Gully beyond the canvas
Gully beyond the canvas
Preface
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fter a short summer break, Opera Gallery is proud to present ‘Gully: Beyond the Canvas’, our first show to kick off the fall season. Graffiti has been receiving quite a lot of attention from art lovers in Dubai, with 2014 marking the world record for the longest graffiti wall in Jumeirah Beach Park. On a global scale and far from the streets, this year has seen all time high records from artists such as Lichtenstein, Warhol and Giacometti in major auction houses. Gully bridges the gap between these two worlds, leveraging years of street art and passion for iconic pieces and translates them into beautiful canvases. Whether you appreciate ‘Americana’ and its universe, or iconic artists and their paintings, Gully’s works resonate with audiences across generations. The children presented in several artworks are also a reminder that the school year is about to start. We invite all of you to explore the world of Gully and partake in a fascinating journey through the eyes of the artist.
Gilles Dyan Sylvain Gaillard Founder & Chairman Director Opera Gallery Group Opera Gallery Dubai
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Gully meets Social Realism “Gully borrows from the artists’ most iconic, replicated and saturated images to create scenes that exaggerate the irony behind the ‘Americana’ of the postwar.” Roy Lichtenstein, Whaam!, 1963
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t seems fitting to talk about Gully’s art in the form of an
Gully’s concept derives from the Appropriation movement, a genre
encounter. Graffiti meeting gallery; icons meeting icons;
originating from the 1970s and 1980s that places familiar images
past meeting present. The artist, meanwhile, meets no one,
in new contexts as a way to reconsider their impact in contemporary
at least not anyone who could place him in the context of his art.
society. The selection of images in this exhibition is deeply rooted
His anonymity remains a crucial element of his artwork, if only
in the themes of postwar American Pop Art and illustration.
to emphasize the power of recognition in a culture where image
Characterized by an eager sense of optimism and fueled by
repetition is intimately connected to the construction of a political
a consumerist mentality, mid-century illustrators and pop artists
and social mentality.
became known for manufacturing an innocence and nostalgia that reminded viewers of the simple life experienced before the war.
Few people know much about this prolific artist. After a decade of
Images of small towns, hidden lovers and curious children fabricated
painting anonymously in the streets of Paris, today Gully’s work is
a wholesomeness of American culture that appealed to a war-weary
almost exclusively displayed within an infrastructure of observation
society and promoted a sanitized view of the world. Exemplified by
that encloses viewer and artwork into the same sphere. In the effect
artists such as Norman Rockwell, Roy Lichtenstein and Stevan Dohanos,
of an infinity mirror reflecting increasingly smaller repetitions of the
this idealization and nostalgia cemented ideas of ‘Americana’ that
same image, the gallery viewer becomes an echo of the viewer within
defined the mentality of 20th century American life and culture.
the artwork, while the act of viewing an extension of the same act taking place in the painting. By removing himself from the equation,
One of America’s most beloved image-makers, Norman Rockwell
Gully’s works become a reflection on the act of surveillance as an
is most known for his honeyed depictions of simple scenes from
experience that can shape the mindset of an entire generation.
everyday life. Starting his career as an illustrator of children’s books, he soon began publishing his works on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, the era’s most prestigious magazine chronicler of the American way. Frequently using children as models
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Norman Rockwell, Boy and Girl Gazing at the Moon, 1926
Norman Rockwell, Teacher’s Birthday, 1956
in his works, Rockwell’s trademark style
In a similarly realistic yet decisively gloomier style to Norman Rockwell,
of cheek and nostalgia made him one of
fellow Saturday Evening Post cover artist and contributor Stevan Dohanos
the most accessible artists of a generation
is also commemorated in Gully’s work. While Rockwell idealized the
defined by a distinct mentality of postwar
American way of life, Dohanos’s scenes of daily life glorified the beauty
denial. Accompanying America in
in the ordinary, focusing more on the setting of the people he painted
the making of its own history, Rockwell’s
rather than the people themselves. Despite his talents and prolificacy,
paintings are still considered an inseparable
Dohanos’s legacy never reached the height or recognition of his
and essential visual component of this
contemporary Norman Rockwell. Gully’s incorporation of Dohanos’s
influential period on the American psyche.
most iconic imagery is a crucial investigation of the impact of setting on art history’s delegation of high versus low art.
Twenty years Rockwell’s junior, Roy Lichtenstein was heavily influenced by the advertisements and comic book culture
In both Rockwell Meets Lichtenstein II and Dohanos Meets Lichtenstein II,
depicting the depth to which consumer culture had permeated into
Gully borrows from the artists’ most iconic, replicated and saturated
the American mentality in the decade after World War II.
images to create scenes that exaggerate the irony behind the ‘Americana’
Appropriating familiar themes and characters from comic strips,
of the postwar. Concealing a cunning critique on society’s tendency
Lichtenstein’s works tackled the way in which ‘low’ art could be
to believe constructed truths manipulated by mass proliferation of
considered ‘high’ art when viewed in a different context, such as
imagery, Gully’s appropriated artworks challenge the fetishism of the
the walls of a gallery or museum rather than the comic section of
iconic and the comfort of the familiar. An acute appropriation artist,
a newspaper or advertisement. Initially criticized for what critics saw
Gully’s composites of existing imagery allow the viewer to renegotiate
as a lack of originality, Lichtenstein maintained that the closer his work
conventional meaning within a more current context. By coupling
was to the original, the more critical it was of the function of familiarly
familiarity with criticality, Gully’s works look at the role of originality
and setting on the impact of imagery on mass media and culture.
and draw attention to the function of the viewer both within and outside of the painting.
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Gully meets Opera Gallery To what extent do your dreams influence your art… and vice-versa? I don’t know if my dreams really influence my art; I’d say, rather, that it’s my desire to never grow up and to keep on seeing art through innocent eyes, not very different from the “Peter Pan” syndrome…
What makes an artist? That’s a question I’ve always refused to ask, regarding myself. I think
To what extent has your experience on the contemporary art scene gone from the streets to the walls of art galleries?
of myself as a research worker, a sorcerer’s apprentice. I’m always looking for something, for the urge to fill a gap, the desire to create,
If you’re referring to the art I created in the street, on train tracks,
to test new combinations, new methods. I often have several works
highways, on trains themselves, it was a period of my life that helped
in progress at the same time because I have trouble completing things.
me come into myself and become who I am. It was a fabulous
When I finish one, I’m already excited about two other projects,
transformation time for me, one that only happens once in a lifetime
without ever really realizing what I’m looking for. The day I find it,
and that every adult has to go through. We call it adolescence: a thirst
maybe I won’t have any more need to create. Now, if I know ‘what
for knowledge, a thirst for life in the moment and to the max, a thirst
makes an artist’, I’ve found it. I’d rather not know and spend my
to exist through the eyes of others and to stand out. And lastly, a thirst
whole life searching.
to challenge authority by crossing societal lines that are unacceptable.
Can you explain where you get your artistic inspiration?
Today, I’ve matured and I’m thirsty to build, to dig, to understand. Signing my name is no longer enough and the graffiti scene became too small, too constrained for me. I really got that when I started
My inspiration progresses gradually, as I perfect my craft, little by little
painting on canvas, when I changed my pseudonym and had the firm
as my life unfolds, as my desires change; my inspiration isn’t something
desire not to connect the two universes.
palpable; it’s guided by my desire and my need to express myself and share.
Those are two periods of my life where the only common factors are me and the painting. So I’ll continue to hide my identity. Because,
For this exhibition, I want to show this partaking and desire through
in my opinion, it’s useless really; whereas my works are there to be
children’s eyes as they discover art. I want to tell them stories about
seen and shared.
history and art, in my own way, innocently, simply. It allows me indirectly to challenge the reality of art today, the harsh international
If every now and then, I do a bit of graffiti, it’s under my former name
art world that I discover every day more and more, while also paying
and it’s graffiti, pure and simple, and will never be signed Gully. If I do
tribute to those I consider the absolute masters.
tableaus, it’s only under the name Gully and it’s an entirely different
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“My inspiration progresses gradually, as I perfect my craft, little by little as my life unfolds, as my desires change; my inspiration isn’t something palpable; it’s guided by my desire and my need to express myself and share.”
dimension. I really have cleaved these two universes apart; for me,
my name like a logo and make damn sure I don’t get caught. Today,
they have nothing to do with each other.
I’m lucky to have been able to discover painting and, in a way, to have continued my teenage passion; that’s a luxury that few people can
Now, has my personal experience and vision of the contemporary
allow. I know what I got.
art scene morphed? No, I don’t think so, I’m still just as surprised by certain artists, others bore me big time, but the same was true
And, I was lucky to be able to build a new name for myself, thanks to
with the graffiti scene. I’m still just as shocked by certain works
my reputation; so I didn’t get trapped in the graffiti scene, like so many
and still think that certain artists really bullshit people, hiding behind
others. I was able to express myself fully, freely and totally differently.
a pseudo-concept.
And in the end, I was able to let my work shine alone. So, is art private? No, I don’t think so; my work is intended to be partaken of and
And I always try to highlight in my work what I value most in life and,
exhibited. Does that make it public art? Again, I don’t think so. They
definitely, more than (other artists).
all wind up in private collections of some sort, displayed in someone’s living room, for the private eyes of the collectors having bought it.
Can one say there’s private art on one side and public art on the other? I don’t think we can just split art in two like that. When I was into
Among the artists, illustrators and thinkers who gravitate in your artistic universe, who would you most like to meet?
graffiti, it was art that could have been considered public, but in fact, it had been done first and foremost for me and my team, then to
Norman Rockwell immediately comes to mind, and of other American
respond to an imaginary contest between us and other street artists
magazine illustrators of the 20th century, like Joseph Leyendecker,
who took up the challenge, at least, that’s what we thought;
who knew how to really capture their period, without the help of
we believed like hell, and by that point, nothing else mattered.
internet, without pictures and images a-go-go, when an artist could
We were in our ‘Imaginary World’ with justice in the image
take his time… a period so far away from how we live today.
of Captain Hook.
And of Edward Hopper, no explanation necessary.
Only the hard reality of the courtroom, the humongous fines and
What would be the first question you’d ask them?
prison sentences could bring us back to earth. Most normal people, when they pass by our work usually hate what they see;
None. I’m always disappointed when an artist expresses himself
our work’s been decreed by law as ‘voluntary vandalism’ and for
otherwise than through his art. I’d just want to take the time to see
the public opinion and the legal system, we absolutely had to be
them work, see how he chooses his subjects, his backdrops, listen to
eradicated. But I do admit that ‘pissing off the world’ didn’t bother us
his ponderings, see him take pictures and see him sketch and paint.
a bit and playing cat and mouse with the cops was exciting. We didn’t
The result would be more than enough; to understand the why,
ask ourselves if it was or wasn’t art, and if you’d spoken to me about
the how, wouldn’t interest me, whereas the finished piece of art and
art at the time, I probably would have answered that no, I just sign
how the artist got there would thrill me.
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Leyendecker meets Giacometti 1, 2015 Mixed media on canvas 130 x 162 cm - 51.2 x 63.8 in.
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Rockwell meets Seurat 1, 2014 Mixed media on canvas 160 x 240 cm - 63 x 94.5 in.
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Dohanos meets Warhol 1, 2014 Mixed media on canvas 110 x 117 cm - 43.3 x 46.1 in.
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Dohanos meets Obey 1, 2013 Mixed media on canvas 200 x 195 cm - 78.7 x 76.8 in.
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Rockwell meets Urban Art in Thomas Struth’s Museum 2, 2015 Mixed media on canvas 190 x 150 cm - 74.8 x 59.1 in.
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McGran Jackson meets Rodin 1, 2015 Mixed media on canvas 158 x 200 cm - 62.2 x 78.7 in.
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Hunter meets Warhol and Basquiat 1, 2015
This is not a Basquiat 7, 2013
Mixed media on canvas 160 x 120 cm - 63 x 47.2 in.
Mixed media on canvas 160 x 130 cm - 63 x 51.2 in.
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Rockwell meets Indiana 2, 2015 Mixed media on canvas 100 x 90 cm - 39.4 x 35.4 in.
Dohanos meets Lichtenstein 2, 2014 Mixed media on canvas 160 x 140 cm - 63 x 55.1 in.
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Rockwell meets Lichtenstein 2, 2014 Mixed media on canvas 120 x 160 cm - 47.2 x 63 in.
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Falter meets Calder 1, 2014 Mixed media on canvas 150 x 140 cm - 59.1 x 55.1 in.
Rockwell meets Haring 1, 2014 Mixed media on canvas 156 x 120 cm - 61.4 x 47.2 in.
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Thrasher meets LĂŠger 1, 2014 Mixed media on canvas 100 x 108 cm - 39.4 x 42.5 in.
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Prince meets Uncle Sam 1, 2015 Mixed media on canvas 100 x 129 cm - 39.4 x 50.8 in.
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Rockwell meets Yue Minjun (Red Army) 2, 2013
Rockwell meets Mao and Zhang Xiaogang, 2013
Mixed media on canvas 200 x 195 cm - 78.7 x 76.8 in.
Mixed media on canvas 245 x 200 cm - 96.5 x 78.7 in.
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Credits: Coordinators: Sylvain Gaillard, AurĂŠlie Heuzard, Marion Galan Alfonso Authors: Sylvain Gaillard, Gili Karev Design: SĂŠverine Morizet Translator: Amanda McLane Printers: Delta Printing Press
operagallery.com Gate Village, Building 3, Dubai International Financial Centre, PO Box 506737 Dubai, UAE T +971 4 323 0909 dubai@operagallery.com