Gerry Wubben

Gerry Wubben:

Monumental Detail - Drawing Survey

Jasper Community Arts is pleased to present one of the first exhibitions at the Thyen-Clark Cultural Center, Easley, South Carolina charcoal artist, Gerry Wubben. An Indiana University graduate, Gerry has made his way back to display his larger than life, highly detailed, charcoal drawings.

Artist Statement

My work, more than anything else, is a way for me to explore and make sense of my world through visual means. These means include realistic and abstract imagery, and disciplines such as drawing, printmaking, painting, sculpture, digital imagery, and theatre work.

My realistic work mainly manifests itself with my drawings, which are primarily monumental and executed in charcoal. I am constantly looking for things that strike me visually such as the figure, faces, and studies of Nature.

Of all of my subjects I find the figure to be the most powerful vehicle to express my ideas and feelings. I tend to draw family or friends and either focus on the old or the new born. My drawings of people strive to depict the soul of the person and speak of the cycle of life of which we are all a part . My drawings of Nature (landscape, insects, and animals) tend to be objective studies that share with the viewer my fascination with texture and detail. I like to work large for the impact and often use my drawings as theater sets. A design I created of Waiting For Godot was composed of my drawings which stretched fifty feet across the stage.

My abstract work manifests itself primarily in etchings, assemblages and monumental paintings. This body of work is based mainly on maps and my love of scientific subject matter. My most recent body of work consists of very large canvases with highly structured circular patterns painted in acrylic paint. I am trying to convey what I see in my mind when I read about the big bang, black holes, atomic structures, snow flake patterns and so on. I am also referring to Islamic Art, Indian Art, and Mandalas.

I have chosen to work in several directions for a couple of reasons. First of all, I like to challenge myself artistically. Each drawing or painting I do is done partly for the difficulty it presents me. If I succeed, I am that much stronger of an artist. Secondly, I see the world in a way that can best be described in two major areas: realistically and structured abstractions. I was made to do both.

VIRTUAL TOUR

After browsing Gerry's pieces, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the image to be redirected to a virtual tour of his exhibit. This tour was captured using a 360 degree camera.