About Larry Graeber
Larry Graeber a Texas-based artist, works in studios in San Antonio and Marfa. Raised in Austin the oldest of three children, the son of an architect, and homemaker. As a youth Larry was always involved in making things; forts, treehouses and down hill coasters. As a teenager, junior high - high schooler he worked summers at his grandad's lumber yard, Graeber Lumber. In college Larry initially studied architecture, then discovered the art department where things came naturally, studying painting, printmaking, jewelry and filmmaking. By his second year he had already found a studio in downtown San Marcos that he devoted to painting. Graeber began exhibiting in 1971, curated into Texas Painting and Sculpture Exhibition, Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. His first major one person exhibition was in 1974, Works From a Small Duplex, curated by director John Leeper hosted by the McNay Art Museum in their upstairs galleries. Represented in both public and private collections, books and magazines, he most enjoys exhibiting in group and one person shows. Artist Statement: … it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, … Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities Precarious fragility seems to be the new state of existence. Until now our exploits and consumption have seemed to be an entitlement, but our terrestrial existence is now talking back. Practice Statement: principles of elements - painting, sculpture and work on paper; After many years of practice I trust a degree of empathy and understanding have found lodging in me. I no longer have any pervasive agendas so feel free to address any subject I like. And without an agenda a more patient approach has occurred in the manner in which I work. The nature of a convergence; the experience of three or more things occurring or arriving at the same place at the same time remains the cornerstone of perception for me. Because convergences usually occur subtly and so often unnoticed the consequential phenomena is seldom perceived. Attention to these incidences can help describe and open one up to so much. In my studio the experience is similar, though mostly routine, the objective is to be engaged and eager to prevail. So alert and present, surrounded by past work and some goals, I may merely add to the “debris”, but the engagement has potential. An unfinished drawing, painting or sculpture may get finished, a new idea may occur. All in benefit of my hope to make coherent artifacts, intuitively accessible and subjectively understood.
