Claude Lawrence

Claude Lawrence (b. 1944, Chicago) moved to New York City from Chicago in the mid 1960s, and for the next 20 years toured the United States as a saxophonist. Having been drawn to visual expression from a young age—and inspired by the work of painter Norman Lewis, who frequently responded to jazz in his abstract compositions—Lawrence’s focus shifted to painting over the course of the next twenty years. From growing up in Chicago, where he attended an arts and music school with composer Anthony Braxton and drummer Jack DeJohnette; to spending long periods of time in New York City, where he became part of the Downtown Loft Jazz scene, took lessons with Ornette Colman, encountered Frank Bowling and Edvins Strautmanis at Peter Bradley’s Firehouse on Lafayette Street, and forged longtime friendships with Jack Whitten and Joe Overstreet; Lawrence became enmeshed in a milieu of the most notable artists and musicians of the day.

These relationships informed Lawrence’s perspective not only on contemporary art and music but on the potential political resonances of these creative modes of expression. He recalls that when discussing Norman Lewis with his friend and fellow painter Jack Whitten, the latter observed how significant it was for an African-American artist to gain recognition for anything other than figurative work, especially since figuration was more likely to be regarded as political than abstraction. Even though Lawrence’s compositions have almost always obviated referential imagery, he found that his work could, nevertheless, be mobilized in the service of meaningful social change. Lawrence says: “Many jazz artists supported social issues by playing for huge crowds and raising money for the Civil Rights Movement. The music did not have to be ‘about’ the issues of civil rights. Music could be in the service of these issues and I believe the same of art.” 

 

This crossover between jazz and abstraction can also be seen in Lawrence’s energized compositions of bold colors and impassioned brushstrokes, wherein graffiti-like marks jostle alongside energetic but deliberate scrawl and more meditative fluid works hum with frenetic movement. Art historian Andrianna Campbell attests to the depth of influence that Lawrence’s musical career had on his painting and observed that his work often operates “as a fusion of improvisation and subject matter governed by memory akin to the way that a jazz musician follows the established chord progressions and recycles it to render it continually new.”

 

Accustomed to his touring lifestyle as a saxophonist, Lawrence has traveled across the United States, Mexico and Europe. Ever- changing scenery has provided fresh inspiration and encouraged Lawrence to continually adapt his work and medium to his location. His recent body of work, completed both in France and in residency at The Church, in Sag Harbor, NY, are his most monumental paintings yet, both in scale and ambition. He currently resides in Sag Harbor, NY, and most recently had a solo exhibition of works at Anthony Meier Fine Arts in San Francisco, CA.