We all know that sex sells mascara, tabloids, and cars. That it sells art too, is something Scooter LaForge can tell you from experience.
In Scooter’s world, giant erections live happily with cuddly Golden-Books-creatures, the scenes are menacing yet comical, figurative yet abstract, muddy yet bright. Scooter LaForge, is a man of dichotomies. Soft spoken and seemingly shy in person, he’s not too shy to pose for risqué photographs which find their way into the world through one of his X-rated tumblr blogs (by following Scooter online I learned what NSFW stand for). Scooter’s studio is around the corner from me; in the midst of oil paint fumes, and surrounded by some canvases that had yet to find their way online, we talked.

The painter-slash-sculptor observes that the last two years have been different from previous ones. “I’m getting noticed,” says Scooter, ”More and more things are happening.” So what is it about those last two years that raised his visibility? This he can actually pinpoint quite specifically: “It all started,” he remembers, “with eastvillageboys dot com.”
Referring to a 2008 interview published on the popular site—which combines sexy imagery with features on gay art and artists, or, in their own words:cock culture i—Scooter is pretty confident that the accompanying shirtless portrait of him sparked what is by now, an ongoing, two-way interaction between himself and thousands of others by means of social media and various visual blogs, all based on Scooters imagery. A little exhibitionism goes a long way, he quickly learned: “Suddenly I was selling paintings, more or less sight unseen, to people in Sweden and France.”
The past year he has been putting himself “out there” with particular fervor, responding to every single incoming email, and sending images of his art to interested parties. Whether the images are more about the art or about the artist himself, is not always entirely relevant; in a way that could only occur with the fast pace of digital networks, Scooter has, in effect, been creating an image. A new approach, however, may be looming: “I think I want to be a little more exclusive with the material that I put out there,” he says tentatively, perhaps not quite convinced yet. “Maybe I won’t be so present for a while, and not release images of work that has yet to be shown.“

Scooter’s creative output isn’t limited to oils on canvas; a visit to his studio (or some online digging, for that matter) reveals that he creates (with increasing frequency) assemblages with stuffed animals, silk-screened T-shirts and underwear (here the big erection-motif rears its head again), and that as of recently, he draws portraits of friends on his ipad. Bringing his iPad everywhere, he asks friends to pose for proper, brief sittings. “This is like painting,” he says enthusiastically about interacting with the multi-touch screen, and using an app called Brushes. “It’s almost impossible to think of it as digital; it’s so physical and manual.”

Feature Inc, Andrew Edlin Gallery and Christopher Henry Gallery are among the galleries to have included Scooter’s art in group shows in the past. Despite this recognition from galleries and peers, the artist isn’t eager for exclusive representation. So how does an artist in New York get by without a gallery? “I don’t even think about it,” is his firm reply, and after a beat he continues: “ I mean, if a gallery director is so enthusiastic about my work that he or she comes looking for me, I’ll be happy to hear from them—but I’m not in a hurry. I do fine on my own.”
Scooter likes saying that he’s his own best art dealer, whether it is at Art Basel (where he recently had a presence for the first time, at one of the independent fairs), or by interacting with potential buyers directly, and inviting them to his studio.
“I feel like I have my foot in the door,” he says, I’m content with the pace of my career– it feels organic.”

At the time of writing, Scooter is getting ready for Wolf Pack, a three-man show at Splatterpool Gallery in Brooklyn. Scooters work will be shown along with that of his photographer friends Walt Cessna and Krys Fox, for whom he frequently poses, and vice versa.
Scooter’s contribution to Wolf Pack consists of three new paintings and a sculpture.

Links:
>Scooter LaForge’s own site.
> A Q&A between Scooter and Dirty Magazine.