Llyn Foulkes, Quintessential LA Artist, Dies at 91

"Across his seven-decade career, Foulkes created paintings, assemblage pieces, constructions, and music that mine American history, cartoons, politics, and his own autobiography in a diverse oeuvre, mixing dark humor and scathing critique with a tactile vitality. He was a mercurial artist, never wanting to be pinned down with one style, though he was perhaps best known for his Bloody Head paintings, portraits whose subjects looked as if their heads had been split open, flayed, or disfigured with collaged elements."

"Foulkes was born in Yakima, Washington, on November 17, 1934. He moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1950s to attend the Chouinard Art Institute (now the California Institute of the Arts). His early work included monochrome landscapes of Southern California rock formations and Pop art-adjacent postcard paintings. Shortly after earning his bachelor's degree, Foulkes secured a solo show at the storied Ferus Gallery in 1961, followed by an exhibition at the Pasadena Art Museum (now the Norton Simon Museum) one year later. In 1964, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art acquired his work, the first institution to do so. Despite these early successes, Foulkes's career was defined by a series of ups and downs, due in part to his rejection of a consistent style."

Llyn Foulkes was born in Yakima, Washington, on November 17, 1934, and moved to Los Angeles in the mid-1950s to attend the Chouinard Art Institute. Over a seven-decade career he produced paintings, assemblage, constructions, and music that mined American history, cartoons, politics, and autobiography, combining dark humor with tactile vitality. He is best known for Bloody Head portraits that appear split open, flayed, or disfigured with collage. Early shows included a 1961 Ferus Gallery solo and a 1962 Pasadena Art Museum exhibition; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art acquired his work in 1964. His career experienced ups and downs because he rejected stylistic consistency.

Read at Hyperallergic