Greg Latch
About what the image can say.
Greg Latch did not come to painting through galleries or art school. He came through life. Portrait sessions in Jackson Square, New Orleans. A nursing career in Tampa's jails and psychiatric wards. Thirteen years at Artist Unlimited, painting side by side with master degree artists from around the world, learning directly from master painter Ray Paul.
What came out the other side is work that is conceptually dense, formally bold, and psychologically alive. His technique layers oils, markers, and various knives to build surfaces that are almost sculptural. His compositions pull together disparate imagery that should not belong together, yet does.
It is not portraiture, even when faces appear. It is not abstraction, even when forms dissolve. It is something in between that forces the viewer to work, and rewards that work with meaning.
His technique layers oils, markers, and various knives, building surfaces that are textured and almost sculptural. The work provokes intellectual engagement, inviting viewers to contemplate the complexities of his narratives. His spontaneous drawings reflect a release of shapes, energy, and emotion that formal training alone cannot produce.
What Latch brings to the canvas is not a style. It is a life. Mississippi, New Orleans, Atlanta, Tampa's psychiatric wards, thirteen years painting with masters. That accumulation of experience is what makes the work impossible to categorize and impossible to ignore.
Mixed media on canvas and board.
