EXPRESSIONISTIC
NEO-AMERICAna
The New American Experience - as lived by the post-Civil Rights, pre- ‘cell phone’ generation.
Laethe was raised in the liberal, progressive, intellectual capital of the East, New Haven (Hamden), CT. Born to a black dad and white mom in a nexus of acceptance, Laethe got to embrace both sides of his family and all of the diversity around him. Never other, always of.
Laethe was trained in fine art at the University of Pennsylvania in that hotbed of creativity that is the Philly art scene. That foundational experience in a vibrant city, still informs his art practice, today.
His current work in colored pencil, marker, acrylic and oil, reveals the New American Experience - as lived by the post Civil Rights, pre-cell phone generation. Autonomous, accepting, independent, stalwart. The ‘be home by dark’ kids, that made up their own mind because there was no other option. Part memory, part daydream. These are not sharp edged histories - just an tangled amalgam of the undeterred experiences that define our place in today’s America.
So next time you hear the ice cream truck’s siren song, ask mom for some money and rush out and buy his art.
Mixed media paintings by laethe coleman
Laethe’s paintings are built by the fractured nature of memory - how our histories are a mingling of truth, fantasy, dreams, sights, sounds and stuff we saw on t.v. on Saturday morning. He reaches into this jumble like sticking his hand in a tangled ball of yarn looking for an end to pull. And what he comes out with is a differentiated moment that defines our multi-cultural, pre-cell phone America.
PAINTINGS
The ephemeral nature of memory and of life is where the power exists. Nothing last forever which gives us the permission to define our reality. And to share that reality with those we love. Laethe helps you capture the spirit of yourself and your memories in a visual form that can be relived fore generations.