{{short description|American artist (born 1971)}} {{use American English|date=September 2022}} {{use mdy dates|date=September 2022}} {{infobox person | name = Scooter LaForge | birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1971}} | birth_place = Las Cruces, New Mexico, U.S. | education = {{plainlist|*University of Arizona *Cooper Union}} | known_for = | occupation = artist | website = {{url|https://scooter-laforge.com}} | awards = Pollock-Krasner Foundation grant<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.howlarts.org/clay/|title=Scooter LaForge|website=Howl!}}</ref> }}
'''Scooter LaForge''' (born 1971) is an American artist based in New York's East Village.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://evgrieve.com/2020/08/public-art-as-protest-debuts-at-howl.html|website=EV Grieve|title='Public Art as Protest' debuts at Howl! Happening|date=August 13, 2020}}</ref> He is a painter and sculptor, and has a line of clothing for Patricia Field and has collaborated with other fashion designers. LaForge's work is "inspired by the old masters, cute fluffy animals, and sometimes iconic cartoons,"<ref name="thenervousbreakdown" /> drawing from a number of pop culture and artistic references, ranging from Disney<ref name="disney">{{cite news|title=What to See in New York Art Galleries This Week|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/arts/design/what-to-see-in-new-york-art-galleries-this-week.html|date=April 14, 2017|page=C22|newspaper=New York Times}}</ref> and Popeye<ref name="guyberube" /> to Keith Haring and Rembrandt.<ref name="forbes" />
''The New York Times'' has described his work as "recalling the Neo-Expressionism that was popular in the '80s, the manic Neo-Surrealism of George Condo, and the comics-to-graffiti-to-canvas style of Kenny Scharf."<ref name="disney" /> Pop culture journalist Michael Musto has called him "my favorite living artist".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/michael.musto.96/posts/5417089178327868|first=Michael|last=Musto|author-link=Michael Musto|website=Facebook|date=August 30, 2022|title=My favorite living artist, Scooter LaForge, gets his moment in an imminent doc called ''Scooter LaForge, A Life of Art''. Patricia Field, Gazelle Paulo, Gail Thacker, myself and others pop up in the trailer, and Scooter himself offers hints at his pain, his yearning, and his brush strokes.}}</ref>
==Early life== LaForge was born '''Scooter James LaForge'''<ref>{{cite news|title=Has Billburg Lost Its Cool?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/27/nyregion/has-billburg-lost-itscool.html|first=Denny|last=Lee|date=July 27, 2003|newspaper=New York Times}}</ref> in 1971 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.<ref name="guyberube">{{cite web|url=https://guyberube.com/scooter-laforge/|title=Scooter LaForge, New York, USA|website=oddities + objets d'arts + outsider}}</ref>
==Work== LaForge earned a BFA from the University of Arizona in 1993,<ref name="guyberube" /> and began his career as a painter in San Francisco.<ref name="forbes" /> He moved to New York City in 2001,<ref name="thenervousbreakdown">{{cite web |url=https://thenervousbreakdown.com/tnbac/2012/06/21-questions-with-scooter-laforge/ |title=21 Questions with Scooter LaForge |website=The Nervous Breakdown |date=June 17, 2012 |access-date=March 29, 2025}}</ref> attending the Cooper Union School of Art under a fellowship.<ref name="printed-editions">{{cite web |url=https://www.printed-editions.com/artist/scooter-laforge/ |title=Scooter LaForge |website=Printed Editions |access-date=March 29, 2025}}</ref> His work is held in the collections of the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art<ref>{{cite book |title=Queer Holdings: A Survey of the Leslie-Lohman Museum Collection |editor-first1=Gonzalo |editor-last1=Casals |editor-first2=Noam |editor-last2=Parness |publisher=Hirmer Verlag |location=Munich |date=2019 |page=214 |isbn=9783777431932}}</ref> and collector Beth Rudin DeWoody.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.artland.com/artists/scooter-laforge |title=Scooter LaForge |website=Artland |access-date=March 29, 2025}}</ref>
LaForge has a line of hand-painted clothing sold through stylist Patricia Field.<ref>{{cite news |last=La Ferla |first=Ruth |title=Gender-Fluid Style: Street Wear, Club Gear and Lace |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/13/style/queer-nonbinary-fashion.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=February 14, 2019 |access-date=March 29, 2025 |page=D5}}</ref> He has twice collaborated with Belgian designer Walter Van Beirendonck.<ref>{{cite news |last=van Straaten |first=Laura |title=Scooter LaForge's Paintings Suit Walter Van Beirendonck (and Beyoncé, Too) |url=https://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/03/scooter-laforge-walter-van-beirendonck/ |newspaper=T Magazine |date=March 3, 2015 |access-date=March 29, 2025}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Schneier |first=Matthew |title=A Pagan Message of Renewal at Walter Van Beirendonck's Show |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/20/fashion/mens-style/walter-van-beirendonck-paris-menswear-fall-2017.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=January 20, 2017 |access-date=March 29, 2025}}</ref>
His clothing has been worn by Susanne Bartsch,<ref name="vogueit">{{cite magazine |last=Wilson |first=Patti |title=Yes. It's Me... Susanne Bartsch |magazine=Vogue Italia |issue=785 |date=January 2016 |pages=198–221}}</ref> Sandra Bernhard,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.handbookmen.com/scooter-laforge/ |title=Scooter LaForge |website=Handbook |date=June 7, 2010 |access-date=March 29, 2025}}</ref> Beyoncé,<ref name="printed-editions" /> Miley Cyrus,<ref name="forbes">{{cite magazine|magazine=Forbes|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamlehrer/2015/08/04/artist-scooter-laforge-has-found-a-new-art-medium-in-clothing-taking-his-career-to-new-heights/|first=Adam|last=Lehrer|title=Artist Scooter LaForge Has Found a New Art Medium in Clothing, Taking His Career to New Heights|date=August 4, 2015}}</ref> Boy George,<ref name="thenervousbreakdown" /> Debbie Harry,<ref name="printed-editions" /> Nicki Minaj,<ref name="thenervousbreakdown" /> Madonna,<ref name="printed-editions" /> Iggy Pop,<ref name="thenervousbreakdown" /> Rihanna,<ref name="forbes" /> and Lil Wayne.<ref name="thenervousbreakdown" />
==Exhibitions==
===Solo=== * 2002 – ''Suicidal Tendencies'', Build, San Francisco * 2003 – ''No Sleep till Brooklyn'', Landing, Brooklyn * 2004 – ''Magic'', San Angel Folk Art Gallery, San Antonio * 2005 – ''Combines'', 12 Little West 12th Street Gallery, New York * 2007 – ''Land of Enchantment'', Kanvas Gallery, New York * 2009 ** ''Destroy All Monsters'', Live Fast, New York ** ''Nature's Clown'', Envoy Enterprises, New York ** ''New York Monster'', Envoy Enterprises, New York ** ''New Paintings'', La Petite Mort Gallery, Ottawa * 2012 – ''Super Powers and Special Abilities'', Munch Gallery, New York * 2013 – ''Summer Love'', Deluca Gallery, Provincetown * 2015 ** ''Travels with Johnny'', Munch Gallery, New York ** ''New Paintings'', Galerie MX, Montreal ** ''How to Create a Monsterpiece'', Howl! Happening, New York * 2016 – ''Everything's Going to Be OK'', Theodore Art, Brooklyn * 2017 – ''The Odyssey'', Jealous Gallery, London * 2019 ** ''Creation of the Animals'', Empirical Nonsense, New York ** ''Homo Eruptus'', Howl! Happening, New York * 2024 – ''Scooter LaForge: Enchanted Anarchies and Other Realities'', Lesley Art + Design, Cambridge * 2025 – ''LaForge, Sweetie! The Fashion Universe of Scooter LaForge'', Lesley Art + Design, Cambridge
===Group=== * 2000 – ''Confess'', Southern Exposure, San Francisco * 2001 – ''Frenzy'', The Luggage Store Gallery, San Francisco * 2004 – ''Reactions'', Exit Art, New York * 2005 ** ''4 x 4'', Gallery Artopia, Albuquerque ** ''Wooster Projects'', New York * 2006 ** ''Portraits for Marc Jacobs windows'', New York ** ''Cooper Union Group Show'', New York ** ''Scope Hampton'', Stephanie Theodore, New York * 2007 ** ''Remember Jerome'', Bucheon Gallery, San Francisco ** ''The Comic Uncanny'', Shaheen Modern & Contemporary, Cleveland * 2009 ** ''The Thin Veil'', Antebellum Gallery, Los Angeles ** ''Out of Order'', Andrew Edlin Gallery, New York * 2010 ** ''The Salacious Salon Pool Art Fair'', Gershwin Hotel, New York ** ''Gasoline Rainbow'', CS13, Cincinnati ** ''I See Myself in You'', Bronx Art Space, Bronx ** ''Lingering Whispers'', Crypt Gallery at St. Pancras Church, London ** ''Power to the People'', Feature, Inc., New York ** ''Tom of Finland and Then Some'', Feature, Inc., New York ** ''The London Biennale'', Christopher Henry Gallery, New York * 2011 ** ''Wolfpack!'', Splatterpool Artspace, Brooklyn ** ''Queer from Zero to a Hundred'', theater for the New City Gallery, New York ** ''B-B-B-Bad'', Anna Kustera Gallery, New York ** ''Tattoo You'', Munch Gallery, New York ** ''Dirty Show'', City Center Motel, Los Angeles ** ''I Am Not Monogamous'', I Heart Poetry/Feature, Inc., New York * 2012 ** ''Flesh Garden'', YESSR4, Buenos Aires ** ''Fountain Art Fair'', Munch Gallery, New York ** ''Scooter LaForge/Christopher Moss'', Theodore Art, Brooklyn ** ''Wolfpack: Manhattan to Manchester'', Cube Gallery, Manchester * 2013 – ''Downtown New York'', Broome Street Gallery, New York * 2014 ** ''Boys Keep Swinging'', Summerhall, Edinburgh ** ''Bibbidi-Bibbidi-Boo'', Here Arts Center, New York ** ''Flesh Garden'', La Petite Mort Gallery, Amsterdam ** ''Mad Maus'', Gallery Hotel Particulier, New York ** ''Watermill Center Benefit Auction'', Watermill ** ''Queer Biennial'', Coagula Curatorial, Los Angeles ** ''NEWD Art Fair'', Bushwick, Bushwick ** ''SummerShow2014'', Munch Gallery, New York * 2015 ** ''Interface'', Leslie-Lohman Museum, New York ** ''Powerful Babies'', Spritmuseum, Stockholm ** ''Drawings'', Theodore Art, Brooklyn * 2019 ** ''ICYMI'', Theodore Art, Brooklyn ** ''Stonewall 50/50'', 1969 Gallery, New York ** ''Pride'', Postmasters Gallery, New York * 2020 – ''Dogs and Bones'', Theodore Art, Brooklyn
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official|https://scooter-laforge.com}} * {{IMDb name|6960426}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laforge, Scooter}} Category:1971 births Category:21st-century American painters Category:21st-century American sculptors Category:American male painters Category:American male sculptors Category:Living people Category:Painters from New York City Category:People from Las Cruces, New Mexico Category:Sculptors from New York (state) Category:University of Arizona alumni