La Monte Westmoreland
La Monte Westmoreland’s (b. 1941, Racine, WI) work is an observational reflection and critique of the African American experience in the United States. Through social, historical, humorous, and personal considerations of American culture and his own experiences, the artist explores the intricacies of human conditions of oppression and resistance, hypocrisy and order.
Westmoreland settled in Los Angeles after serving one-and-a-half tours of duty as a sergeant in the United States Marines Corps at the height of the Vietnam War. He earned his BA (1971), MA (1976), and MFA (1985) at California State University, Los Angeles on the GI Bill, shifting his focus from painting to printmaking, and eventually to collage and assemblage.
Westmoreland's work is currently featured in exhibitions at both Rubell Museum locations: "Collection Highlights" in Miami and "Material Witness" in Washington, DC.
Notable solo exhibitions include the Rubell Museum, Miami, FL (2024-2025); La Monte Westmoreland: A Survey Exhibition 1974-2018, California State University, Los Angeles, CA (2018); Sankofa at the Watts Tower Art Center, Watts, CA (2017); Looking Back, Peppers Art Center, Redlands, CA (1994); and Target Series Phase #1 at Brockman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA and Tanner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (1985). Notable group exhibitions include Brockman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (1974); Tanner Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (1985); L.A. Object & David Hammons Body Prints, Tilton Gallery, New York, NY (2011); Legacies, Fine Arts Gallery, California State University, Los Angeles, CA (2017); BAILA at Watts Towers Art Center, Watts, CA (2013); Two Centuries of Black American Art at Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA (1976); and La Monte Westmoreland and Greg Pitts at Brock- man Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (1972). In 1996 Westmoreland was honored by his alma mater, Washington Park High School in Racine, WI where he was inducted into their Hall of Fame, and an art scholarship was offered in his name.
Westmoreland’s work is held in permanent institutional collections including: Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, CA; Rubell Museum, Miami, FL and Washington, DC; North Dakota Museum of Art, Grand Forks, ND; and The Bunker Artspace, West Palm Beach, FL.
Select Works
Select Exhibitions
La Monte Westmoreland: Hinge Series, The Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
May 28 – June 19, 1976
Los Angeles 1972: A Panorama of Black Artists, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA
February 8 – March 19, 1972
