Credit: Gary Gagliano.
New York artist Gary Gagliano has been wowing Guru with his art for many years now, creating visionary pieces that make you forget about this reality and almost pull you to step into new dimensions. Think alien molecules, outer space and breathing goblets of funky colours. He recently joined forces with his American friend Chip Seven and they are currently exhibiting some pieces at Knock on Thonglor that you should totally go check out.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I’m an artist who has been living between New York and Bangkok for nearly 20 years now. I work mainly on two bodies of work, one is large scale enamel on canvas paintings and the other is mixed media collage pieces.
Tell us about your current exhibition at Knock.
Chip Seven and I are close friends and he is an artist I really respect; his work ethic is amazing, he just goes and goes and he works so fast and smooth, I envy how fast he gets work done. We’ve been wanting to do a show together for quite some time and friends who own Knock figured it was the perfect opportunity for us to do it there. The works I’m currently exhibiting at knock are my mixed media paper collage pieces that involve sculpture and photography in the process.
What’s your favourite medium to create with?
It depends on what I’m working on, I don’t have one favourite. I float between a few mediums ranging from enamel paint, to sculpture, to collage. It really depends on what I’m working on.
If you had to choose between lines and colours, what would you choose?
I wouldn’t be able to choose one or the other on the basis of line or colour , it depends on each individual piece of work. It’s like looking at people you take each one as an individual and determine how you feel about them not just on the basis of colour or a lack there of it but for their substance and how they make you feel. It’s much more on an individual basis for me when it comes to what I like.
How does Bangkok compare with New York?
I actually feel that Bangkok and New York are nearly the same city in many, many ways! I have lived in a lot of different cities and many different countries and there is nowhere else in the world that I feel comes as close to New York as Bangkok does. The people of Bangkok and New York are very similar in many ways. The pulse of the city, the grit, the hustle and bustle, the streets, the sidewalks — I could go on and on about the similarities but again there is nowhere else I feel is as close to New York as Bangkok is. I love them both.
What advice do you give to aspiring artists who want to make it?
It would be hard for me to give advice to other artists and I think it would be speaking out of place, I still don’t know how to go about making it in the art world myself. Keep on working and always be in the studio pushing yourself even when you don’t want to work. It’s a lot about being at the right place at the right time — timing usually is everything. It’s a mashup of events that lead you to a career in art and most of the time when you look back to figure it all out you can’t even remember how it all happened! Just keep making art and let the rest fall into place. g
This source first appeared on Bangkok Post Lifestyle.