Gary LaPointe Jr.

Lives and works in Chicago, IL, USA

Artist statement

Gary LaPointe Jr. is a Chicago-based visual artist whose practice spans sculpture, installation, mixed media, and works on paper, examining the intersections between built environments, natural systems, and queer identity construction. Born and raised in rural New England, LaPointe draws from both urban and rural landscapes as shifting geographies in which questions of navigation, desire, and belonging emerge amid ecological and social precarity. LaPointe works through material by collecting, altering, and assembling found objects, industrial remnants, and foraged organic matter. He selects his materials not only for their physical properties and modes of construction, but also for the social, political, and personal histories they carry. Often sourced from his immediate surroundings, these materials are embedded within (and pulled from) systems of production, extraction, and waste while their reuse addresses forms of environmental degradation, labor, and material excess. LaPointe's studio process is iterative and nonlinear, shaped by acts of addition, subtraction, and spatial reconfiguration that often offset and transform function and meaning, and allows for new relationships, narratives, and perspectives to emerge. Underlying LaPointe's practice are interconnected concerns with ecological instability and the objectification of nature, the politics of material systems, queerness, and the social codings of desire. Through these frameworks, LaPointe explores the...

Artwork

( Burl ), 2026. Found tempered hardboard, graphite, processed tree bark, aluminum, on panel
( Anvil ) , 2026. Found tempered hardboard, graphite, processed tree bark, aluminum, on panel
( pinecone pipe ) , 2025. found steel pipe, pinecone, and hardware
( campfire bowl ) , 2025. found hand turned wooden bowl, burnt wood ash, graphite, and hardware
( untitled, night sky ) , 2025. plywood, inlaid campfire ash, graphite, electrical conduit, tree branch rubbing in graphite, wood, aluminum frame and hardware
( flannel pair ) , 2025. altered flannel shirts
( untitled, wind tunnel ) , 2025. graphite on reused wooden panel
( fern ) , 2025. repurposed aluminum, found image, permanent marker, aluminum frame, and hardware
( conifer ) , 2025. repurposed aluminum, found image, permanent marker, aluminum frame, and hardware
( untitled, pine reverb ), 2025. cedar siding, pine needles, graphite, and hardware
( Pine Lasso ) , 2024. graphite-rubbed disregarded pine, found telephone wire, cedar, and hardware
( Air Condenser ) , 2023. Installation
( offset stacked marker 3 ), 2023. repurposed aluminum, graphite on Hahnemühle paper, wooden frame, hardware
( base line ) , 2023. 4 altered Stanley Powerlock 25’ measuring tapes
( standard bedsheet ) , 2023. cotton bedsheet that belonged to the artist, repurposed diamond-plated aluminum, hardware
( shifting untitled speed 9 -14 ), 2023. concrete crack repair sealant, mat-board, aluminum frame, hardware
OO, 2023. two connected ( 700 x 25 -30c ) inner bike tubes with 60mm Presta valves, hardware
( updraft ) , 2023. repurposed brushed aluminum, graphite rubbed foraged Giant Sequoia pinecone, aluminum frame, and hardware
( giant sequoia cone rest, right pointing ), 2023. repurposed brushed aluminum, graphite rubbed Giant Sequoia pinecone, aluminum frame and hardware
( giant sequoia cone rest, left pointing ) , 2023. repurposed brushed aluminum, graphite rubbed Giant Sequoia pinecone, aluminum frame and hardware
( crossover toolbox ), 2022. altered crossover truck bed toolbox
( wind chime ) , 2021. repurposed aluminum, various pipes, found cut chain link, chains, and hardware
( flowering dogwood ), 2022. graphite, colored pencil on found photograph and truck mud splatter decal on Hahenmühle paper, repurposed aluminum, graphite treated wooden frame, hardware
( liver-leaf wildflower ), 2022. graphite, colored pencil on found photograph, truck mud splatter decal on Hahenmühle paper in repurposed aluminum, graphite treated wooden frame, hardwar
( woodland fringed scorpion-weed ) , 2022. graphite, colored pencil on found photograph, truck mud splatter decal on Hahenmühle paper in repurposed aluminum, graphite treated wooden frame, hardware
( western smoke ), 2022. interlocking hitch ball, graphite treated spent firework cylinder and tree branch, nickel-plated steel O- rings, found empty lighter and half- cut hardened steel padlock shackle
( offset stacked marker 1 ), 2022. graphite on Legion Stonehenge paper in repurposed aluminum, graphite treated wooden frame, hardware
( offset stacked marker 2 ), 2022. graphite on Hahenmühle paper in repurposed aluminum, graphite treated wooden frame, hardware
( gap strip ), 2022. repurpose aluminum
( flat field ) , 2021. used Nalgene water bottle, half-cut bike handlebars, wooden stick, graphite, level, ball bearing
( spare bike wheel ), 2021. flip-flop hub wheel, cast concrete, Presta air valve, two metal paper clips, and a button
( carhartt hat arch ) , 2019. carhartt hats and concrete
(untitled, men with clover) , 2020. American Bear clippings from the 90’s and a four-leaf clover repaired with concrete crack sealant
(untitled, men with bikes) , 2020. loosely woven American Bear clippings from the 90’s with bike wheel sticker on wooden panel
(thick air loop) , 2020. framing square rulers, altered USD currency, aluminum tape, hardware
(Max, Denver, CO) , 2019. found and altered Gay American Bear Magazine 1996 on paper
( o ) , 2019. focused sunlight on canvas
( edit, revision 9 - 14 ) , 2019. plexiglass, protective film, permanent marker, and hardware
(flexible measure, 3 ruler stack), 2019. altered rulers and hardware
(adidas samba circle), 2018. (6) 9 1/2 adidas samba sneakers worn by the artist