Laurence Noga British, b. 1961

Multi-media artist Laurence Noga is admired for his series of striking geometric abstract paintings and colourful, yet architectonic collages assembled from industrial materials and found objects. It can be said that Noga’s paintings evoke a dense world of floating geometries, embodying a new view of pattern and form while also recalling the forms of the Bauhaus painters like Josef Albers. Conversely Noga’s collages work reminds one of the understated yet painterly sculptures of Henri Laurens and the painting of Albert Gleizes particularly in the  juxtaposition of a chromatic minimalism with the enigmaticism of neo-Cubist assemblage.

Noga’s wall based collage and painting works begin with a support either canvas or MDF an composite wood, a layering process allows a configuration of coloured Perspex, found objects, paper cuttings and pigment. The artist describes this stage as an intuitive act which is in turn followed by a more purposeful application of materials and forms. In this secondary stage, Noga adds architectural elements creating “disruptions and boundaries towards an industrialization of memory, which reflects my long term interest in the Bauhaus and particularly artists such László Moholy-Nagy, Josef Albers and Paul Klee.” Many of the elements the artist incorporates come from his father’s collection of objects and memorabilia (books, menus, photographs, tools and washers). The evocation of mystery and memory in these captivating works is “an open approach reliant on the environment and experimentation, alongside a human response to the mysterious, and forgotten items and their poetic sense of history.” 

Throughout his practice, Laurence Noga seeks to reveal a sense of personal memory within the context of a geometric space punctuated by colour. The presence of traditional painterly mark making and found objects allows a complex yet haptic experience of art. In doing so he has created a new genre of collage making and a compelling interpretation of geometric abstraction. 

Rosa JH Berland