Paul Laffoley, Painter Inspired by Time Travel and Aliens, Dies at 80
November 16, 2015
Paul Laffoley 2014 photo.Elyse Harary
The New York Times
By William Grimes
Nov. 20, 2015
Paul Laffoley, whose annotated diagrammatic paintings, with their kaleidoscopic representations of abstruse philosophic systems, made him one of the most distinctive and cerebral of the outsider artists, died on Nov. 16 at his home in Boston. He was 80. The cause was congestive heart failure, said Douglas Walla, his dealer at Kent Fine Art in Manhattan.
Mr. Laffoley (pronounced LAH-fuh-lee), an architect by training, translated his ideas about time travel, other dimensions, astrology and alien life-forms onto square canvases that he illustrated, in brilliant colors, with precisely rendered spirals, pinwheels, eyes and architectural forms, annotated around the borders with text in vinyl press-on letters. Many of the works incorporate mandalas. Others look like floor plans for the future, or cosmic board games. Their texts often pay homage to the thinkers behind the work, their names simply strung together in a row. The Jesuit philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin recurs frequently, along with Goethe, Blake and Jung. . . . Mr. Laffoley thought of his “architectonic thought forms” as portals allowing the viewer to enter, transcend time and space, and achieve an expanded state of consciousness
New York Times full article
While reclusive and somewhat marginalized as “Outsider”, Paul replied. “I can’t be an outsider because I never go outside!” He was gracious and fully engaged, and on the 10th anniversary of his passing, I know he would want to thank those many individuals who gave him loving support:
Daren Aronofsky
Lawrence Benenson
Elyse Harary Benenson
Susan Bielstein
James Brett
Mickey Cartin
Alvin Case
Luis Croquer
James Demetrion
Claudia Dichter
Andrew Edlin
Elizabeth Ferrer
James Fuentes
Richard Grayson
Betty Sue Hertz
Rebecca Hoffberger
Udo Kittelman
Dan Lipcan
Richard Metzger
Sarah Montross
Steven Moskowitz
Francis Naumann
Sean Parker
Valerie Rousseau
Ralph Rugoff
Douglas Rushkoff
Trevor Smith
Joanna Soltan
Matt Stone
Marc Olivier Wahler
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