The Director’s Choice exhibit features works by reclusive artist, Larry Lewis as seen in his collage books which he began in the late 60’s and continued to produce until his death in 2004. His niece and heir to the artwork, Sharyn Prentiss Laughton, shared that Larry never finished any of his books, but rather worked randomly and haphazardly through each one, and showed them only to her. The totality of his work was only discovered after he died. A member of the Silvermine Guild of Artists for a brief period of time in the 1960’s, very little is known about him personally or artistically. His artistic progress is sketchy at best as he rarely dated his work and rarely exhibited. As a member of the Guild, he exhibited some of his gouache work, however, there is no record that indicates whether he ever exhibited his collage books at Silvermine. A reclusive and unassuming person, his books took on another life with brilliantly hand ink colored pages created from photocopies of collected Victorian images, movie stars from the 1920’s and 30’s, and newspaper ads for elixirs, potions, ways to get rid of wrinkles, address sagging waistlines, pinch back ears and body remedies. Each page and spread was composed as a painting unto itself.
