Larry John Palsson (American, 1948-2010). Cubist Switchboard, acrylic on cardstock, ca. 1980s. A mesmerizing hard-edged abstraction painting by self-taught, Seattle-born Outsider Artist Larry John Palsson. The composition presents a complex array of motifs - what appear to be grey pinball levers and silver balls within a Cubist display of boldly colored geometric forms that appear to both project and recede in space. In addition to this whimsy of this optical illusion, the color palette is striking, comprised of several shades of blue (royal, aqua, and sky), vermilion, fuchsia, petal pink, forest green, silver, and black hues - and Palsson's approach resonates with early modernist movements such as Cubism and Surrealism as well as post-Abstract Expressionist movements like Pop Art. Size of painting: 12" L x 8.875" W (30.5 cm x 22.5 cm) Size of frame: 19.125" L x 15.2" W (48.6 cm x 38.6 cm)

Larry John Palsson spent his life in Seattle. Palsson was thought to be autistic, and was oftentimes described as a recluse. Although Palsson dreamed of becoming an engineer, he channeled his creativity toward his art - creating hundreds of paintings, many painted on ordinary household materials such as cereal boxes, frozen food cartons, and grocery store paper bags. According to the J Compton Gallery, "The paintings are examples of the artist’s resourcefulness, innate sense of color and conceptual dexterity with geometric forms." Despite being self-taught, his modernist style is so sophisticated.

To learn more about this remarkable artist, please read the article "An Unexpected Modernist" by New York-based Senior Editor Edward M. Gomez in Raw Visions Magazine (April 2016 issue - volume 89). Raw Visions is the only international journal devoted to outsider art. According to Gomez, "Palsson's abstract compositions are made up of geometric forms whose hard edged outlines and modeling free flatness share affinities with the various kinds of geometric abstraction that flourished both before and after the eruption of gestural Abstract Expressionism in the 1940s and 1950s. They also bring to mind the reductivist forms and bold palettes of the 1960s era Pop Art. Sometimes his neatly painted shapes depict or seem to allude to familiar subjects stars, eggs, phalluses, stairsteps, needles or human faces." Gomez also points to Texas-based art dealer Jean Compton (of J. Compton Gallery) as playing a valuable role in introducing Larry John Palsson to the art world. According to the J. Compton Gallery, "At the time of his death, he (Larry John Palsson) was an unknown artist with a secret portfolio — a secret shared by few — of hundreds of paintings, presumably his life's work. Raw Visions Magazine is dedicated to the enigma, the unexpected, the iconoclast. And as their article suggests and his paintings confirm, Larry Palsson was exactly that. His was a life filled with an outsider's raw vision, a maverick's raw wisdom and a self-taught artist's raw talents and joy."

Larry John Palsson's art has been exhibited at the Outsider Art Fair in New York (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019); Objects of Art Show in Santa Fe, New Mexico (each year this show hosts an exhibition of a particular artist or genre and 2013 was Larry's year); 2014 Kim Bacon's LA Art Show; 2014 Fort Worth Show of Antiques & Art; Heart of Country Antique Show in Nashville, Tennessee; Midwest Antique Show in Cedar Rapids, Michigan; and Tower Antiques Show in Dallas, Texas (2015, 2016, 2017) .

Larry John Palsson's work has also been featured in the Forbes magazine article, "Hot Market: The Outsider Art Fair Opens in New York" by Ann Binlot (January 28, 2015) as well as Architectural Digest's "Preview works from New York's Outsider Art Fair" by Hannah Martin (December 31, 2014). According to Martin's article, "Palsson's works were discovered in a Seattle estate sale in 2011. Though he was severely autistic, he dreamed of being an engineer, and while living at home with his widowed mother, he created a huge body of drawings and handmade sculptures."

Provenance: J Compton Gallery, Wimberley, Texas, USA

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#167219

Painting has not been examined outside the frame but appears to be excellent when viewed through the glass. Frame has minor scuffs but is otherwise excellent and ready to display. J Compton Gallery label on the verso.