CONTACT INFORMATION FOR COMMISSIONS 

Telephone:  (319) 330-1028
Email:  conley_arts@Lcom.net
Instagram: @garthconleyart

A BIT ABOUT THE ARTIST

Garth Conley earned his BA in history and art from West Virginia Wesleyan College, Buckhannon, WV.  He also studied at the Evanston Art Center in Evanston, IL., took Plein-aire painting under George Liebert from the Art Institute of Chicago, and life drawing from Max Ranft at the American Academy of Art in Chicago, IL.

Garth continues to teach drawing at the Johnson County Senior Center, has taught painting demonstrations at Hillcrest Academy, held painting and color mixing demonstrations at Blick Art Materials in Iowa City, and has taught painting classes for the West Liberty Area Arts Council.

Garth has held solo shows at Mercy Hospital, Hillcrest Academy, and the 2015 Gallery Walk for the Johnson County Senior Center.  He's also been part of many group shows including the Hudson River Gallery in Coralville, Blick Art Materials Employee Christmas Show and Sale, 2014-2021, The Chait Gallery's Small Works Exhibition in Iowa City, the 2018 Bird Exhibition for the Raptor Project in Iowa City, and the 2018 West Liberty Plein Aire it and Exhibition where he earned the First Place Award. Most recently he earned an Honorable Mention at the 2023 Muscatine Art Array 23, a juried show.

His work was selected for the cover of three books by Joseph Brisben and his art has been included in several corporate collections and commissions including:  Ambrose & Associates Realtors, Inc in Iowa City, IMT Insurance Co in Des Moines, IA., West Music in Coralville, MidWestOne Bank in Iowa City and Mercy Hospital in Iowa City.

Garth is our Tuesday afternoon host for Brick Street Gallery.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT 

"This is where I’m supposed to say something profound and meaningful about my artistic  vision and why I paint what I paint the way I paint it." 

THE JOURNEY 

"When I was twelve, I bought a small set of oil paints, brushes, and a book. Two older friends helped me get started. In high school, a couple fantasy illustrators really caught my  attention with their paintings of warriors, elves, dwarves, and fantasy worlds. It struck me that, though the worlds they paint are not real, the figures and elements in the paintings  look solid and three-dimensional. They occupy real space, they catch the light, cast shadows, and there is atmosphere surrounding it all. The fact that they are fully rendered and not  flat or cartoony really caught my imagination. 

In college, I worked at the Terra Museum of American Art, in Evanston, Illinois, during my breaks. (Dan Terra’s collection is now part of the National Gallery in Washington, DC.) I connected with the American Impressionists and several illustrators, who were their contemporaries. The French Impressionists’ paintings evolved into an ethereal gold/pink/ lavender/blue velvet fog, but the Americans maintained the drawing as well as the light in their compositions. It was during this time that I learned the specifics of how light works  and how to render it effectively. 

In my last years of college, I saw the work of a few 20th century French-school artists who painted dramatic city landscapes in many different kinds of light and weather: rain, snow, bright afternoon sun, and evening. I loved their work, but didn’t have the vision to pursue the complex compositions they created. It was not until a decade later that I began painting city landscapes. 

After college, I studied portrait painting in an effort to increase my observational skill and broaden my painting repertoire."

PRESENT DAY 

"Owing to my early exposure to the work of illustrators, my paintings have always had an illustration look to them. In the last few years, I’ve been pursuing figure painting and illustration. 

Whatever the subject of a painting, my main concern is what the light is doing and what the mood or atmosphere that’s created by it is. Another artist took the title of  “Painter of Light,” so I can’t—but it’s what I do and who I am as an artist. Is the light soft and muted? Is it strong and directional? Is there reflected light bouncing around the composition illuminating the shadows? Is the light cool or warm? Are the shadows cool or warm? In my drawing class, I have one session in which I teach and demonstrate my particular understanding of how light works. 

Painting is not photography. I have chosen not to pursue photorealism, or to create a smooth, highly-rendered finish with lots of detail. Seeing the brush strokes is really important. I break up the surfaces and forms into planes, for a painterly result. Oil is my main medium, but I paint city-landscapes in acrylic. I use graphite pencil both for preliminary studies and finished drawings, as well."

ON DISPLAY

GALLERY HISTORY