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Erik Gecas

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Artist Statement

I moved to Las Vegas as a non-figurative sculptor. In Las Vegas, I found that the quiet experience of my sculptures was not able to be heard over the loud buzz of casino life. This struggle lasted until one day when I was at the Guggenheim Hermitage in the Venetian Hotel Casino. I saw a painting by Pontormo. It is a Madonna and child painting. The painting seemed wonderfully oblivious to the fact that it was residing in Las Vegas, and yet at the same time it asserted a physical presence that suggested that it owned the place. The directness of this figurative painting was able to cut through the distractions of gambling culture. In the context of Las Vegas, my art needed the ability to directly access meaning in the way that only figurative art can. So I became a figurative painter. My paintings are built out of a sculptural concern for physical presence. I use my wife and children as models. All of the figures in my paintings are life size or a little larger. The pursuit of "physical presence" has been a driving force behind much of the progress within the field of sculpture over the last fifty years. I have worked as a sculptor for many years and recently become a figurative painter. I am trying to apply a sculptural belief system to figurative painting. A belief in physical self awareness and our interaction with the physicality of objects. These are themes often addressed through the idea of physical presence. I hope that these concerns come across in my paintings.

-Erik Gecas

Artist Bio

Born in Pullman Washington in 1971.

Moved to Las Vegas in 2000.

Education:

  • Southern Methodist University

    • 1999 MFA in Sculpture

  • University of Washington
    • 1996 BFA in Sculpture

    • 1996 BA in Interdisciplinary Visual Arts

Show History:

    2009 "Fall Art Affair", Southern Nevada Museum of fine Art, Las Vegas

    2008 "Painting Physical Presence: Erik Gecas and Ayako Ono",

      Contemporary Arts Collective, Las Vegas

    2007 "56th Art Roundup", Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas

      "Annual Juried Show", Contemporary Arts Collective, Las Vegas

      "Winter Art Exhibition", Lake Las Vegas Resort, Henderson NV

      Monthly ongoing shows, Old Town Gallery, Henderson NV

    2001 "Annual Juried Show", Contemporary Arts Collective, Las Vegas

    2000 "Plunge", Haggar Gallery, University of Dallas

      "Big Blue Drawing", Project Room, Conduit Gallery, Dallas TX

      "Fringe", Haggar Gallery, University of Dallas

    1999 "Between Image and Object", Arlington Museum of Art

      "Fourteen Up and Coming Artists", 500X Gallery, Dallas TX

      "MFA Qualifying Exhibition", Pollock Gallery, Southern Methodist University

    1998 "New Dallas Art-Small Works", Lowell Collins, Houston

Publications:

    Forestiere, Susanne, "Here and There: Two disparate artists connect with each other, and the
    world around them.", Las Vegas Weekly, Aug 21, 2008

    Bornfeld, Steve, "Getting 'Physical'", Las Vegas Review-Journal, Aug 15, 2008

    SinCityArtGroup, "Painting Physical Presence", Aug 2, 2008
    http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=398...

    Forestieri, Susanne, "Round'em up", Las Vegas Weekly, Aug 9, 2007

    Foresteire, Susanne, "Showing the Love", Las Vegas Weekly, February 22-28, 2007

    Hicks, Tracy, "Between Image and Object", www.tracyhicks.com/BIO.htm