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E. GIBBONS gallery

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Artist E. Gibbons believes it is human nature to put people in a box, so much so that the artist takes this idea literally and turns it into reality. "OUTSIDE THE BOX" debuted as a solo exhibition at phd gallery on Saturday, January 19, 2008 with forty monochromatic oil paintings. 'The Box Series' is comprised of more than 100, black & white paintings, which are virtually life-size. The oil on canvas works reveals male and female nude figures - inside boxes. Gibbons created these works by painting live models who posed inside three-by-three feet boxes. The ever-changing paintings are Gibbons visual voice, capturing his prejudices, apprehensions, aspirations and ideals. He uses a multiple-layered line technique that creates a kind of topographical map for the human body, which he then blends to construct rendered flesh forms.

Although Gibbons near life-size paintings are often sold one at a time, they are intended to be displayed in groups of 2 to 100. They are purposefully all lit from the left so that no matter the space or arrangement they are always cohesive. Like the Aids Quilt, a single painting can be touching and meaningful, but when seen with its counterparts, it takes on additional significance. Adjoining paintings influence the meaning of each work, like people in neighboring apartments. A figure listening to a wall could be paired with a figure playing music but would have a different context if paired with a figure weeping; these pairings nudge meanings in a way few other artists attempt. This is a large part of what makes Gibbons' work different and significant--his message is one of community, relationships, and associations. Though his figures are in a box, what is outside the box is often just as important.

"My goal in creating the 'Box Series' is to join the formalism and morality messages of the Neoclassical period with contemporary allegories, understandable to today's viewers, yet still maintaining a timelessness," said Gibbons. The New Jersey artist, who gleans inspiration from classical painters like Michelangelo, Ingres and Neo Classicist, Jacques-Louis, creates an amazing array of images that impact the viewer on an emotional level. Whereas some images confront the viewer, others recede, while some welcome your gaze and others outright reject you. The use of limited color combined with the complexity of subject matter and space, create powerfully focused and iconic images that express artist's center of attention.

Dr. John Burke, professor of sociology at Harris Stowe State University in St. Louis contends that the artist, "uses the boxes to define his reality. They focus our attention on his images, his values, his worldview. Each iconic representation within the lines of the box expresses how he views the connection of people and things meaningfully." (Read Professor Burke's essay.)

Gibbons is a fourth generation artist who began to draw before he was able to speak. He attended the college of New Jersey and studied Asian painting techniques at Kansai University in Osaka, Japan. He has been emphasizing the male figure since the late 1980's.

In 2004, a vacation to Paris brought even greater focus to Gibbons' work and style. Wandering the Louvre, day after day, he was transfixed by the masterworks of the Neoclassical period, particularly the work of David and Ingres. Sculpture too, placed in niches throughout the museum--contrasting architecture and the human form--generated a concept Gibbons incorporated into his work. Pull all that together and add a pinch of trompe-l'oeil and you have the point of germination for his work.

Gibbons' work has been exhibited in cities throughout the world, including Paris, Provincetown, Palm Springs, Fort Lauderdale, New Hope, Pittsburgh, Manhattan, Asbury Park, Princeton, Wilmington and Philadelphia, and now St. Louis.

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