GWALTNEY
GWALTNEY April 1 to May 1, 2016 Reception for the artist: Saturday, April 2, 5:30 to 7:30 pm Front Cover: Chris Gwaltney, Homesick (detail), oil on canvas, 2016, 34 x 38 in Back Cover: Chris Gwaltney, Rituals (detail), oil on canvas, 2016, 52 x 60 in Photo Credit: Brenda Bredvik Direct inquiries to: Seager Gray Gallery 108 Throckmorton Avenue Mill Valley, CA 94941 415-384-8288 seagergray.com All rights reserved. Catalog can be purchased through the gallery for $20 plus handling and shipping. Email us at art@seagergray.com
GWALTNEY A retrospective of Chris Gwaltney’s 30 years of exhibition history would read like an intimate chronology of the artist’s life. Gwaltney’s paintings have always been a reflection of his daily existence and his place in it. His source material has been his family – his children at their various ages, his wife, Jill, his parents and in-laws, who have had a great influence on his life. His representations are not literal, however. For Gwaltney, gestures and their implied emotions are more important than pure representation. The figures come to being in ambiguous abstracted space, often informed by the bright sunlit colors of the Laguna coastline where he has made his home and studio. For Gwaltney, the figure is expressed as a gesture, a presence simply articulated with line and stroke, often seen as walking alone or in relation to one or more figures. His process has always been reductive, building and sketching on the canvas, then taking away what is unnecessary, paring down the visual language. In this - and in his interest in color relations, he might be compared to Milton Avery, although he is more likely to site artists like Diebenkorn and Oliveira, particularly in the most recent works. In this newest series, he begins with the figure on the canvas and adds rather than reduces, creating an often ambivalent atmosphere in which the figure must define itself. Gwaltney’s Bay Area roots run deep. The Mill Valley exhibition, simply entitled GWALTNEY represents the artist’s 20th one person show in the Bay Area in as many years. There is a shift in these works. The figures are often solitary and walking in a landscape that is mysterious and misty. It is a time of solitude and reflection for Gwaltney. If earlier paintings examined the artist in relationship to his family in the external world, these are more about the artist in relationship to himself. They are Intimate and personal reflecting a mature artist’s musings on his life.
Chris Gwaltney Vulnerable oil on canvas, 2016 52 x 60 in
Chris Gwaltney Rituals oil on canvas, 2016 52 x 60 in
Chris Gwaltney Definite oil on canvas, 2016 65 x 57 in
Chris Gwaltney Structure of Being oil on canvas, 2016 44 x 60 in
Chris Gwaltney The Arena oil on canvas, 2016 60 x 44 in
Chris Gwaltney Storehouse oil on canvas, 2016 65 x 57 in
Chris Gwaltney Homesick oil on canvas, 2016 34 x 38 in
Chris Gwaltney Resolve oil on canvas, 2016 44 x 50 in
Chris Gwaltney My Echo oil on canvas, 2016 44 x 55 in
Chris Gwaltney Umber oil on canvas, 2016 24 x 21 in
Chris Gwaltney Wife, Daughter, Mother, Sister oil on canvas, 2016 21 x 24 in
CHRIS GWALTNEY Education California Community Colleges, Instructor Credential, 1987 California State University, Fullerton, M.F.A., 1986 California State University, Fullerton, B.A., 1984 Selected Solo Exhibitions 2015 2015 2014 2014 2014 2013 2013 2013 2012 2012 2011 2011 2010 2010 2009 2009 2008 2007 2007 2006 2006 2005 2005 2004 2004 2003 2003 2002 2002 2001 2001 2000
Cadogan Contemporary, London, England Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, UT Seager Gray Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Tria Gallery, Chelsea, NY Brett Rubbico Gallery, Newport Beach, CA Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA Tria Gallery, Chelsea, NY Seager Gray Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Sue Greenwood Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA Seager Gray Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Tria Gallery, Chelsea, NY Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, UT Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Shadow and Absence Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, UT Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA
2000 1999 1999 1998 1998 1997 1997 1996 1996 1996 1995 1995 1995 1994 1993 1993 1992 1991 1991 1990 1989 1989 1988 1988 1988 1988 1987 1986 1986
Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Renaissance Cafe, Laguna Beach, California More New Work, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach Contemporary Figure, Robert Green Gallery Collaboration, Artist-in-Residence, UC, Irvine New Work, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach Recent Paintings, Five Feet Restaurant, Laguna Beach New Paintings, Renaissance Cafe, Laguna Beach, Essential Visions, Bistango Gallery, Irvine, California Source Material, New Work, Diane Nelson Gallery, Laguna Beach, California Recent Paintings, Renaissance Cafe, Laguna Beach Twelve Recent Paintings, Diane Nelson Gallery, Laguna Beach, California Recent Paintings, Diane Nelson Gallery, Laguna Beach Figure Eight, Diane Nelson Gallery, Laguna Beach S.I.T.E. Gallery, Los Angeles, California Diane Nelson Gallery, Laguna Beach, California More Questions, Fewer Answers, Orange County Center for Contemporary Art Gallery of Art, Rancho Santa Fe, California Irvine Valley College, Irvine, California Diane Sassone Gallery, Laguna Beach, California California State University, Fullerton West Gallery
Selected Group Exhibitions 2014 2013 2013
Tria Gallery, Chelsea, NY Sue Greenwood Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Five, Julie Nester Gallery, Park City, UT
2012 2012 2009 2007 2005 2003 1998 1997 1996 1995 1995 1994 1994 1994 1994 1993 1993 1992 1991 1991 1990 1988 1989 1989 1989 1989 1989 1988
Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA Figures in Abstract, Seager/Gray Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Figurative, Peter Blake/ LA Louvre, Laguna Beach, CA Figurative, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Peter Blake Group Show, Peter Blake Gallery, CA Summer Show, Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, CA Painters, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Gallery Artists, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Expressive Figure, Three Painters, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA Recent Figure Paintings, Peter Blake Gallery, Laguna Beach, California California Figurative, Robert Green Gallery, Mill Valley, CA International Art, Los Angeles, CA California Painters, Concordia Univ., Irvine, California Best of Laguna, Art Institute of Southern California, Laguna Beach, CA Irvine Valley College Faculty, Irvine, California Currents, Time /Space Gallery Laguna Beach, California Faculty Exhibit, Irvine Valley College, Irvine, California Essential Visions, Bistango, Irvine, CA Faculty Exhibit, Irvine Valley College, Irvine, CA Diane Nelson Gallery, Gallery’ Artists Group Show Contemporary 4 ,Bistango , Irvine, CA Furniture as the Artist’s Subject, Century Gallery, Sylmar, CA Figure 8, Diane Nelson Gallery Artists that Teach Art Institute of Southern California-Long Beach City College Exchange, Long Beach, CA S.I.T.E. Gallery, Culver City. CA Faculty Exhibit, Art Institute of Southern California, Laguna Beach, CA Faculty Exhibit, Irvine Valley College, Irvine, CA
1988 1987 1987 1987 1987 1986 1986 1984
Faculty Exhibit, California State University Long Beach, CA Amos Eno Gallery, Soho District, New York, NY Spectrum Gallery, San Diego, CA Diane Sassone Gallery, Gallery Artists, CA Faculty Show, Ettinger Gallery, Art Institute of Southern California, Orlando Gallery, Los Angeles, California MFA Exchange Show, Claremont College, CA All California ‘84, Laguna Beach Art Museum, CA
Selected Publications Colburn, Bolton (Former Director Laguna Art Museum, Independent Curator). Chris Gwaltney World. Exhibition review, 2015, Seager Gray Gallery, Marszalek, Norbert. Interview with Chris Gwaltney, (July 6, 2009) neotericART.com. Carasso, Roberta, In Review, 2008 A Great Year for Art Lovers, Orange County Register.com (Oct 10, 2008). Carasso, Roberta, Art Waves, Chris Gwaltney at New Peter Blake Gallery, (Oct 10, 2008) Orange County Register.com. Walsh, Daniella, The Art Attack, Riviera Magazine (Oct 2008) pp 50-51. Walsh, Daniella, The Radar Art, Riviera Magazine (Mar 2008) pp 84-85. Step into Color, Riviera Magazine (Mar 2007) pp 180-181. Thompson, Sandy, Chris Gwaltney at Robert Green Fine Arts, Artweek (Jul/Aug 2001 Volume 32 Issue 7/8) Cover + pg 20. Thomas, Linda, A Circle of Orange, pp 150-151. Carrasso,Roberta, Dazzling Colors Mark Gwaltney Exhibit at Blake Gallery, OC Register, Laguna News-Post, (Nov 4, 1999) p 24. Walsh, Daniella, Chris Gwaltney-Recent Paintings, OC Register Encore (Oct 4, 1998).