2021 Catalogue Archive

In his playful paintings, LA-based Tom LaDuke clashes layers of dripping paint with precision airbrushing, globs of epoxy, glitter, and Old Masters’ paintings. The base of each of his works consists of a blurred recreation of a famous work of art – past subjects include Botticelli, Vermeer, Manet, and Velásquez – yet the original work is often difficult to decipher through its soft-focus reproduction and the abstract forms that cover its surface. Here, in The Depths and The Shallows, gradations of greens and blues from a classical landscape act as the stage for cosmic, painterly shapes and computer animation inspired objects – a combination that reflects developments of art techniques through time. Texture is key in LaDuke’s work; the different approaches to paint application force the viewer’s eye to oscillate between smooth expanses of airbrush and exaggerated brushstrokes and drips. His work is included in the permanent collections of Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo; the Guggenheim Museum, New York; Jumex Collection, Mexico City; LA MoCA, Los Angeles; Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego; Portland Art Museum; and The Speed Art Museum, Louisville.