Paul Laffoley Cambridge, MA, 1935-2015

All I can do is drop a few hints about what I can comprehend.
Paul Laffoley, The Phenomenology of Revelation.

(New York: Kent Fine Art, 1989, p.93.)

Over the past half-century, the American artist and visionary, Paul Laffoley, has been a key figure in the history of the visionary genre. He has undertaken a profound exploration of the attributes and assumptions of our acquired knowledge beginning with Plato and Socrates to today’s most advanced theories on time, culture, religions, architecture, civilization, and Utopia.

Along with the lack of documentation on the artist until my first effort, The Phenomenology of Revelation (1989), there existed no written documentation concerning the works themselves. At the earliest point of our collaboration, we agreed upon the creation of a “thought form” for each work to outline the concepts guiding each “structured singularity”, and to document what had largely been an oral tradition up to that point. Since the projects were so diverse, clarity was the goal. Those early studio visits to 36 Bromfield were rapturous conversations lasting days into nights, along with regular helpings of Eggplant Parmigiana at the Marliave Restaurant nearby, I quickly became lost in a sea of brilliant intellect and curiosity.

This first effort addressed Laffoley's unorthodox taxonomies, his scientific classifications and diverse phenomenological theories. Laffoley’s art engaged in understanding how we think, our emotional state, our intelligence in comprehending where we have come from, where we are now, and some idea of where we can go from here. To my knowledge, no one has previously attempted the integrated panoramic convergence of as many disciplines of human knowledge into such uniquely conceptual tableaux. Early in his career, Paul demonstrated a talent for converting concepts and thoughts into an extraordinary reconsideration of what we consider to be reality. I believe his goal has been to deliver transformative knowledge that could overturn conventional notions and suggest new alternative approaches to our future.

Presented here are the artist’s non-compressed texts following closely to the original correspondences and taped interviews. While some of the edited thought forms have been shared with previous publications in Austin, Paris, Berlin, London, San Francisco, Seattle and the University of Chicago Press, I am sharing them here following their final review by the artist. I have also included exhibition histories where applicable to dispel the notion that Laffoley has been hidden, or discovered here within. His last years were graced with retrospectives at the Palais du Tokyo, Hamburger Bahnhoff, Hayward Art Gallery and the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle.