CV/Bio
I am represented by:
M Contemporary Art Ferndale Mi.
LaFontsee Galleries Grand Rapids Mi.
BoxHeart Gallery Pittsburgh Pa
Hudson Gallery Sylvania Oh.
Corners Gallery Ithaca NY
Galleries and Exhibits:
2020:
Our Town Exhibit Birmingham Mi.
Art on Paper art fair pier 36 NY
Hudson Gallery wolcott-mclaughlin "balance"
LaFontsee Gallery Grand Rapids
2019: Matrix Human Services Detroit Mi.
Padzieski Gallery Dearborn Mi.
M Contemporary Art Ferndale Mi.
2018: M Contemporary Art Detroit Mi.
LaFontsee Galleries Grand Rapids Mi.
Hudson Gallery Toledo Oh.
2017: Groundwork Gallery New Bedford Ma
Corners Gallery Ithaca NY "Fresh Paint"
Detroit Artist Market Garden Party Show
Galerie Camille Detroit "On the Surface"
The Scarab Club of Detroit "Silver Medal" LaFontsee Galleries Spring Open
Higher Art Gallery Traverse City Mi.
2016: Haute Domain Detroit Michigan
Ann Arbor Art Center All Media Show
MONA Detroit solo show
Kresge Foundation Detroit Headquarters
Urban Science RenCen10 Detroit Mi.
LaFontsee Galleries Collective Alchemy
Spring Collectors Show Grand Rapids Mi.
Gallery Camille Detroit Mi. "Echoes"
Fridge Art Fair Miami Fl. BoxHeart Gallery
Janice Charach Gallery W. Bloomfield Mi.
2015: MOMA "The Next Big Thing" award winner
Box Heart Gallery Pittsburgh Pa. Intl.
LaFontsee Gallery "slightly obsessive"
Art Prize Grand Rapids Boardwalk GR
CrOp Selling Exhibition Fenton Mi.
Hersch Fine Art Collection Santa Fe NM
LaFontsee Galleries "Lookie Here"
Lansing Art Center Lansing Mi.
Ann Arbor Art Center Ann Arbor Mi.
The American Literary Review featured
2014: Corners Gallery line/language exhibit
Echo Art Fair Buffalo NY
ZIA Gallery Chicago
LaFontsee Gallery "Out of the Polar Vortex"
Grand Rapids Comm. College Pew Library LaFontsee Gallery Douglas Mi.
Art Prize Grand Rapids, Cathedral Square
2013: Community House Exhibit Birmingham Mi.
Canton Fine Arts Exhibit
MFA Exhibition Birmingham Art Center
Roman Susan Gallery Chicago Ill.
LaFontsee Gallery Douglas Mi. 2 artist
Roman Susan Gallery "Wide Open"
Hudson Gallery Spring Show
Art Prize Grand Rapids Plaza Towers
2012: Louis Doucet collection Paris France
White Space Gallery Dallas
Start Gallery Detroit Mi.
Canton Fine Art Exhibit. hon. ment.
Oddfellows Gallery Hattiesburg Ms.
Art effect Gallery Detroit Mi
Circus Terminal World Art Tour 2012-13-14
Danielle Peleg Gallery W. Bloomfield Mi.
LaFontsee Gallery Grand Rapids Mi
Lake Shore Gallery Douglas Mi.
Luminarte Gallery Dallas Tx.
Northville Art House Northville Mi.
2011: Danielle Peleg Gallery W. Bloomfield Mi.
Art Effect Gallery Detroit Mi. solo show
Ann Arbor Public Library 20 drawing/collages
Lafontsee Galleries Grand Rapids Mi.
Luminarte Gallery Dallas Tx.
SOPA Fine Arts Kelowna BC Canada
City Streets Exhibition Lansing Mi.
Michigan Fine Art Competition Birmingham Mi.
Hudson Gallery Sylvania Oh. Now Wow Show
Lansing Art Gallery Lansing Mi.
Birmingham Conference Center Birmingham
2010:Our Town Art Exhibit Birmingham Mi.
Lumanarte Gallery Dallas Tx.
Lawrence Street Gallery Ferndale Mi.
Canton Fine Art Exhibition Canton Mi.
Washington Adventist University Takoma Md.
12 Abstract Paintings; Canton Municipal
Michigan Fine Art Competition Birmingham
Margarita's e-artdrops Art Gallery Spain
pFAn Gallery Professional Fine Art Network
2009:Barristers Gallery New Orleans
Michigan Fine Art Exhibition BBAC
140hours Art Auction on Twitter
Canton Fine Art Exhibition merit award
USpace Gallery Atlanta Ga.
Our Town Community House Birmingham Mi
2008: Our Town Community House Birmingham Mi.
Aaron Whiton Fine Art Gallery Houston Tx.
Main Street Gallery Groton N.Y.
Birmingham Bloomfield Holiday Art Show
Our Town Community House Birmingham Mi.
Lawrence Street Gallery Ferndale Mi.
2006: Our Town Community House Birmingham Mi.
2005: Canton Fine Art Exhibition Canton Mi.
Our Town Art Exhibit Birmingham Mi.
2004: Northville Art Show Northville Mi.
Wayne County Council for the Arts
The Village Theater Canton Mi.
Kerrytown Concert House Ann Arbor Mi.
2003: Northville Art Show Northville Mi.
Canton Fine Art Exhibition Canton Mi.
Summit on the Park Canton
2002: Northville Art Show Northville Mi. merit award
2001: Northville Art Show Northville Mi.
Canton Fine Art Exhibition Canton MI.
2000: Quick Silver Gallery Plymouth Mi. solo show
Canton Fine Art Exhibition Canton Mi.
Northville Art Show Northville Mi.
1999: Northville Art Show Northville Mi.
1998: Livonia Arts Festival Livonia Mi.
Canton Fine arts Exhibit Canton Mi.
Northville Art Show Northville Mi.
1997: Canton Fine Art Exhibit Canton Mi.
Northville Art Show Northville Mi.
1996: Northville Art Exhibit Northville Mi.
Canton Fine Art Exhibit Canton Mi.
1995: Northville Art Exhibit Northville Mi.
1994: Canton Fine Art Exhibit Canton Mi.
Northville Art Exhibit Northville Mi.
1993: Canton Public Library Canton Mi.
Plymouth Community Arts Council Plymouth Mi.
Canton Fine Art Exhibit Canton Mi.
1992: Cranbrook College Art Show
1991: Cranbrook College Art Show Bloomfield Hills Mi.
1990: Scarab Club Gallery Detroit Mi.
Cranbrook College Art Show Bloomfield Hills Mi. won 1st place
1989: Washigton Street Gallery Royal Oak Mi.
1983: Canton Public Library Canton Mi.
I have work in many prominent art collections around the world including;
Richard and Betsy DeVoss Art Collection Grand Rapids Michigan
Louis Ducet Art Collection Paris France
Jay Rosenbaum Hersch Fine Art Collection Santa Fe New Mexico
The WAU Honors Program presents:
John McLaughlin
Paintings and Drawings
March 23 - May 3, 2010
Exhibition Notes
"I believe in today's hectic world we need more spiritual or soul enrichment. Art can help provide this nourishment." - John McLaughlin
What are we to make of these artworks on display? They contain elements that seem like a child made them. They are abstract on one level, and yet contain shapes that also reference concrete things that we recognize. What do they mean?
The work of Michigan artist John McLaughlin (b. 1954) explores the relationship between humans and their environment. Child-like scribbles are combined with highly finished drawing and collage elements to create abstract works that still retain references to natural and man-made objects. McLaughlin is an intuitive artist, allowing his pieces to develop organically in both form and meaning, and his works are a source of constant discovery for both him and the viewer. While entirely self-taught, McLaughlin has affinity with modern artists such as Cy Twombly, known for his canvases strewn with smears and graffiti-like scrawls, and Richard Tuttle, who often has large amounts of blank space around detailed drawings and simple markings. McLaughlin displays a refinement of form, texture, and personal vision that is belied by the gestural freedom and playfulness immediately evident in his pieces.
McLaughlin is not connected to the world of "high art"; rather he is on the periphery. He has developed his style of art over a period of decades, observing the things that surround him in his semi-rural environment: "Most of my work is derived from nature with the human interaction, filtered through my imagination." His artwork, then, directly reflects the suburban in-between life, with the detritus of human activity mingled with the natural world. This interaction is sensed in works like "Landscape Cam" (no 19) and "Beech Shadow" (no 11).
Beyond this, McLaughlin's art meditates on the state of modern culture, such as in "Heart Feld" (no 9) and "Self" (no 22). Read McLaughlin's own comments on these works in the exhibition list, and see how your view of these pieces change. Then look at pieces such as "Enlightenment" (no 13) "Cosmos" (no 16), and "Seeking Environment" (no 25). Read McLaughlin's statements about these pieces, and notice how they are concerned with the contribution of the individual to the world, the role of art as "enlightenment," and the ultimate goal, to seek an environment of beauty. Think about the quote from McLaughlin at the beginning of these notes: he notices that our culture and world have problems, and yet he believes that art can perform the "soul enrichment" needed to counteract these.
So how does McLaughlin make his art, and how does this process create meaning? He says, "I work on my drawings/collages every day. Usually several at a time. Some are finished in one day, others are modified and added on to for several days. I don't pre-plan what I make, I let the work guide me. Most are organic abstractions but some have representational aspects to them." McLaughlin uses many materials in the collages, including intuitive, almost random scribbling, careful pencil drawings of abstract or semi-defined shapes, magazine cut-outs, other collage elements, as well as white out, pen and ink, markers, crayon, and even organic materials like leaves, tea, and berry stains. As he says of his working process, he allows the meaning to build up automatically: "Insignificant marks at first, but they do take on meaning." McLaughlin is not interested in "capturing" some static meaning, but in allowing the works to develop, reading and seeing his own work, and reacting to it at every step. In this way, he builds up layers of intuitive action and conscious response. Ultimately he is just as surprised as we may be with the results. He says that his pieces have a definite meaning for him, but also that the meaning may be something entirely different for someone else.
His paintings often start with a solid cream-colored background, making the larger backdrop similar to the paper surfaces he uses for the collages. He then draws and marks on the canvases. More recently, in works like "Ravine" (no 2) and "The Music of Paint" (no 3), he has covered a canvas with marks underneath, created more conscious areas of colors, and then has painted around these shapes to leave areas exposed underneath. There is a final layer of pencil markings on the top, which interacts in interesting ways with the exposed under-layers. As with all of McLaughlin's art, these pieces show a complexity of composition and technique with a result of apparent simplicity.
McLaughlin's art is sincere, dedicated, and unpretentious. It has evolved through continual practice over the past several decades, and offers an unending supply of images for us to contemplate and discuss. What more could one ask from art?
Three of my drawing/collages are in the world tour exhibit "Circus Terminal" for 2012-2018. Sponsored by the group: Uncooked Culture. Starting April 10th at the Tabernacle in London.
I am admiring your work. There is a lot here in your works to learn. Your art is great, pure, real. I love the soul. Bravo.
artist, Zareh
Influenced by nature and modern art, John McLaughlin is an artist based in Michigan (USA). He works in mixed media to explore the two opposing states: logic and emotion. The former appears in sharp, precise designs while the latter emerges through child-like scrawls and thick, textured brushstrokes. By juxtaposing these states, John attempts to liberate himself and his work from a dualist framework. -----Dr. Melissa Westbrook
neo-outsiders.com
Looks like you make wonderful works yourself. Looking forward to seeing them.
……..Artist Hiroyuki Hamada