Lilla Grant's images resonate with color and life as she reaches back into her early childhood memories to create paintings and monoprints filled with an exuberance for life, but respectful of the people who worked so hard on the land. Lilla spent her early years in North Carolina before moving to New York City at the age of 8, where she has lived ever since.
Lilla's first art instructor was the late Leo Manso, a highly respected painter and collagist in both New York City and Provincetown. Grant studied with him in 1964 at a Provincetown Workshop and he was so taken by her work that he said to her, "Your work is developing so well I think you should apply for a scholarship.” Grant said, "How do I go about doing that?” to which Manso replied, "Just apply and then continue to work!” She was awarded the scholarship and spent the time working in Provincetown at what would become, in 1968, the Fine Arts Work Center. She also studied with Manso at New York University.
Ernie Bynum, a friend and fellow Art Students League colleague said of her work, "As Leo Manso used the collage to tell the history of his people and his church, so it is that Grant tells her own story of her people, her places and her things. I will never forget one day 12 years ago when I was studying at the Art Students League and was standing next to Lilla as she began to place fabric, color, newspaper and both objective and non-objective forms to canvas as she began to tell the story of the Middle East conflict. Little did I think or know then she was telling a story of what was to come. I have always wondered what happened to that masterpiece. Lilla Grant is a historical collagist; weaving, intertwining, reshaping, re-organizing both life and people in her work. Her work tells and foretells the history of people, both past and present.”
Her brush moves across the canvas, masonite board or monoprint glass with a gesture that speaks of an individual who is self-assured of her worth; confident she is constructing an image that is both moving and alive. The layering, dripping, scratching and collage work speak to the depth of Lilla Grant's inner spirit as each painting, collage or monoprint exhibit a life of their own. These memories, which have stayed with Lilla throughout her life, are the impetus behind her work and this can be seen by the way in which she applies her paint, with each brushstroke creating an image of people working.
Grant, when speaking about her own work, relates the following: "As a child, my observations of women quilting and making chairs by wrapping wet corn shucks, then rolling it into cross-hatched seating led me to creating monoprints that are shaped, interwoven and patterned as uniquely as the lives of the people who inspired me. This experience also led me experiment with etchings overlaid with pieces of silk paper or shaped-colored papers. I purposely leave the faces and limbs in silhouette to call attention to the action of the figure instead of the personalized figure. So, when seen in action, they do not reveal who they are. What one sees is activated clothing, which is how I began to paint loosely to tell what figures are doing and to create exciting patterns. She goes on to say, "The human figure is a favorite subject. Whether painting from life or imagination, I try to quickly express the gesture of the subject. By placing one shape against another, the figures...begin to suggest a gathering from a time and place remembered.”
She goes on to say, " ‘Field Hands', which is a monoprint with collage, was created from my recollections of myself as a farm worker, as well a from how colorful, active and lively others appeared as they moved about their work. It became more interesting to paint and structure people with a series of planes in order to capture the essence of the individual.”
In addition to studying with Leo Manso, Grant also studied painting with Dan Dickerson at the Art Students League of New York and printmaking with George Nama and Serge Hollerbach at the National Academy of Design.
ERNDEN FINE ART GALLERY is pleased to represent Lilla Grant. For more information on Lilla's work, please contact Dennis Costin, Gallery Director at 508-487-6700 or 1-888-304-ARTS or via email .
