Press Release – Artist Suzanne LaFleur Unveils Monumental Painting Series Serene Refuge in East Hampton

New York, NY July 3, 2014 Award-winning artist Suzanne LaFleur will show a new painting series in the upcoming exhibition Serene Refuge at Lawrence Fine Art in East Hampton, New York. The exhibition will be on view from August 2 – 18, 2014 with an opening celebration scheduled for Saturday, August 2^nd from 5 to 8pm.

Memory, place, and nature are integral themes that drive LaFleur’s latest work. Born in Southampton, New York, she relished the region’s innate beauty and serene atmosphere as a child. The Hamptons remain a summer retreat for the artist who now lives and works in New York City. In poetic compositions that fuse together color and form, LaFleur meditates on the natural splendor and power of The Hamptons landscape. She creates a space that harmonizes memory and experience, the visceral and the abstract, sophistication and simplicity.

A highlight from the series is its inspired painting, Serene Refuge, which measures an astounding 66 x 120 inches. Articulated through fluid swatches of fresh greens and clear blue, the composition evokes an aerial view of the Hamptons’ fresh grasslands and blue waters. Organic forms expressed through vibrant pink, red, and orange bring to mind summer’s lush flowerbeds.

These latest pieces mark LaFleur’s bold return to painting after a very successful period of exploring the expressive capabilities of pastel and paper for which she received numerous honors. LaFleur is a 2014 Guild Hall Museum prize-winning artist. The National Arts Club awarded her with the Art Spirit Foundation Gold Medal for Pastel in 2014 and the Flora Giffuni Memorial Award for Pastel in 2013. In Summer 2014, she exhibited at Art Hamptons and Art Southampton with Lawrence Fine Art and Hollis Taggart Galleries. In 2013, LaFleur’s work was presented at the Park Avenue Armory by Lawrence Fine Art. The Benefit Print Project showed her work at PULSE New York Contemporary Art Fair and in Miami during Art Basel.  In 2012, LaFleur made her New York solo debut in the exhibition Untamed at Bogardus Mansion, New York. In 2010, she made her Chelsea debut in the two-artist exhibition Constructed Spirits at Coleman Burke Gallery, New York.