Larry Rosenberg

Larry Rosenburg (b. 1942) is a Chicago native, who has lived and worked in the city his entire life. Despite his lifelong passion for the arts, Larry only recently began creating artwork consistently. He notes that there was one other time where he expressed himself through visual art, after the death of his father. At that time in his life, drawing was “therapeutic” and “a great relief” but it would be decades before he considered drawing seriously again.

Larry’s creative  journey began with simple pens and pencils, then a love of water color, and he is now exploring pastels. His curiosity and willingness to challenge himself is what drives Larry’s artistic development and exciting artwork. He describes his artistic process as a journey from one medium or idea to another. He explains that he simply “squiggles around, piles on color, and then sees what he can see”. Larry also notes, “I’d like to give you more information, but I don’t understand a lot of what I do. I talk to myself a lot [when I draw]. It feels good.” 

Larry’s drawings are graphic and often abstract, with deep contrasting colors and geometric linework juxtaposed with soft, blurred figures. As he is constantly finding new ways to express his artistic voice, he often incorporates several mediums in one piece, as well as some three dimensional found objects. Regardless of his short history with drawing, he shows an intuitive understanding of how to create deeply meaningful, striking work. 

Larry has also been inspired for a long time by street photography, and is constantly watching out for enticing moments on his daily walks to and from different places around the city, or while taking his dog out; “I started seeing interesting things. I don’t hit it every time. A lot of [my photographs] are just okay or bad, but every once in a while I get something really nice.” His photography often serves as the starting point for his work. 

Larry found Project Onward through his friend and fellow artist, James Hall. He describes his daily artistic practice and time in the studio as “necessary” because he was already creating the work, and was hanging it all over his walls with no outlet. His goal is to create work as often as possible, and enjoy the inspiration and influence of his peers.