Meet Artist Gregory Gallardo

 

O-010 roosterandhen by Gregory Gallardo collage 14x14 $525

Gregory Gallardo

www.gregorygallardo.com

www.facebook.com/GregoryGallardoArt

 

Gregory Gallardo was born in Santa Ana, California in 1962. As a teenager, he was mentored by artist Don White and found early success exhibiting his figurative drawings and paintings. Gregory attended several local California Colleges and Universities but had little patience for organized art instruction and found that networking with other successful artists to be a more satisfying learning experience. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Gregory toured and recorded as a professional musician, all while continuing to produce commissioned artwork and the occasional gallery exhibit. He reemerged on the art scene full-time in early 2001 blending his love for nature, music and dance performance to create his own unique views on humanity and spirituality. In the pre-pandemic world of late 2019 a retrospective of Gregory’s work featuring 40 select works was exhibited at the acclaimed Soka University Founders Gallery in Aliso Viejo California. The highly regarded exhibit highlighted 20 years of Gregory’s oil, acrylic and collage works. Gregory’s art creations have been exhibited extensively throughout California and found their way into several permanent collections on an international scale.

 

O-012_black_chinned_hummingbird by Gregory Gallardo collage 12x12 $375

Through the use of seductive rich colors and an exquisite sense of balance between planes, Gregory’s work spans between figuration and abstraction. Forever “the student” always reaching and seemingly never standing still, Gregory’s comfort zone is constant change - moving through different mediums and styles with perceived ease. Of particular interest are his collage pieces comprised completely of torn/cut magazine paper. Regardless of medium or technique his work always feels personal rather than public. Fundamentally a West Coast artist, heavily influenced by his California environment, he has the ability to create a kind of humanized abstraction, either through the direct use of the human figure or through the delicacy and personal expressivity of the touch of his brush. His unique point of view on collage creates vivid figurative images with an uncanny painterly quality. His works elegantly reconcile his perception of the natural environment and the human condition.

 

O-011_whitecrownsparrow by Gregory Gallardo collage 12x12 $375

Exhibits & Media:

 

Soka Univeristy Solo Exhibit Retrospective

The Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA), Santa Ana California

The National AIDS Museum, Syracuse New York

The Riverside Unified School District, Riverside California

Brea Art Gallery, Brea California

TAG Gallery, Santa Monica California

Linus Galleries, Long Beach and Pasadena California

Laguna Beach City Hall

Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine California

The University of California, Irvine California

Orange Coast Magazine – The art of awareness

 

Gregory donates 40% of his internet and private earnings from art to local charities as a means of thanking the community he loves.