| "Pierro's
Problem Continued" by George Gogas
|
George Gogas When George Gogas talks about Montana one senses in him the deep attachment of a native son. An accomplished horseman and retired teacher with over 30 years of service in education, he now spends 6 to 8 hours a day in his studio in Missoula, his hometown. Gogas claims to have always been a "visual-minded child" involved with art. Educated in Missoula public schools, he holds a bachelor's degree in art from the University of Montana and an MFA from the University of Washington. His work is included in collections in the West and has been exhibited in this country and the People's Republic of China. Gogas is confident he would have been an artist anywhere, searching for that universal core that "seems to run through all good art regardless of cultural expression." Thus he has chosen to seek not merely a personal imagery that would reflect his Montana roots. Rather, his artistic symbols are more involved with European influences, as is seen clearly in his piece for the Rattlesnake Valley Press Centennial Portfolio, "Piero's Problem Continued." "Piero's Problem" presents an imagery Gogas has used for some time, though the making of the print plate represents a unique experience for him as he is primarily a painter. "Honored" to be included in the Portfolio with this group of artists, Gogas describes his print as an extension of Piero dell Francesca's work with the perspectival cliches that have dominated western civilization since the Renaissance. The piece presents the viewer with a veritable explosion of three-dimensional forms which Gogas uses to illustrate those rules of perspective he wishes to illustrate or break. The dynamism of his forms is, however, a strong reference to cubism and futurism. In "Piero's Problem" Gogas transcends regionalism while exploring new possibilities in established ways of perceiving. --From the Rattlesnake Valley Press Centennial Issue, 1989, Margaret Mudd |
