1935–Present
Works in the Collection
Biography
Born in Franklin, GA, Larry Walker grew up in New York City and studied at Wayne State University, Detroit, earning a BS in art education in 1958, and an MA in drawing and painting in 1963. Walker was a professor of drawing and painting in the Department of Art, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA, from 1964-1983, and then director at the School of Art and Design, Georgia State University, Atlanta from 1983 until his retirement in 2000. Walker has taught and mentored many contemporary artists including his daughter, Kara Walker.
Larry Walker has exhibited in over 40 solo exhibitions and over 200 group exhibitions over a four-decade career. He was chosen as one of three recipients of MOCA GA’s 2007/2008 inaugural Working Artist Project award. As part of the award, he mounted a solo exhibition at MOCA GA entitled Surface, Spirit Voices and Other Secrets: The Wall Series in Transition. Walker also curated the exhibition Dissolving Stereotypes/Forgings New Dialogues: An Exhibition Beyond Race. Since 2009 Walker has had three solo exhibitions in Philadelphia and Atlanta and has had work included in 11 invitational exhibitions at venues in Atlanta, Oakland, Boston, and Charlotte as well as in “Tradition Redefined,” The Larry and Brenda Thompson collection, which traveled to Maryland, Jacksonville, FL and Athens, GA. The Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia recently mounted a retrospective of his early work in collage with Larry Walker Retrospective: The Early Years, June 2, 2018 – July 31, 2018. Walker continues to add credits to his substantial accomplishments as an artist, visual arts supporter, juror, and curator.
His artworks are now found in many institutional collections including the High Museum in Atlanta, Studio Museum in Harlem, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia.