Nancy Larrew

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Bio

Nancy Larrew is a mixed media artist, fine art collector, curator, producer, and project manager with a head for business and a talent for creation. In addition to being a prolific artist in her own right, she is an avid art enthusiast, doing what she can to promote under-appreciated artists in a town filled with hundreds.

A native Californian, Larrew grew up in NoCal, but moved south at the age of 19, hoping to attend either Cal Arts or Art Center. It took her 15 years, with jobs ranging from real estate project manager, IT manager at a law firm, to interior and graphic design before she finally enrolled in Art Center, where she was admitted with advanced standing and earned a BFA with Honors. 

Nancy’s inherent creativity was fostered by an imaginative extended family.  A father who liked to invent things, a mother who was a newspaper columnist and painted landscapes with nail polish, and a grandmother who nurtured her artistic side all contributed to her expressive upbringing. Nancy’s first work of art ( at age 6 ) was a drawing of faces with the text “There are many different people, most of them stuped”. As a senior in high school she was president of the business club, but was impeached because she decided to take extra art classes and drop typing. Her beloved art teacher told her “If you don’t work at your art like it’s a job, you are not an artist.  You are a hobbyist.“ She took that to heart and to this day still feels like a hobbyist.

Passionate about helping other artists, Nancy’s projects vary from creating thought-provoking group exhibitions to recently producing an adult coloring book for artist, Carol Powell. When she is not traveling, her own artistry is a time-consuming activity…  

“I spend a lot of time, usually weeks, thinking about the process, and then I spend several consecutive manic hours on execution.  I feel like I have three distinct directions:  I do socially charged work (my serious side), I do silly childlike things (my dominant side) and I paint pretty, more decorative works (my stress relief).” 

With work generally falling into one of three themes – Current events, aliens and escapism – Nancy enjoys the challenge of creation. During the Pandemic, Nancy gave up her studio and started working out of her garage. Her mixed media pieces, impressionistic paintings and drawings keep her busy, as she strives to create work that has meaning and social impact. A recent piece for the 2016 LA Art Show where she exhibited with BG Gallery was called “Crossing Over” –  addressing the Syrian refugee crisis.  The extremely emotional piece took about three weeks of research (“and crying”) and was then created in 72 hours (because she had a plane to catch). This passion is exuded in all of her work, with bigger, more impactful projects always on her mind. Her current project, Family Reunion, includes an installation piece with 256 figures and will be shown in September, 2021.

www.NancyLarrew.com IG: @artist_wrangler 

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Past Exhibitions and Events