Local painter and sculptor, Larry Malam. Larry exhibited in For Art’s Sake’s first community exhibition at the old library. We asked Larry to tell us how he became involved in the process of making art and where he draws his inspiration from for his work. Here is his story: "My father was an architect by trade, but made art his whole life. Our house was filled with his paintings. He taught me about looking and seeing and paying attention to details. When I was in kindergarten a couple of friends and I made a scroll painting based on one of my father’s paintings. It was a fantasy about subway trains and tracks and cars all interacting and going in different directions, highly colored, unreal, and magical. We did it on a roll of newsprint about 30 feet long. I’d give an awful lot to see it again but I’m sure it didn’t make it though the school year."

In elementary school I collected stamps. The images on the stamps transported me from my everyday existence to unknown and imagined worlds. My goal was to get a stamp from every country in the world. When I got a stamp from a new place I looked it up in the encyclopedia and fantasized about the look, the smells, and the sounds of the place. The experience inspired a lifetime of travel.I grew up in a suburb of New York City and my parents often took me to museums. One painting in particular got to me every time I saw it: The City Rises by the Italian Futurist painter Umberto Boccioni. The energy, tumult, passion, and mystery mesmerized me. When I saw it again as an adult, I was shocked to realize that it wasn’t a huge mural size work, but was the size of an easel painting.

When I was twenty I spent a year traveling: Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal. I saw ancient cave temples, psychedelic tile work, and desperate beggars, heard muezzins call the faithful to prayer, and hiked in the Himalayas. My assumptions about life and culture were shaken to their foundations. I spent ten years after college as a full-time artist, had numerous gallery exhibitions on the east and west coasts, and sold paintings. I struggled with finding my voice and with making a living, and with the conflict between the two. During this time I started to learn about the antiquarian book trade and buying and selling books became an important part of my life.

Twenty years ago I joined F. A. Bernett Books, dealers in out-of-print and rare books on the history of art and architecture. As a partner in the 64 year old firm, I travel extensively through Europe, Japan, and the States in order to buy and sell books--visiting museums, universities, book fairs, booksellers, and collectors. I try to keep my father’s lessons about looking and seeing and paying attention to details in mind wherever I go.

Today I continue to draw and paint and make things. My property in Harvard has unleashed a passion for garden design and sculpture, and much of my work is site specific. I use stone, wood, and a mélange of other materials, as well as paint on canvas. I’m not sure what my art means, or even why I make it. But I’m richer for it." To see more of Larry’s work, visit www.larrymalam.com.