CONCRETE ROSE MAGAZINE Volume 1. Spring 2014 | Page 26

His surrealist mix of abstract

With a genuine sense of humility

and representative painting

he explains his transition from

showcases a playful but strong

working with a box of crayons

sense of color and seriousness

to becoming the recognized and

of subject matter. His style re-

celebrated painter he is today by

sembles Picasso’s later abstract

crediting his faith. “I just hold the

work but is clearly informed

brush and God paints it.” Perform-

by a sociological integrity that

ing his poem, I am a Man, Laronz

gives a fresh new face to the

takes on the voice of a 1968 sani-

American experience. Holding

tation worker on strike, breathing

true to his cultural community,

life into a character that seems to

Laronz’s painting often depicts

speak from the realm of an over-

characters that seem transport-

looked history.

ed out of an unwritten history
of the African American expe-

His poetry is also inspired by Langston

rience .

Hughes and the Harlem Renaissance but he
Despite his artist prowess and
his great expressive power, Laronz stays true to his humble
nature. “I think it’s the arts that
called me. Sometimes I ask God,
‘Why you got me doing this right
here.’” Citing his family as one of
his major sources of inspiration,
placing himself behind his two
talented children and supportive
wife, he says “I am probably the
third best artist in my house-

still manages to seamlessly intertwine the
voice of forgotten struggles and his cultural
roots as a New Yorker into a contemporary
style that refuses the limitations of being
classified. He seems to be drawn to whatever
he comes across and whatever calls to him
from out of his natural experience guided
by his faith, his city, and his family. Laronz
Murray is a young exciting cultured artist
with enlightening pieces that is strongly recommended to enrich the cognitive enhancement of all individuals.

hold.”
-by Asad Naqvi