Terrence Laragione

Artist, Owner of Buzz Cafe

Philadelphia, PA

“I began to see the paintings as slightly autobiographical and the bunny as an extension of myself.”

A true local; cafe owner and artist, Terrence Laragione, lives, works, and creates art that is reflective of, and serves the community in which he lives.

So let's break it down.

Buzz Cafe, approaching it's 10th anniversary in 2021,  is a collective of Terrence's life passions: art and community through culinary arts.  He created an environment that he and the Kensington community needed.  As the chef of the cafe, Terrence brings his love for food, particularly breakfast items, to his guests each day.  

But where does art fit into all of this?

Terrence began sculpting and painting with his father, also an artist, at a young age.  His influences range from realism, impressionism, and he grew deeply passionate for painting while backpacking through Europe's most prolific museums. 

Buzz is filled with unique pieces, all created by Terrence himself.  Stop in and you may think you've transported to the Death Star when you run into his life-size sculptures of Han Solo and R2D2. 

One of his most prized collections is a 22-part series of paintings featuring a bunny dressed in a suit.  An idea born in 2007, the series is a creepy, mysterious depiction of how Terrence perceived Kensington at the time. 

One morning as I sat reading under the El, I saw a six-foot tall bunny handing out flyers to passers by. It was like a lightbulb went off.  I began to see the paintings as slightly autobiographical and the bunny as an extension of myself.  This tension I created struck me, and now, ten years later, that exact event is the main thrust of this latest series; “The End.”  In it, the bunny is struck, exits his body and enters a sort of Dante’s purgatory.