Denise Lassaw

Born in 1945, Denise Lassaw grew up in her parents’ Greenwich Village loft. By the time she was eight, her father, Ibram Lassaw, had taught her oxy-acetylene welding and she occasionally helped him on commissions and by handing him the tools he needed. She was a witness and participant in the New York art world. By her late teens she had made and sold her own bronze belt buckles and necklaces in the Village and later in California, New Mexico, and Alaska. Since 1987 she has been the archivist of over 70 years of art historical documents as well as the conservator of Ibram Lassaw's sculptures. She self-published The Projection Paintings of Ibram Lassaw and The Widow's Book of Moons, a collection of her own poetry. A number of her essays have appeared in magazines. She has given slide talks on Elaine de Kooning and contributed to several books about the Abstract Expressionist period, including Ninth Street Women, by Mary Gabriel. Her adventures are too numerous and varied to list in a short bio.