Reginald Laurent
My art represents the diversity and inclusion of every culture–the backbone of what makes the world such an interesting, complex, and beautiful place to inhabit. The same is true for my canvas, for it is the only place I know where I can mix, mingle, and integrate beautiful pigments and hues of colors. Each color has its own space and purpose. Each color complements, enhances and respects the others. My mission is to help color do on canvas what humankind can’t seem to do on earth—live harmoniously.
At the end of the day, whether I use a palette knife, wooden shapes or my DNA Series style, the objective is always the same–to use every color in the world to reflect humanity and to draw the viewer into a space that reflects their own.
Born in Chicago in 1960, Reginald Anthony Laurent is widely noted for being a “master colorist.” He is proficient in several mediums and techniques, but he is mostly known for painting colorful abstracts. This self-taught, award-winning artist successfully managed a dual career in corporate America while cultivating his career as an artist. Laurent is noted for his dynamic use of bright colors, which are mostly comprised of energy-laden organic and geometric shapes representative of his urban upbringing. Conversely, his colorful yet “quiet” palette knife renderings are based on his keen observations of the beauty of nature in Georgia. Teachers across the country utilize Laurent’s DNA Series as a study with their own students, and he has received stellar accolades from educators for the Zoom sessions he offers to schools across the country. As a result, his art has motivated a wide range of students in every corner of the United States. Laurent says while art is clearly his passion, his purpose is to motivate children to create. As a boy growing up on the Southside of Chicago, Laurent was a “compulsive doodler”—constantly drawing and sketching in the margins of his notebooks whenever he was in a class. The same geometric and organic shapes he randomly sketched as a child are still evident in his works today. Laurent says this style is his “Artistic DNA” and has always been a part of his creative composition. The foundation for his vast palette of colors is based on memories from when he saw his first Mardi Gras as a child living in New Orleans and as an adult when he moved to Atlanta from Chicago and saw his first real “Fall”. Laurent developed his style over more than 30 years and his colorful creations are in many public, corporate and private collections, including those of Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, Michael Jordan, Grant Hill, the City of Carrollton, Fulton County, and Home Depot Headquarters. Laurent says his art reflects God’s creativity—not his own. While art is clearly his passion, he humbly describes himself as one of the vessels God uses to inspire and motivate children to create art.
