Wayne Gilbert
"Tomorrow’s Unknown"
West Gallery
July 8 - August 26, 2023
Opening Reception:
Saturday, July 8, 6pm-9pm
As the Russian-American painter Boris Lurie, who is known for his controversial work exclaimed, “Courage is the secret ingredient of all art”.
Wayne Gilbert – Artist Provocateur – has plenty of courage to show his very own views expressed in his artwork.
Gilbert tackles political and social issues in his paintings that add an extra punch. He adds unclaimed funerary ashes mixed with a gel medium and spreads them with a palette knife into forms and positions according to his vision. He says, “Most people would not want to hang these paintings in their living rooms”, which he is fine with as he wants to evoke conversation about them and their message.
We rummaged through his 40-foot climate controlled storage building to select the pieces for the show of his life’s work.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Wayne Gilbert is an ordinary artist in an extra-ordinary city full of great artists and art. In 1984, he received an undergraduate degree from the University of Houston in Painting with a minor in Art History. In 2012, he received a master’s degree from Rice University in Liberal Studies. He was a founding member of the Rubber Group, along with Bill Hailey and Ramzy Telley in 1996 until 2004. Their multiple disciplined extravaganzas were bohemian rough and stayed well out of the mainstream.
Wayne Gilbert uses the cremated remains of Americans uncollected, for infinite reasons, at funeral establishments mixed with a clear gel medium to create works of art. His intent is to question the phenomenon of art as it relates to humanity and as humanity relates to the art. The discipline is designed to investigate and question the academic substance of art as it integrates into the theory and critical analysis of art making. What is art? Why does it matter? Who defines a work of art? What is it about this peculiar and mystifying human undertaking that can result in such a huge worldwide industry and sometimes be relegated to the lofty world of “Priceless”? The range of imagery is wide and does not follow any specific lineage, but rather entertains the momentary flicker of a thought as it might relate to our philosophical, theological, physical, or mental trip through this wonderful and fascinating eschatological journey.
Wayne has been a guest speaker at Bard College; Annandale on the Hudson, New York; Rutgers University, New Jersey; and Texas Tech, Lubbock, Texas. He has curated exhibitions in: Trujillo, Peru; Santiago, Cuba; Salzwedel, Germany; Seattle; Washington; Marfa, Texas; and Arlington, Texas to name a few.
