Below are several statements that I used to briefly describe my various solo exhibitions over the years. I hope they offer some insight into how I view my work and and what I hope others see in it.
2006
Along the Way
KADA Gallery
October, 2006
I, like many others, believe that life is a journey. We all move forward each day, all on our own chosen paths. We see and feel new things each day as we travel down our individual roads, each turn bringing new sensations and experiences. But too often we focus on where we’re headed or where we have been rather than pausing for a time to notice the sights and moments along the way.
Along the way...
That was the primary phrase that spawned much of the work in this show. I wanted to present paintings that focused on the present moment, allowing the viewer to pause and take stock of what is before them, to put aside their desire for the future and let their memories of the past ease away, leaving them simply in the now. For me, being able to do this revives my spirit in the face of a stressful world and allows me to see that this very moment is as important as any other moment on my own journey. When you stay in the present, the anxieties of what the future may bring and the regrets that the past holds seem to fade into the back of the mind.
That is what I hoped to accomplish with this work. I wanted to create paintings that lived only in the moment they were viewed, be that now or fifty or one hundred years in the future. I hoped to create something that whenever someone looked into the picture they felt a freshness in the moment, regardless of the time in which they were looking. Perhaps in that moment they would feel the same rejuvenation that I have felt, perhaps they can see their own place in the journey and would stop to take in the sights along the way.
So, please stop for but a moment from your journey and take in a new view along the way. But most of all, enjoy...
GC Myers
October, 2006
C O M M O N G R O U N D
Principle Gallery
Common Ground.
When I first chose this as the title for this show it was meant to be quite literal, emphasizing the actual ground under each of us and how it links us together. The bonds we hold with other people are often formed and strengthened by the shared perception of the landscape in which we live. This is certainly evident on a regional level as well as on broader stages such as a national or world level. We see in the land around us an embodiment of what we view as our best qualities, both individually and as a people, and those that share that landscape tend to hold those same qualities in the same high esteem.
That was my basic premise for this group of work. Much of the work features a central figure, a protagonist in the form of a single image amidst a large landscape. However, as I worked I came to see that there was also a common ground in the work beyond the landscape itself that was not as literal but more figurative. The central figures, to me, seemed to be captured at moments of great importance in their existence. Moments of self-discovery, moments of great resolve and determination, moments of peaceful self-acceptance and moments of a greater truth.
I realized that this was the real common ground I was seeing in these paintings- a commonality in the important instances in our lives that we all share and value most highly. I hope others can sense this in these paintings and are able to relate moments of their own lives to the moments represented here. Then there truly will be common ground between us.
Thank you and enjoy.
G.C. Myers
May, 2004
2003
FOUND LIGHT
Principle Gallery
Found Light.
Upward gazing, searching inside and out, grounded in rich soil and bathed in color. This is how I see this show.
I see this as a group of work that deals with very big themes in the simplest terms, work that allows the viewer to step in easily from a chaotic world and find their own light, their own motivation and meaning. Perhaps that sounds a bit unrealistic but revelation comes in sheer simplicity, the extraneous stripped away.
Maybe I should say more but that would only muddy the palette. Let me just say that I am very proud of this work and am excited and invigorated by it and hope that you’re able to see a bit of the light in it that I have found. Enjoy.
GC Myers
June, 2003
Anticipations
West End Gallery
When I was looking at the work in this show, trying to decide what to name the show as a whole, similarities in the work became evident. Much of the work deals with a time of day when there is a change of light, such as dusk or dawn. Much of it has light breaking over far horizons. Most have a contemplative sense that this is the moment before something happens. It is this sense of what might come that brought me to the title, ’Anticipations’.
I think the work in this show is about looking forward, about that moment before great change, either on a personal or wider level, occurs. In that moment of anticipation there is a mixture of fear, excitement and hope, as well as a sense of the inevitability of this coming moment.
This is the feeling I get from the work in this show. I think they are paintings of bittersweet triumph and optimism by which I mean that they are the realizations of what we are and are not , both as a civilization and as individuals, coupled with the hope for something more.
I hope I’ve said enough and not too much. What I mainly wish is that you look into the work, wander around and hopefully find something there that speaks to you. Enjoy.
GC Myers
July, 2003
Show Statement- Principle Gallery 2005
In the Window
What is in the window?
Curiosity. Hope. Longing. Opportunity. Future.
Past. Mystery.
The list could go on and on, whatever the human characteristic or emotion the viewer brings to the window. The window becomes the eye of the seeker who searches for a form of wholeness, that element that seems to be missing in them at that moment. It might be as simple as peaceful quiet or strength or determination or it might involve larger questions of self-definition or spiritual existence. We all have our own window and the view we have is of our own making and choice.
Now, this is merely an interpretation of this group of work and maybe this overly complicates the matter. Perhaps, just as a cigar is sometimes just a cigar, these are just brightly painted simple scenes seen through simple windows.
Whatever the case, please at least look in the window and hopefully you’ll enjoy the view.
Enjoy.
GC Myers
June, 2005
Show Statement- Principle Gallery 2001
G.C. MYERS
Seeking Imperfection
Imperfection is the gray area in life, neither this nor that.
If I were asked to explain the meaning of this show in ten words or less, that is how I would do it. It sounds cryptic. It sounds paradoxical. It sounds almost nonsensical. It is probably all of these things- and more. That is what happens when one tries to put definition to something that is essentially indefinable which is how I view this work. I truly struggle to give words that describe these pieces.
I tend to view them as walking a middle road, almost if as they were on the line that separates the yin and the yang. In most, I see hope tinged with a certain wariness. I see embattled triumph. I see stark loneliness alongside a communion with the surrounding world. I see joy within sight of despair.
There are some harsh words there- despair, loneliness, wariness. But they are balanced by other wonderful words- joy, triumph, hope. All of these are reflections of the human condition, and all are omnipresent. Beauty in this life lies in this incredible balancing act. That is what I see and what I hope others see as well in these seemingly simple landscapes.
Enjoy!
G.C. Myers
June, 2001
Show Statement- Principle Gallery 2000
Redtree:
Recent Works of G.C. Myers
When first preparing for this show, I had ideas for a wide-ranging exhibition of varying subjects conveying a myriad of emotions and feelings. As I painted, a wide variety of emotions did indeed show themselves, but only and always in the form of a single red tree. At first, I found this curious, even a bit irritating, but could not shake this image of a solitary red tree from my mind. Picture after picture, each distinct in form and feeling emerged, each bearing the unmistakable red tree.
Initially, I couldn’t comprehend this and wanted to fight this impulse, this need to paint the red tree, fearing that my own lack of understanding of the subject would prevent others from seeing or accepting the works as they were. Slowly, with each new image, I began to see the reality contained in the red tree and the universality of its message- its Everyman quality. I see portraiture, I see still-life and I see figurative work. Each piece is distinctly different yet there is a commonality that runs through this show- that of the individual personified in Redtree.
Enjoy.
G.C. Myers
June 7, 2000