Buffalo Rising Online

Feb 7th 2007, 10:47am By Christa Glennie Seychew

February’s BRM features an article on Buffalo repat and internationally recognized artist Larry Griffis, III. Unfortunately, the feature was truncated during the production process. Below is the article in its entirety. We extend our apologies to Mr. Griffis and our readers for the inconvenience.

Carving a Niche in the Art World

Larry Griffis III, a member of Buffalo’s art culture royalty, returned to Buffalo just over two years ago. His choice to become a repatriate was motivated by his appreciation of Buffalo’s substantial creative culture, his desire to contribute to its continued growth, and the legacy left by his father.

“I was always leaving Buffalo my whole life and on recent trips back I found a lively art community. My family encouraged me so I pulled up stakes from a seaside community in R.I. and moved back. Buffalo offers reasonable real estate compared to where I lived previously and people are aware of the arts and support them as a community. I particularly enjoy where I live and the Elmwood strip. I think the arts have grown and are more organized than when I left.”

His new found passion for the Buffalo art scene is apparent in his continued participation in the running and further development of his father’s projects, and in his decision to teach. His large home on Richmond functions as a studio, art gallery and classroom. Every Tuesday his pupils, novices and accomplished alike, work under the tutelage of a master.

Students study classical figurative sculpture. Most choose to sculpt torsos, but some prefer to pursue other forms. Griffis’ goal is to teach his students to truly see, and ultimately duplicate, the intricacies of form. “Artists look at everything, they see everything, it can be difficult to teach someone to do that,” he explains. Students pay only $25 per session and a $25 materials fee. If only studying under Michelangelo, Verrocchio or Donatello had been so affordable.

In the 60s, his father, Larry Griffis, Jr., founded two very important endeavors, which have had a profound impact on the WNY art world and are still in operation. Griffis Sculpture Park, located in Ashford Hollow, is a 400-acre park containing more than 250 large-scale sculptures by the Griffis family and other artists. For the last 37 years, Griffis, Jr.’s second project, the Buffalo’s Essex Art Center, has provided classes for hundreds of children, as well as affordable studios and accommodations for countless artists. Over the years, the Center has also housed notable galleries like CEPA and Hallwalls and is currently home to Big Orbit Gallery.

That is quite a legacy indeed.

Although born in Buffalo, Larry Griffis III spent most of his formative years with his family in Italy. Growing up in an aesthetic environment, it is no surprise that Larry took on the studying of figurative, renaissance-inspired sketching and sculpting early in life. His education began under his father’s careful guidance, later transitioning into an apprenticeship with the respected English sculptor Peter Ruddick. His training also included studying in Italy under Anagoni’s lead frescoe painters.

Upon his return to the U.S., his accomplished skills led him to positions at Fisher Price, Hasbro and Toy Biz. There he worked in many capacities, two of which were director of the design team and liaison to Asia. In his years as a designer, he had many achievements. His design team at Hasbro developed the Poppin Top, a toy that sold over 2 million units upon introduction to the market.

Since Griffis left the corporate design world behind, he has had a successful career as an artist. His life size bronze figures appear all over the world. Many of his pieces are both commissioned and collected by private parties. But most of his sculptures dot towns and cities along the East Coast, and countries throughout Europe and Asia. Buffalo is home to a number of his works. The list is long, but perhaps some of the most familiar include those that stand in Forest Lawn Cemetery, St. Peter who graces the campus of Canisius, and the four 36’x10” panels that adorn the HSBC Arena.

Griffis’ determination to constantly evolve, and foster new abilities, is present in all of his work. He has learned to adapt his knowledge and skill set to the environment and restrictions imposed by each commission. Countless hours are spent studying applicable engineering and researching the latest in materials technology. The panels that decorate our arena, for example, would be too heavy to hang if they were made of bronze, the material traditionally used for such projects. Instead they are constructed of a cutting-edge composite. Installation proved equally challenging, and Griffis was required to devise a way in which to secure each relief.

But Griffis is not sated with the experimentation and mastery of technology’s latest developments in fabrication. Though he is an accomplished figurative artist, he has recently ventured into the world of abstract sculpture. “Abstract makes me push myself,” he tells me. “They (the sculptures) come from growth and are inspired by nature. It’s a challenge to develop a three dimensional sculpture with multiple angles that link and overlap. Abstract is all about how the form is handled, how it is addressed by the artist. ”

It is virtually impossible to transform the organic, flowing shapes of Griffis’ latest work into palpable models. His designs now grow from detailed pencil and paper sketches to multi-dimensional computer animated pieces. This is done via a technical platform developed by Buffalo’s IBC Digital, an innovative animation production company. A growing trend in the art world, the utilization of applications such as these allows artists to “pre-visualize” work.

His interest in abstract art is producing remarkable results as is evidenced by his recent commission by the town of Hamburg and the Department of Transportation. By 2008 Griffis’ monumental organic sculptures will adorn some of the town’s roundabouts. The approval process for this project required extensive research, and the city had to write new policy to bring the project to fruition.

Griffis’ return to Buffalo will undoubtedly contribute to the fortification of our city’s significant art heritage. His existing public pieces continue to enhance our region’s cultural landscape, and his promising inauguration into the abstract is sure to provide us with a new perception of our surroundings. His efforts in his classroom are likely to foster the growth of many new artists and those inclined toward the creative. A prince from one of Buffalo’s most prominent art families has returned to humbly take his place in Buffalo’s art future.