Paul Lamantia

Paul Lamantia
Born
Paul Christopher Lamantia

1938 (age 85–86)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
EducationSchool of the Art Institute of Chicago
Known forPainting, drawing
StyleFigurative, Chicago Imagism, art brut
WebsitePaul Lamantia

Paul Christopher Lamantia (born 1938) is an American visual artist, known for paintings and drawings that explore dark psychosexual imagery.[1][2][3] He studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and emerged in the 1960s and 1970s as part of the larger group of artists known as the Chicago Imagists.[4][5][6]

Lamantia often depicts surreal, distorted figures in transgressive scenarios, rendered in a formally structured, dizzying patterns, line and high-key color; he has been influenced by Expressionism, High Renaissance and Baroque art, and psychoanalytic theory.[7][8][2][9] Art historian Robert Cozzolino suggests his work implies imply multiple levels of meaning: allegories of lust, confessional hallucinations about sexual anxiety, visions from an altered state.[9] Critic Dennis Adrian called him "a Chicago maverick"[10] whose work "challenges and wrenches" the limits of acceptability and taste,[11] while Franz Schulze described him as one of the city's "most brutal and coldly expressionist" figurative artists.[8]

Lamantia attracted early attention from artist Jean Dubuffet[6] and has been recognized with retrospectives at the Koehnline Museum of Art (2016), Loyola University (2002) and the Hyde Park Art Center (1982), and reviews in national art publications[12][13][14][15][16] and major newspapers.[17][18][8] His work has been shown at the Art Institute of Chicago[19][20] and Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago[21][22] and sits in their permanent collections,[23][24] as well as those of the Smithsonian American Art Museum[25] and Milwaukee Art Museum,[26] among many.[27][28] Lamantia lives and works in Chicago.

Paul Lamantia, Like Father Like Son, mixed media, 31 1/8"x 41 5/16", 1968, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts collection.
  1. ^ Adrian, Dennis. "Paul Lamantia," Catalogue essay, Paul Lamantia: Paintings and Drawings, Cincinnati, OH: Art Academy of Cincinnati, 2000.
  2. ^ a b Yood, James. "Paul Lamantia," Artforum, March 1996.
  3. ^ Bonesteel, Michael. "Paul Lamantia," Artforum, January 1983.
  4. ^ Boris, Staci. "Paul Lamantia," Art in Chicago 1945-1995, Museum of Contemporary Art, ed. Lynne Warren, New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996, p. 265. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  5. ^ Corbett, John. "Ugly Beauty," In Corbett, John and Jim Dempsey, Inside Out, Catalogue, Chicago: Corbett vs. Dempsey Modern Art, 2006.
  6. ^ a b Harpaz, Nathan. Introduction, Under the Skin of the Subconscious, Catalogue, Des Plaines, IL: Koehnline Museum of Art, 2016.
  7. ^ Adrian, Dennis. Catalogue essay, Paul Lamantia: A Review – 1967-1982, Chicago: Hyde Park Art Center, 1982.
  8. ^ a b c Schulze, Franz. "Illustrators, if you'll excuse the expressions," Chicago Daily News, Panorama, October 25–26, 1975, p. 12-13.
  9. ^ a b Cozzolino, Robert. "Subconscious Eye," Subconscious Eye, Catalogue, Chicago: Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, 2013.
  10. ^ Adrian, Dennis. "Lamantia and Hall, in top form at 620," Chicago Daily News, November 12–13, 1977, p. 14.
  11. ^ Adrian, Dennis. "Out of the semi-underground, the art of Paul Lamantia," Chicago Daily News, November 4–5, 1972.
  12. ^ Halstead, Whitney. "Chicago," Artforum, Summer 1968, p. 63–5.
  13. ^ Schjeldahl, Peter. "Letter from Chicago," Art in America, July–August 1976, p. 52–8.
  14. ^ Frueh, Joanna. "Re-Vamping the vamp," Arts Magazine, October 1982.
  15. ^ Moser, Charlotte. "Paul Lamantia," ARTnews, January 1983.
  16. ^ Kind, Joshua. "Paul Lamantia," New Art Examiner, November 1975, p. 13.
  17. ^ Buchholz, Barbara B. "Lamantia melds erotic and macabre," Chicago Tribune, Section 7, December 22, 1995, p. 63.
  18. ^ Froelke-Coburn, Marcia. "For Lamantia, art imitates nightmares," Chicago Sun-Times, November 12, 1986.
  19. ^ The Art Institute of Chicago. Visions, Painting and Sculpture: Distinguished Alumni 1945 to the Present, Catalogue, Chicago: The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1976.
  20. ^ The Art Institute of Chicago. 80th Exhibition by Artists of Chicago and Vicinity, Catalogue, Chicago: The Art Institute of Chicago, 1984.
  21. ^ Warren, Lynne, et al Ed. Art in Chicago 1945-1995, Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, New York: Thames and Hudson, 1996, p. 265. Retrieved May 1, 2018.
  22. ^ Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Violence! in Recent American Art, Nov 8, 1968–Jan 12, 1969, Exhibition catalogue. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  23. ^ The Art Institute of Chicago. Paul LaMantia, The Vendor of His Scars, 1977, Collection. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  24. ^ Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. Paul LaMantia, Paper Doll Lounge, 1985, Collection. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  25. ^ Smithsonian American Art Museum. Paul Lamantia, Laughter from a Tomb, No Wonder the Neighbors Complain, 1974-5, Collection. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  26. ^ Milwaukee Art Museum.Paul Lamantia, X Day, 2004 Collection. Retrieved November 2, 2018.
  27. ^ Art Academy of Cincinnati. Paul Lamantia: Paintings and Drawings, Cincinnati, OH: Art Academy of Cincinnati, 2000.
  28. ^ Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art. "Subconscious Eye," Subconscious Eye, Catalogue, Chicago: Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art, 2013.