Bridge Across Cultures: The World at My Fingertips
Shri Meenakshi Amman Temple, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India, 2000
From Sacred Places paper relief 21″ x 27″
Courtesy of the Artist
March 17, 2010 — August 8, 2010
IN THE CHILDREN’S GALLERY, 2nd FLOOR OF MUSEUM
Book Signing Sunday, May 2, 2010, 1:30 pm
Studio Visit to School Vacation Workshop Attendees, April 22, 2010
About the Artist
Giles Laroche, born in Berlin, New Hampshire, attended Montserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts, where he later worked for twelve years in the children’s art program. He now conducts workshops as an artist-in-residence in schools throughout the Northeast. He is a published illustrator of eleven children’s books, and his illustrations have been exhibited at The Art Institute of Chicago, New York Society of Illustrators and the DeCordova Museum. Sacred Places, written by Philemon Sturges, was named an “Honor Book – 2001 Notable Books for a Global Society.” The Kirkus review called this book “Truly awe-inspiring. . . . As much a reverent spiritual journey as a world-spanning physical one.” Bridges Are To Cross, also written by Sturges, was listed in Publisher’s Weekly Best Books of 1998. Published in April 2009, What’s Inside? Fascinating Structures Around the World is both written and illustrated by the artist. This book again takes readers and viewers around the world to visit culturally important buildings, including a Mayan temple in Mexico and the Petronas Twin Towers in Malaysia.
Learn more at gileslaroche.com
About the Exhibit
The Danforth Museum of Art is please to present an exhibition of original art by children’s book illustrator Giles Laroche. Illustrations will be selected from the books Bridges Are to Cross, What’s Inside? and Sacred Places, showing Laroche’s intricate cut paper collages that celebrate constructions and architecture from around the world, including the Segovia Aqueduct in Spain, Chartres Cathedral in France, the Great Mosque in Niger, a Chinese Pagoda, the Shri Meenakshi Amman Temple in India, the St. Nicholas Church and Spirit Houses in Alaska, and the Kaaba in Saudi Arabia. Laroche is a “paper engineer,” who goes beyond the collage of materials to create a precise and detailed picture. Each illustration involves many stages of drawing, cutting, painting, and gluing, resulting in up to eight complex layers. Spacers placed between each layer provide added depth and dimension. The multi-cultural subject matter and the unusual technique will appeal to a diverse audience of all ages.
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