Lawrence Fodor
Santa Fe Studio, April, 2020
1250 Long Beach Ave Loft 317, Los Angeles, California 90021
1113 Sangre de Cristo St, Santa Fe, New Mexico. 87501
mobil: five zero five six nine nine three one four six
The spiritual wiring of the human soul remains to be diagramed. That is what art is for.
— Arthur C. Danto
Maintaining studios in Los Angeles and Santa Fe, opposites in terms of geography, nature and culture, ensures a dynamic and constant re-assessment of my work.
Los Angeles studio, November, 2017, courtesy Daniel Milnor © 2017
Lawrence Fodor
was born in 1951 in Los Angeles and studied painting, printmaking, photography, architecture and art history at Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California and Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. He has traveled the world extensively, painting and researching art history in museums on four continents. Fodor currently lives and works in studios in both Downtown Los Angeles, California and Santa Fe, New Mexico, splitting his time between the two locations.
In the past 25 years, Fodor’s paintings can be described as nature based non-objective abstractions diversely informed by his personal history and memory, the indelible marks of his travels, Zen Buddhism and divergent historical and contemporary art movements. Since late 2014 his paintings concern appropriating historic works of art, generally classical figurative sculpture and painting referencing mythic and religious themes. Drawn and painted translations of specific historic works of art function as an underpainting that the artist then disrupts, obscures and re-contextualizes; these foundation or anchor paintings, and their outdated mythologies, are then “storied forth” literally and conceptually. Existing in a current and relevant idiom, his paintings question dominant political structures and religious paradigms while they simultaneously celebrate and honor the continuum and persistence of a 30,000-year history of mark-making and painting.
Fodor also pursues photography in a similar journey to painting; one that encompasses continual refinement and discovery. His photographic work concerns itself with finding a human “unseen presence” in the landscape, prehistoric ruins and abandoned, ruined or demolished architecture. He views his photographs as a record of singular moments, while the paintings are an accumulative archive of multiple moments.
Fodor’s paintings are exhibited in galleries and museums in the United States and he has received favorable reviews in Art News, Art in America and numerous regional publications. He was a recipient of the City of Santa Fe Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts (2014) and his work is in multiple private, corporate and public collections; notably the Lannan Foundation Collection, the New Mexico Museum of Art and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. His paintings have been included in solo and group exhibitions at the Laguna Art Museum, the New Mexico Museum of Art and the Lannan Foundation. Fodor’s photographs are in the collection of Palace of the Governors Photo Archives at the New Mexico History Museum and are the subject the publications: Chaco Canyon: wandering the past in the present, 2015, Apparatus: in a painting studio, 2014 and the forthcoming Bridge Breaking: a narrative on the 6th street viaduct demolition.
Lawrence Fodor photography: www.lawrencefodorphotography.com
2015.05.31.25 Chaco Canyon, 2015
archival pigment print, editionS: 16 x 24 inches - editions: 5 / 24 x 36 inches - edition 3 / 30 x 45 inches unframed - edition 2 - (image)
2018.05.29 Venice Piazza San Marco 3, 2018
light jet print on fuji crystal archival paper, editions: 24 x 16 inches / 45 x 30 inches / 60 x 40 inches - edition 2 each size (image)
Photography available at:
If you would like to have real-time information about the work please call me or send me a Text Message. If I cannot answer when you call, please leave a message and I will return the call shortly. I would love to have a conversation about the work, or set an appointment with any of my dealers.
Lawrence Fodor
Born 1951, Los Angeles, California
Lives and works in Los Angeles, California and Santa Fe, New Mexico
EDUCATION
1974-76
Graduate Work toward MFA, Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, CA
1972-73
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Drawing/Printmaking Major, Otis Art Institute, Los Angeles, CA
1969-71
Associate of Arts Degree, Fine Arts Major, Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa, CA
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2022
Il Giardino dei Segreto, solo exhibition, SCAPE, Corona del Mar, CA
2021
Increscent, solo exhibition, Friesen Gallery, Ketchum, ID
2020
Penumbra, solo exhibition, SCAPE, Corona del Mar, CA
2019
a Tireless Hand, solo exhibition, Friesen Gallery, Ketchum, ID
2018
SMALLS – a group exhibition, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2017
Amended Mythologies, solo exhibition, SCAPE, Corona del Mar, CA
Eclipse: Obscured Memories, solo exhibition, Friesen Gallery, Ketchum, ID
2016
EMERGENCE – a group exhibition, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2014
Without Gravity, solo exhibition, Chiaroscuro Gallery @ Gebert Contemporary, Santa Fe, NM
2013
Again: Repetition, Obsession and Meditation, group exhibition with Agnes Martin, Sol Lewitt, Olafur Eliasson, Uta Barth, Chuck Close, Susan York and others, Lannan Foundation, Santa Fe, NM
Group Exhibition, a three-person exhibition with Florence Pierce & Mala Breuer, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Santa Fe, NM
2012
Holding Light 4: 315 paintings, a site-specific installation. ALCOVE 12.6: New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, NM
Holding Light 02: 81 paintings, an installation. Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach CA
2010
Ligatures and Kõan Boxes, solo exhibition, Friesen Gallery, Seattle, WA
Speak for the Trees, group exhibition, Friesen Gallery, Ketchum, ID & Seattle, WA , Book published by Marquand Books
2009
Kõan Boxes, solo exhibition, Lannan Foundation, Santa Fe, NM
Ligatures & Kõan Boxes, solo exhibition, Linda Durham Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM
2008
Ligatures, solo exhibition, SCAPE, Corona del Mar, CA
2007
Stochastic, solo exhibition, Linda Durham Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM
2006
Summer Moon, solo exhibition, SCAPE, Corona del Mar, CA
2005
Moment of Inertia, solo exhibition, Linda Durham Contemporary Art, Santa Fe, NM
2004
Greek Contributions to Mankind – An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art,
United States Embassy, Athens, Greece. Catalogue, Curator: Virginia Shore
2003
A Given Moment - Part 2, Two-person exhibition, Peyton Wright Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
2002
The Art Collection, Embassy of the United States of America, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
A Given Moment, solo exhibition, Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
2001
Stream from the Clearing, Two-person exhibition, Peyton Wright Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1999
Vestiges II, solo exhibition, Peyton Wright Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1998
Vestiges, solo exhibition, Friesen Gallery, Seattle, WA
1997
Setting Prayers on Fire, solo exhibition, Peyton Wright Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1996
Two Person Exhibition: w/ Lucy Brown, Diane Nelson Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA
1993
Two Person Exhibition: w/ Holly Roberts, Jeannie Denholm Fine Art, Newport Beach, CA
1992
Perigrinari, solo exhibition, Peyton Wright Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
1991
Ex Arcanum Locus, solo exhibition, Friesen Gallery, Seattle, WA
1990
In Lucem Proferre, solo exhibition, Friesen Gallery, Sun Valley, ID
1989
Lawrence Fodor, solo exhibition, Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
1981
Lawrence Fodor, solo exhibition, Pamela Auchincloss Gallery, Santa Barbara, CA
PUBLICATIONS
Eclipse: obscured memories / Lawrence Fodor paintings, recent paintings and essays by Cyndi Conn, Andria Friesen and Lawrence Fodor, Andrews Art Books, Santa Fe, NM, 2015
Chaco Issue, Pasatiempo, Santa Fe New Mexican, multiple photographs illustrating various articles about Chaco Culture National Historical Park, April 21, 2017
Chaco Canyon: wandering the past in the present, photographs and essay by the artist of Chaco Culture National Historic Park, Publisher: Andrews Art Books, Santa Fe, NM 2015
Apparatus: in a painter’s studio, photographs of vignettes in the studio of Lawrence Fodor by the artist, essay by Aline Branduaer, Publisher: Andrews Art Books, Santa Fe, NM, 2015
Holding Light, a catalogue documenting the work for an installation of paintings at the Laguna Art Museum, essay by Cyndi Conn, Publisher: Andrews Art Books, Santa Fe, NM, 2012
Speak for the Trees, Composed by Andria Friesen, publisher Marquand Books, Inc, Seattle, WA, 2009, (illus. In Lucem Proferre VIII, 1989-90, oil on canvas)
Sarah S. King, Lawrence Fodor – Linda Durham Contemporary Art, Art in America, National Reviews, October 2009 (illus: Ligature 12 Green/Blue-Green/Violet, oil/wax/alkyd on canvas)
Kõan Boxes, catalogue to accompany Lannan Foundation Exhibition, essay Timothy Rodgers Ph. D., Chief Curator, New Mexico Museum of Art, Publisher Lannan Foundation, Design Twin Palms Press, 2009
Hollis Walker, Larry Fodor – Linda Durham Contemporary Art, Art News, Reviews: National, November 2007 (illus: Stochastic – Gamma, 2007, oil/wax on canvas)
Hollis Walker, Triumph of Intuition, Albuquerque Journal, Santa Fe/North, August 31, 2007 (illus: Koan Yellow/Green, 2006-07, oil/wax on canvas)
Marcia Mayo, Editor, Greek Contributions to Mankind – An Exhibition of Contemporary American Art, Catalogue to accompany exhibition, 2002, United States Art in Embassies Program exhibition, (illus: Pegasus One, oil/wax on canvas, 1999-2000)
Teri Thompson Randall, An Unscripted Dialog, Santa Fe New Mexican, September 7, 2001 (illus: Dragonfly, oil/wax on canvas)
Kathleen McCloud, Larry Fodor’s Continuing Process Dialogue, Santa Fe New Mexican, September 5, 1997 (illus: Setting Prayers on Fire #10, oil/wax on canvas)
Perrin Patterson, Artists to Watch in 1997, Santa Fean, Santa Fe, NM, May, 1997 (illus: Setting Prayers on Fire #4, oil/wax on canvas)
PUBLIC and PRIVATE COLLECTIONS
New Mexico History Museum, Santa Fe, New Mexico
New Mexico Museum of Art, Santa Fe, New Mexico
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, TX
Lannan Foundation, Santa Fe, NM
LIOLI Museum, Minneapolis, MN
Wichita Art Museum, Wichita, KS
Embassy of the United States, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
TRAVEL
2022: Independent study and research in Rome, Italy
2021: Independent study and research in Italy
2018: Independent study and research in France, Spain and Italy
2015 – 2016: Independent study and research in Baja California Sur, Mexico
2013: Independent study and research in Key West and Dry Tortugas National Park
2010: Independent study and research in Argentina and Patagonia
1985 - 2008: Independent study and research in England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Mexico & Costa Rica
1974-1975: Independent study living in Katmandu, Nepal.
1974: Independent study and research in England, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Switzerland & India
AWARDS & RESIDENCIES
2022: Art 1307 Artist Residency, Naples, Italy
2014: City of Santa Fe Mayor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts
2013: National Endowment for the Arts Grant, for concept, curating and design of Cumulous Skies: the Enduring Modernist Aesthetic in New Mexico, in conjunction with the Santa Fe Arts Commission, Santa Fe, NM
2009: Santa Fe Art Institute Residency, Santa Fe, NM
Drawing study for MB + Pontormo paintings, Los Angeles studio, February, 2020
Lawrence Fodor, Santa Fe studio, April 2014, courtesy Mark Kitaoka © 2014
Kôan Boxes as palettes, Los Angeles studio, October, 2019
Santa Fe studio, April 2014, courtesy Mark Kitaoka © 2014
Paint mound, Santa Fe studio, April, 2020
Santa Fe studio, winter 2015, courtesy Daniel Milnor © 2015
Work in progress, Santa Fe studio, summer 1998, courtesy Addison Doty © 1998
Lawrence Fodor, San Francisco, 2015, courtesy Mark Kitaoka © 2015
Infinite thanks and appreciation to Linda DiPaolo Love, Cyndi Conn, Viviette Hunt, Jeannie Denholm, Kathleen Updyke Brown, Yanna Lantz and Susan Emerling for their assistance and input in editing, design and navigation—and special thanks to my husband John Rochester for the Santa Fe studio portraits and his support.
Lawrence Fodor, Santa Fe studio, April 2020
Floating Artist in the Studio, © Mark Kitaoka & Tracy Martin, 2014
Los Angeles studio, Koan Boxes and paintings in progress, March 2020,