LaPlantz Studios

The satirical and serious, 3-D Visual Artist David LaPlantz, a.k.a. David D. Deco, D. D. Deco or D. David Deco creates colorful contemporary jewelry, including bola ties and social commentary, mixed media, assemblage sculpture in the form of ‘Art Microphones’.

A true Gemini, LaPlantz splits his mind and art between very wearable/colorful/decorative, painted aluminum jewelry and his ongoing investigation into the world of the “spoken word.”

When he hears curious quotations, outrageous statements or other “slips of the tongue,” his mind races with images, shapes and forms that can somehow translate the ‘verbal into a visual art statement.’

LaPlantz’s ‘Art Microphones,’ which often include recognizable and highly personal visual symbolism, allow his social conscience to be exercised, while visually alerting his viewers to seriously consider the speaker’s verbal intent and the “spoken word statements” behind his art.

He is a metal-manic and a relentless explorer of ideas, visual images and visual/verbal statements. His goal, each day is to discover the best way to exploit his dual-minded creative directions with humor, integrity, pizazz and picture perfect punctuation!

LaPlantz seeks intelligent questions and hopes for a few logical answers in whatever creative objects he makes. What?

Laplantz’s work is represented in the following permanent collections:

Museum of Arts and Design, New York, NY
California Craft Museum, San Francisco, CA
Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI
Crocker Museum of Art, Sacramento, CA
IAIA Museum, Santa Fe, NM
National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institute, Washington, DC
National Museum of Art, Kyoto, Japan
Oakland Museum of Art, Oakland, CA
Ontario Crafts Council, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Racine Art Museum, Racine, Wisconsin
St. Paul Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
Schmuckmuseum, Pforzheim, Germany

David’s Current Art Activities:

My current art production centers around three different creative areas:

1. Brooches and earrings created from industrially painted aluminum that is flat stacked, sometimes hydraulically formed, engraved and cold connected

2. Tagua nut or vegetable ivory jewelry that is carved, filed and sometimes dyed or otherwise polychromed

3. Art Microphones — The microphones I create are ‘my way of making the verbal visual.’ My goal is to make visually interpretive art microphones that translate the spoken word as uttered by regular folks, musicians, politicians or perhaps from famous or my favorite song lyrics. Everyone who opens their mouth and speaks, grunts or groans is fair game. Remember “microphones never lie, only people do!”

Future Teaching Workshops:

No future teaching workshops planned at this time.

For Exhibitions or to Purchase My Work:

Please email or call if interested in exhibiting or purchasing any of my art. Some of my art as seen on this website may still be available, please email or call.
My jewelry is currently being exhibited virtually at Artners Gallery: www.artnersgallery.com

Other galleries will be added in time.

Former Students of Mine:

If you are a former student from any of the schools I taught at during my 36 year career, please email at LaPlantz1@cybermesa.com or call (505.438.2469) and tell me what you are doing. I am always interested in knowing what “my metal people” have been doing since we last worked together!? Those were great days and staying in touch warms my heart and answers my curiosity. Please let me hear from you.

I think about many of you every day, wondering what you are doing?!

Until then, all of my smiles are directed to you!

David LaPlantz