Paul Laffoley Cambridge, MA, 1935-2015
The House of the Self, 1971
Oil, acrylic, vinyl lettering on canvas, painted wooden frame
73 3/4 x 49 3/8
187.3 x 125.4 cm
187.3 x 125.4 cm
$ 175,000.00
Subject_ On the Lawn of the Spiritual Abode. Symbol Evocation_ Homage to Ramana Maharshi, the Great Seer. Comments_ According to Vedic astrology, the first house is the House of the...
Subject_ On the Lawn of the Spiritual Abode.
Symbol Evocation_ Homage to Ramana Maharshi, the Great Seer.
Comments_
According to Vedic astrology, the first house is the House of the Self. My painting The House of the Self describes the soul’s arrival into life on Earth as a physical body—or the becoming of the ego—reflected in the Crystal Mirror that is behind everything. The parts of the body correspond to the five senses, the five elements, and the five lams of the chakras. Below the images of the five parts of the body is an abstract grid that represents the mind’s ability to think mathematically—or the Number Intellect—number and mathematics being what abstraction is all about. The Number Intellect arises from the Soil of Sisu, or the perseverance of the rational mind. The Eye of Transcendence in the upper mandala, above a lotus leaf, is awakened by destiny. If you are asleep, the only thing that will wake you up is destiny, the ultimate wake-up call.
Symbol Evocation_ Homage to Ramana Maharshi, the Great Seer.
Comments_
According to Vedic astrology, the first house is the House of the Self. My painting The House of the Self describes the soul’s arrival into life on Earth as a physical body—or the becoming of the ego—reflected in the Crystal Mirror that is behind everything. The parts of the body correspond to the five senses, the five elements, and the five lams of the chakras. Below the images of the five parts of the body is an abstract grid that represents the mind’s ability to think mathematically—or the Number Intellect—number and mathematics being what abstraction is all about. The Number Intellect arises from the Soil of Sisu, or the perseverance of the rational mind. The Eye of Transcendence in the upper mandala, above a lotus leaf, is awakened by destiny. If you are asleep, the only thing that will wake you up is destiny, the ultimate wake-up call.
Exhibitions
Paul Laffoley_ The Sixties. Kent Gallery, New York, 2009Paul Laffoley_ Secret Universe. Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin, 2011
Paul Laffoley_ The Boston Visionary Cell. Kent Fine Art, New York, 2013
Paul Laffoley_ Premonitions of the Bauharoque. Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, Washington, 2013
Systems of Belief curated by Cathrin Mayer. GRAZ_ Halle fur Kunst Steiermark. September 25, 2022 thru August 1, 2023
Literature
Kittelman, Udo, and Claudia Dichter, eds. Paul Laffoley_ Secret Universe. Cologne_ Walter König, 2011, p. 29, ill. p. 106.Peetz, John Arthur. “Paul Laffoley.” Artforum.com (26 January 2013). Accessed 26 January 2013. http_//artforum.com/?pn=picks§ion=nyc.
Roulet, Sacha. “Selective Utopia.” idPure no.11 (2007)_ ill. p. 7 (color).
Walla, Douglas and Paul Laffoley. The Boston Visionary Cell. New York, Kent Fine Art 2013.
Walla, Douglas, Linda Dalywimple Henderson, Steve Moscowitz, and Ariel Saiber. The Essential Paul Laffoley. Chicago_ University of Chicago Press, 2015. illus in color plate 28