Tao LaBossiere: Solo Exhibition & Book Launch
Art Space
Hartford
Sept. 11, 2025
Everywhere I turned at Hartford’s Art Space, there was something new to behold.
The far wall was covered with dozens of inked sketches. In the center of the room stood a porcelain white bull, staged on a palette and half-covered in pennies. The back wall featured paintings of various sizes, styles and colors. Even as I approached the exhibit, I was greeted by mischievous faces staring out at me. For once, I was the art being observed.
It was all part of an exhibit at Art Space celebrating the life of Tao LaBossiere, an multidisciplinary artist who was an institution unto himself in the Hartford arts scene. Tao passed away suddenly last August, leaving a community of artists and supporters behind.
He also left behind his wife, Amy. She has kept his memory alive through an artist’s fund, and now through an exhibit that, despite its breadth, still only shows a fraction of what Tao created during his life. The exhibit features over 100 examples of Tao’s work, arranged in chronological order from the left side of the entrance. Amy said it took her nine days to assemble the entire exhibit.
Describing Tao as “multidisciplinary” is an understatement. He didn’t simply dabble in various artforms. He poured himself into them, reshaping paints, inks, wood and metal into an expression of an inner light that shone across the city. Artists often talk about the need to refill the well of creativity. Tao’s well seemed limitless, and it almost feels impossible that so much vision existed in one person. There was so much artwork it couldn’t even all be displayed on the walls. Piles of books and sketchpads lined the exhibit as well.
Despite the reason for the exhibit, the evening was a joyous celebration of a man who brought together so many different people with not only his commitment to the arts, but to the arts in Hartford specifically. Our city often gets compared unfavorably to other cities, especially when it comes to our art scene. We’re not as hip as New Haven, or as sleek as Stamford, or as hardscrabble as Bridgeport. But we do have something all our own: the legacy of Tao LaBossiere.
I never really thought much about legacy before yesterday. Once I’m dead, why do I care what people think of me, or if they continue to read my writing? But being at the exhibit launch yesterday showed me that legacy isn’t about you, it’s about the people you leave behind. Your legacy is what your loved ones hold onto, whether it’s memories or a room full of artwork.
Another visitor to the gallery confirmed as much. I was talking to her about her friendship with Tao and Amy, and how incredible of a person he was. I told her that I unfortunately never had the opportunity to meet Tao.
“Well you’re meeting him now,” she said to me. “This is Tao right here. He’s everywhere in this room.”
NEXT
The Tao LaBossiere Solo Exhibition continues through Sept. 28.
Jamil is taking the weekend off. See you next week!
