Career
Art Van Laar produces art works in multiple formats including, paintings, drawings and installation pieces many of which have been exhibited throughout North America and Europe. He has received fellowships and grants and other support from multiple organizations including Fulbright, Yaddo, the Howard Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council, and the Pew Charitable Trusts. Some of the most well known works are the postcard paintings Van Laar has been featured in exhibits at major art museums, including The Detroit Institute of Arts.
Van Laar"s most recent artworks deal with the nature of representation in painting.
A single painting merges multiple historical approaches to how paint is applied, how paintings create meaning, and how paintings define their subject matter. Currently Van Laar resides in Detroit Michigan.
He attended Calvin College for his undergraduate degree and obtained his Master of Fine Arts degree at Wayne State University. Foreign 32 years he was a Professor of Art in the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Currently he is Professor and Chair of Fine Arts at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit.
