Chuck Gumpert
Exhibited professionally for more than 15 years throughout Washington, Oregon, and California, Chuck Gumpert's bold abstract works and unique figurative paintings have enticed fine art collectors nationally and internationally, and his work has complimented the work of designers and architects in significant public projects in Seattle and Portland.
Lush, varied, mixed media layers of oil, acrylic, ink, graphite, and collage give Gumpert's provocative and gestural works a depth and energy. The work invites viewers and collectors to explore and process their own internal and personal narrative, and creatively experience whatever flows through the art to them. Each may have their own very unique response — interpreting shapes as subject, colors as emotions, or brush strokes as musical expressions.
Gumpert enjoys when his abstraction has the power to awaken subjective memories or unconscious associations — an escape into the kind of reality we experience only in our dreams! "When people ask me what any one piece is about, I can't always put my finger on what I tapped into in the moments of its creation. Each new painting is a culmination of forty-plus years of learning, experiences, emotions and observations — and a further exploration into my imagination, my memory, and my heart. I'm not a poet or philosopher — I'm a visual artist. I prefer to believe my "story" has been told on the canvas — I invite you to explore yours!"
[a note on my figurative works]
Urbanology : Exploring the Contemporary Figure
Around 12 years ago, vague and mysterious figures began to appear in a few of my abstracts. Early on they were merely happy accidents appearing within the expressive marks of a complex painting.
I began to coerce these strange characters out of the paint more intentionally, often grouping them into traveling groups of urban pedestrians.
I see these pieces as an exploration of urban life. Having lived in the city for many years, and now as a "visitor" — my observation of urban dwellers has developed into a study of the juxtaposition of masses of human beings in a small geography with the intense sense of solitude city life can bring.
While traveling around the city, one can observe many thousands of people scurrying about and interacting - but closer inspection reveals individuals in a world to themselves, immersed in their screens and earbuds, or wishfully staring down the WALK signal.
Collectors have reminisced of trips abroad, youthful bohemianism, or memories of their homeland. My quest is to portray a sort of "universal any-man" in a setting that could be Seattle or any city in the world.
Read more about Gumpert's Standing on the Shoulders of Giants collection
Lush, varied, mixed media layers of oil, acrylic, ink, graphite, and collage give Gumpert's provocative and gestural works a depth and energy. The work invites viewers and collectors to explore and process their own internal and personal narrative, and creatively experience whatever flows through the art to them. Each may have their own very unique response — interpreting shapes as subject, colors as emotions, or brush strokes as musical expressions.
Gumpert enjoys when his abstraction has the power to awaken subjective memories or unconscious associations — an escape into the kind of reality we experience only in our dreams! "When people ask me what any one piece is about, I can't always put my finger on what I tapped into in the moments of its creation. Each new painting is a culmination of forty-plus years of learning, experiences, emotions and observations — and a further exploration into my imagination, my memory, and my heart. I'm not a poet or philosopher — I'm a visual artist. I prefer to believe my "story" has been told on the canvas — I invite you to explore yours!"
[a note on my figurative works]
Urbanology : Exploring the Contemporary Figure
Around 12 years ago, vague and mysterious figures began to appear in a few of my abstracts. Early on they were merely happy accidents appearing within the expressive marks of a complex painting.
I began to coerce these strange characters out of the paint more intentionally, often grouping them into traveling groups of urban pedestrians.
I see these pieces as an exploration of urban life. Having lived in the city for many years, and now as a "visitor" — my observation of urban dwellers has developed into a study of the juxtaposition of masses of human beings in a small geography with the intense sense of solitude city life can bring.
While traveling around the city, one can observe many thousands of people scurrying about and interacting - but closer inspection reveals individuals in a world to themselves, immersed in their screens and earbuds, or wishfully staring down the WALK signal.
Collectors have reminisced of trips abroad, youthful bohemianism, or memories of their homeland. My quest is to portray a sort of "universal any-man" in a setting that could be Seattle or any city in the world.
Read more about Gumpert's Standing on the Shoulders of Giants collection
with Christopher Mathie
