Lamonte French, within his work, has a history of transcending the boundaries of language - creating visual stories engaging with the magnetic yet repulsive approach folks have towards the position they hold within their lives. The emotional tug of war people share with one another through situations, positioning, and vices. His work acknowledges the buried , deep seated thoughts that question the integrity of our history, our nation, and the relationship we have with ourselves through this baggage. From the use of the American flag spanning to his first solo exhibition to now, to the sewing of hemp card constructing and organizing his thoughts through symbols such as the police car, slave shacks, animals, and cherry blossoms. To now, creating pieces completely considered textile with objects such as cotton, nylon, and mirror. French is merging elements, creating a chilling atmospheric composition through this formulaic language - the construction of the French idioms.

In this exhibition, Memoirs of Love and Hate, French destroys the American Flag by discoloring, tearing, and opposing the respect that should be legally placed on the flag. Through reconstruction he creates a symphonic story of the affection, the fondness, devotion, and lust we have towards America, and contrasts it with the animosity, anxiety, and hatred that is held in the same space as that love. Creating a mixture of emotions that potions into the danger and mental weary of an unreciprocated love.

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Artist Exhibition Statement

To embark upon a journey that you already stand in, looking into the past is necessary. Understanding the foundation of a climate that is martyred with mystery and harsh truths is essential to the survival of legacy and history. This collection is built upon the stories that have lived in folklore. The titles unionized with each excerpt, are the wounds left behind. Some are healed yet have left remnants of pain while others have evolved, been birthed even, from immortality. These works are a reflection of present time, a personal perspective of how this nation has gotten to this point. Why we love and why we teeter within hate of a place we call "The Land Of The Free" and "The Home Of The Brave". This collection should inspire the examination of a symbol and it's pedigree, which should further push self-reflection.

Artist Statement 

To find one self as an artist, is to face all indiscretions. Indiscretions from self, as well as past lullabies. The work I create is a reflection of history created by content, political fashion, as well as high fashion. Demise and downfall, trials and tribulations, victories and valors, smiles and shifts.  My work is a true reflection of me being more than comfortable in my uncomfortable skin. It is a griot of perils of dreams in the 3rd realm of my thoughts. Colorful and vibrant to explode and exploit the darkest of brighter moments and casually assisting urgency through content. Materials being of mixed, again reflection of my uncomfortable skin, the aesthetic being driven more  from pure inspiration.

By genre's  definition, I am a meta – modern, abstract expressionist artist. A simplistic complexity is a more personal jab of my work, giving passages of a grander message through the windows of ordinary, everyday & at times, childish or childlike references from daily life. I focus on the subliminal, true emotion in which we as humans try to suppress. I blatantly give an emotion with an image of common spark to interest. Once in the “room”, the content is evident. Composition is the most important aspect within the works I create, merging contradictions with chaos, glazing them with flow.

Let us be honest, with ourselves. Even when it is ugly, it is still the truth.  My work is Honest.