Emerging Artist | Greg Gandy - Southwest Art Magazine

Diary of the city

Greg Gandy, Morning Rain in North Beach, oil, 24 x 36.

This story was featured in the October 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Order the Southwest Art magazine October 2012 print edition here, or purchase the Southwest Art magazine October 2012 digital download here. Or subscribe to Southwest Art magazine and never miss a story!

Anyone who has visited or lived in San Francisco knows the city has a moody atmosphere marked by a special blend of foggy days, rain-soaked streets, and precipitous hills sprinkled with pastel- colored Victorian homes. When artist Greg Gandy, 32, moved to the City by the Bay for graduate school at the Academy of Fine Art University, he didn’t own a car. Gandy has walked many, many miles absorbing San Francisco’s nooks, crannies, and charms, which has given him a special appreciation for the ever-changing textures and  flavors of the city he now calls home.

Gandy’s personal experiences shine through in his remarkably detailed urbanscapes, which allow viewers to feel as though they are part of the scene. “It’s my way of documenting the city—a place that is so personal to me,” Gandy says. “My paintings are like a diary of sorts.”

The light and the hills around the city have always held allure for him, Gandy says. “For me the city is constantly changing. I can go back to the same scene and experience it a completely different way from one day to the next. It can be blue and foggy one day, then sunny and bright, and this offers a lot of possibilities.”
As this story was going to press, Gandy was preparing works for a solo show, opening October 12 at San Francisco’s John Pence Gallery. The show features Gandy’s cityscapes and still lifes.

When he is not out creating location studies on the streets of San Francisco or in his studio, Gandy is trolling antiques fairs and searching for intriguing objects with character, such as old film projectors, for his still lifes. He now has 15 of the projectors in his studio. They often evoke narratives in Gandy’s imagination, and they reflect change and the passage of time. “I like to imagine a family setting one up and seeing their family’s history on film,” Gandy says. —Bonnie Gangelhoff

representation
John Pence Gallery, San Francisco, CA; Principle Gallery, Alexandria, VA; Studio Gallery, San Francisco, CA; greggandy.com.

Featured in the October 2012 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art magazine October 2012 digital download
Southwest Art magazine October 2012 print edition
Or subscribe to Southwest Art magazine and never miss a story!