Darryl LaVare
Artist's Statement:
I paint to convey my own feelings, thoughts, and emotions; but also to share my worldview with others. I seek to inspire and be inspired, expressing myself with color and line. I also place high value on theme and composition in my paintings. Sometimes I choose subjects that reveal my views on human nature, sometimes politics, and sometimes psychology. Whatever my subject matter is, the visual expression of my selfhood is paramount.
Bio:
Darryl LaVare was born Darryl Goldsmith and raised in Memphis, Tennessee. She became interested in the arts from an early age when an inspiring high school art teacher entered her work in contests. She received her BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, where she had been awarded a full scholarship to the pre-college program years before. She interned for the Gracie Mansion and Pace Galleries, was an artist's assistant to Donald Baechler, and worked for the Guggenheim Museum. While living on Manhattan's Lower East Side, she met many artists, film makers, musicians, and political activists. These associations led to many fruitful collaborations, and she can be seen in films such as Nick Zedd’s Ecstasy In Entropy, Why So You Exist, and I of Canine. She is married to filmmaker Scot-Free, and they live together in New York City with their two daughters, Justine and Jane. Darryl has continued her painting practice, exhibiting her work, and teaching classes in painting and murals to children.
Darryl LaVare has been painting in New York City for more than two decades. Her influences include the host of characters she met while living on Manhattan's Lower East Side in the nineties. An infectiously playful style inhabits her portraits of kids and adults in familiar New York locations. In Darryl's pictures, play is not the sole territory of children, but an invitation for grown-ups to join in on the fun.
