News Released: March 1, 2009
Los Angeles, California

SHANE GUFFOGG MAKES A TRANDESCENT PATTERN PAINTING


The artist in his studio, Courtesy of THE Magazine/Photos by Margaret Molloy

Never lockstep, Guffogg’s work is more about painting than patterning, rhythmic and beautiful, saturated with color. He also makes a dent in the Los Angeles art world in another way, as one of the driving forces behind Pharmaka, the artists’ nonprofit coop space that anchors the downtown Old Bank District gallery scene.

A graduate of CalArts, Guffogg helped found Pharmaka with several other artists who are committed to painting and wanted a place where painting was “safe,” and where it could be discussed critically as well as technically. Even so, the shows Guffogg, his cohorts, and invited guests curate at Pharmaka are as likely to feature sculptures, collages, drawings, photos, and conceptual works as paintings. But painting is safe, safe—and seductive—in Guffogg’s hands.

In the moment
My latest body of work, titled Communion , is about the inner-connectedness of all things — an ancient idea that has come full circle. The paintings take months to make and really become a meditation for me; I hope that they serve a similar purpose for those who view them. The colors, which are saturated, were chosen based on the Greek and Chinese elements. For example, the underlying “blue” gets a pattern based on the original calligraphic movement in “red,” creating space and movement between these two separate but mirrored worlds through the complementary colors. The surface cannot exist without the underlying ribbons being painted first, which I like to think of as the subconscious creating its own consciousness. It is all one. Listening to and reading the headlines, I keep thinking about the role of art at the beginning of the twenty-first century. For the past forty years, the driving force in the art world has been primarily conceptual (a Warholian paradigm); prior to that, concepts of Freud and Jung were manifested and explored by artists. Technology has changed the way we experience our world. Will a new vision arise, or will artists continue on the path of appropriating the past? I believe art is more important now than ever because art changes the way we see our world and, thus, our place in it and ourselves.

Perfection in imperfecton
The part of art-making that fascinates me the most is the unknown — not knowinghow one color glazed over another color will look or what the patterns of a gestural mark will be. Instinctively, things get off balance, which for me is the perfection of the moment. My part is to be present and aware of that moment and respond accordingly with the next step of the painting.

Keeping artistic integrity with commercial success
Artistic integrity is based on my work ethic. My father was a coal miner in Northern England before coming to the USA, and he brought a very strong work ethic, which he instilled in me. I grew up in a small farming community in Central California, where putting in a full day’s work means more than just earning a wage; it means making sure your livestock and crops survive. From the beginning, I approached my art-making with the same work ethic. I like to be in my studio at 7 a.m. to begin painting. I think of artists as setting out in the beginning of their career on a walkabout, looking for the things that inspire, motivate, and create wonder. Then the job is to find your plot of land, so to speak, and lay down your foundation and begin building the home with these findings in which your artistry will reside. I have always felt that success is about giving yourself the opportunity to live up to your fullest potential. If you can do that, everything else follows.

Illumination in your work
I think of painting as a visual conversation that spans all of art history. Many artists over the centuries have used illumination in their work, but it is the use of multiple light sources in Rembrandt’s work that has had the most direct influence on me. I have always thought that his work also deeply influenced film, which brings it more up-to-date. At one point I was looking at a Vermeer painting and in awe of how he captured the reflection of light, and I started wondering what light would look like if it were my subject matter? Also, growing up in a rural area, my only “contact” with art was through books where the image is contained within the surface of the page and often sealed with a glossy coating. All these things led me to glazing and wanting to paint light onto a two-dimensional plane to create a three-dimensional space.

Pharmaka’s role in the Los Angeles art community
Pharmaka literally began as a conversation between a group of artists about the role of painting: Is painting still a valid form of visual communication? And if so, why? A manifesto grew out of our meetings within the first few months and laid the groundwork upon which Pharmaka, a nonprofit gallery, is founded. New Mythologies , Pharmaka’s current show, is a great example of the role the gallery plays in discovering new ideas and potential movements. A couple of years ago I began noticing a common thread among female artists: art that wasn’t a commentary on society or the roles people play, but seemingly a result of those things. The art came from a personal attempt to make sense out of the chaos we all confront daily. The six women exhibiting in the show had never met, but in the context of New Mythologies , a common thread is revealed.

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