ABOUT

“GARY SELF-PORTRAIT” 2015© 49.75" w x 42" H [126.37 cm x 106.68 cm]

“GARY SELF-PORTRAIT” 2015© 49.75" w x 42" H [126.37 cm x 106.68 cm]

Gary is an artist who received his BFA from Tyler School of Art and his MFA from Syracuse University. In 1972, he married a sculptor named Carrie Goldwater, and the couple received fellowships at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center before moving to New York City. In 1979, Gary became a member of the American Abstract Artist organization.

Together, Carrie and Gary founded Art People in 1976 as an alternative to marketing their fine art through the traditional art world. They focused on developing creative alternatives to wall coverings using fine art materials and techniques, and their products gained an award-winning reputation.

During this period, Gary spent time in a pottery studio, creating hand-built pottery that incorporated texture and color. This experience challenged him to think differently about dimensionality in his artwork, as his previous art had primarily focused on the two-dimensional plane and his imagination.

Now a full-time artist, Gary has immersed himself in the development of colored pencils as a painting tool. He builds layers upon layers to create surfaces with visual depth and luscious surfaces through the characteristics of color:  saturation, hue, and value. Color plays a central role in his work, and shapes are used arbitrarily as containers for color. These shapes are no longer confined to the flat plane; they can exist in illusionistic space.

Gary draws inspiration from artists like Picasso, Duchamp, and Pollack, who challenged conventional rules and postulates, advocating for freedom of expression in their art. This disregard for traditional constraints bolsters Gary's confidence in his own artistic journey. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Deeply thankful and with respect for the photographers whose images have been used as details or in full that act as an element in the concepts of each piece. Gary takes the photograph whenever possible. Please use the contact tab above if there is a correction or more information regarding the photographer or the information regarding an included image.