Portrait of Ruth Laxson by Jerry Siegel
Remembering Ruth Laxson
It is with great sadness that MOCA GA mourns the passing of Georgia artist Ruth Laxson. Laxson was an Atlanta-based printmaker, sculptor, painter, and bookmaker whose unique style of expressive mark-making was imbued with social skepticism and an unmistakable sense of playfulness. MOCA GA Director Annette Cone-Skelton remembers her beloved friend Ruth Laxson as “a remarkable woman of great strength and talent, with an insatiable thirst for wisdom and understanding of the human experience…she was an inspiration to all who knew her and her abundant imagination.” Laxson’s longtime gallerist, Marcia Wood, in writing an essay for Laxson’s 2013 retrospective at MOCA GA, Hip Young Owl, agreed that the artist’s true talent lay in revealing universal truths through her work: “Ever youthful, savvy, and wise, Ruth remained true to her commitment of creating artwork that [was] visually striking and socially relevant, that speaks to the truth in all of us, and helps us to listen.” Tom Ramsey, an avid collector of Laxson’s work, summarized her style as art that was saturated with “intrinsic primal energy – the Laxsonian energy that gets right to the point without posturing or gratuitous mystification. Her work is direct and elegant, like a visual haiku.” Ruth Laxson will be sorely missed by MOCA GA and the Georgia arts community.
MOCA GA will close early on Saturday, August 17th at 1 pm to host a memorial for Ruth Laxson in the lower level galleries from 1 – 3 pm.