TEASER

DAVID B. BOYCE ON EVAN LAPORTE
David B. Boyce


A painter in his early 30s, Evan LaPorte enjoyed considerable success from his first solo exhibition last year at Crowell’s Fine Art in New Bedford, Mass. More than half of that show was acquired by collectors who recognized a young and exciting talent with a fresh aesthetic sensibility, and with visually compelling things to say about traditions of landscape painting.


During his high school years in the Central Massachusetts town of Fitchburg, the young artist, who was born in Nashua, New Hampshire and raised just over the Massachusetts border in Ashby, became interested in the local brand of hip-hop culture and in creating graffiti art, which he admits often transgressed the accepted artistic norms of his peers. This individuality of vision led to his enrolling in the Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts, where he graduated with a BFA in painting in 2000.


LaPorte remained on the North Shore after college for several years, finding work in retail businesses related to hip-hop culture and skateboarding. In those years, he was invited to Japan for a two-week visit to create graffiti art and begin an exploration of that culture; its influence can still be discerned in his work.


In 2008, he relocated to New Bedford where he and his partner, Caroline, are raising their daughter and have established themselves as active participants in the city’s rapidly expanding creative community. LaPorte also holds a day-job, a managerial position with a major international housewares corporation but, not surprisingly, his passion is making his art.

http://artscopemagazine.com/asdyn/index.wr?is=30&a=15