Greg Gandy received his master’s degree at Academy of Art University in San Francisco in 2007, the same year he had his first exhibition at the city’s STUDIO Gallery. His most recent paintings will be shown at the gallery from August 26 through September 13.
Salem Market, oil on canvas, 20 x 16"
As an undergraduate, Gandy had an assignment to “copy a painting from any artist of our choice. Back then I didn’t know too much about art, so I went to the library and began pulling art books from the shelves. I pulled a book about Alice Neel’s work and for some reason it resonated with me. I found her work to be honest and stylized in ways that made sense to me. I copied a painting called Hartly that Alice painted in 1965. I was new to painting, and this was the first assignment that I felt like I had achieved something. I still have the painting hanging in my home, and my love for Alice Neel has only grown.”
Left off Larkin, oil on panel, 16 x 12"
He later discovered Bay Area figurative artist Richard Diebenkorn. “The way Diebenkorn could explore subjects with ease, and his color palette have continued to inspire me,” he explains. “His work has a vulnerability that I search for in my own work. As I learned more traditional skills my influences grew.I started as a much more abstract painter, but with more experience I grew to love the process of painting more traditionally.” Among his contemporary influences are his Academy of Art teachers, Mark Tennant and Dean Larson. “I worked a lot with Dean on a series of cityscape paintings that I used for my graduate thesis show,” he explains.
San Jose Ave, oil on canvas, 24 x 30"
His vignettes of everyday scenes reflect his love for his adopted city. “There are two themes that I explore the most with regards to my cityscape paintings. One is the light and atmosphere that happens here in San Francisco. I am lucky enough to live in what I think is such a beautiful city and I feel I could spend the rest of my life trying to capture the effect the light has on this city. The other subject I have been exploring lately is vintage cars parked in San Francisco. The city is always changing. When I moved to San Francisco in 2002 the city was full of artists of all different ages. There were so many eccentric people.
Sutro Baths, oil on panel, 8 x 10"
I loved it,” he says. “As the price of living has gone up the people have changed. Artists have been pushed out and a new crop of people have moved in. The vintage cars are a kind of nod to a different time in San Francisco. I like to think of my paintings as a continuation of the Bay Area artists that have paved the way.”
STUDIO Gallery
1641 Pacific Avenue • San Francisco, CA 94109
(415) 931-3130 • www.studiogallerysf.com
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