La Monte Westmoreland
La Monte Westmoreland’s (b. 1941, Racine, WI) work is both a personal and observational reflection of a post-Vietnam War era African American experience. His work encompasses social, political, and humorous considerations of the artist’s own experiences resettling in Los Angeles after having served as a sergeant in the United States Marines Corps. Following one and a half tours of duty at the height of the Vietnam War, Westmoreland earned his BA and MFA at California State University, Los Angeles on the GI Bill where he shifted his focus from painting to printmaking, and eventually to collage and assemblage.
Solo exhibitions include La Monte Westmoreland, Rubell Museum, Miami, FL (2024); La Monte Westmoreland: A Survey Exhibition 1974 - 2018, California State University, Los Angeles, CA (2018); Sankofa, Watts Tower Art Center, Watts, CA (2017); Looking Back, Peppers Art Gallery, Redlands, CA (1994); and Target Series Phase #1, Brockman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (1985). Group exhibitions include Brockman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (1974); Tanner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (1980); LA Object & David Hammons Body Prints, Tilton Gallery, NY (2011); Legacies, Fine Arts Gallery, California State University, Los Angeles, CA (2017); BAILA, Watts Towers Art Center, Watts, CA (2013); and Two Centuries of Black American Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (1976); and La Monte Westmoreland and Greg Pitts, Brockman Art Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (1972). In 1996 Westmoreland was honored by his alma mater, Washington Park High School in Racine where he was inducted into their Hall of Fame, and an art scholarship was offered in his name. Westmoreland is represented by parrasch heijnen, Los Angeles.
Select Works
Select Exhibitions
La Monte Westmoreland: Hinge Series, The Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
May 28 – June 19, 1976
Sankofa, Watts Towers Art Center, Los Angeles, CA
October 1, 2017 – March 4, 2018
Los Angeles 1972: A Panorama of Black Artists, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
February 8 – March 19, 1972
