, of course, still on my radar and I recently found out that painter Scooter LaForge has a few available for the first time.
I wrote about this painter a couple years ago. His work has a permanent home in the fabulous Phoenix showroom of Antoine Proulx designer furniture.
Even though LaForge graduated with a degree in painting from U of A, he employs a naive style. His subject matter is tough to classify. He often focuses on urban themes and pop culture. He's morbid, slightly insulting, inappropriate, humorous and curiously introspective. After building a painting career in San Francisco, he now lives and works in Manhattan's East Village.
To get more of a feel for his work, you can scroll through his website, www.scooterlaforge.com. And, if you like what you see, check out East Village Boys Gallery, a website that just launched with LaForge as its first featured artist.
For the first time ever, LaForge is offering limited edition prints of two of his paintings, Pee Bear and Me against Me.
Like I mentioned, his work can be inappropriate. And as you can see in Pee Bear, he paints a bear peeing on a little boy.
I don't know that I'd necessarily hang that one on my wall, but I'm keeping my eye on LaForge for future available prints.
To see more of Scooter LaForge's work on-line, check out www.scooterlaforge.com or antoineproulx.com/scooter. Visit Antoine Proulx Studio and Showroom at 3320 North 44th St. in Phoenix, 602-952-1580. To purchase his fine art prints, visit www.eastvillageboys.com.
