JAMES FRANCIS GILL (* 1934)

James Francis Gill says about his work:

„There are no rules on the canvas. It can go in any direction. Every piece is a unique and special experience.“

The American artist James Francis Gill is a significant co-founder of American Pop Art.

…and has produced a substantial body of work in his career, which continues to this day. Gill’s works combine the glamour of iconic portraiture with a sense of realism and abstraction. The artist lives and works in Texas.

After studying architecture and design in Odessa, Gill became an artist and a pioneer of Pop Art.

In 1962, a triptych by James Francis Gill entitled „Marilyn Triptych“ was added to the collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Gill’s works, such as the drawing „Laughing Women in Car and Close-up,“ were exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in New York alongside those of Pablo Picasso, Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg, and Jasper Johns in the mid-1960s, early in his artistic career.

• In 1965, Gill began teaching painting at the University of Idaho.
• In 1967, his works were exhibited in Brazil alongside pieces by artists such as Andy Warhol and Edward Hopper.
• In 1969, Gill taught at the University of California
• and in 1970, he was a visiting professor in Oregon.

In keeping with the spirit of the times, Gill’s work became more profound, and the growing recognition of his art was overwhelming.

At the height of this first phase of his career, in 1972, the artist withdrew from the art world for over 30 years to further develop his unique artistic language and form of expression in isolation.

During these years, Gill returned to architectural design.

In the mid-1980s, Gill once again turned to painting—but without exhibiting it publicly.

It was only with an interview for the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s American Art Magazine that the artist began a kind of rediscovery of his work.

Gill now works with computer design and also uses the printer as a tool. „Metamage“ and „mixed media“—montage effects that go beyond his previous methods—have been added to the image composition of his works.

In 2010, Gill began his so-called late work, which continues to this day and incorporates depictions of icons from the Pop Art era and film actresses.

Gill’s works demonstrate the artist’s versatility, allowing him to combine abstraction and figuration in his often intensely colorful themes, with personalities such as Brigitte Bardot, Mick Jagger, and Grace Kelly appearing to step directly out of the picture and confront the viewer.

Works by James Francis Gill in public collections (selection):

• Berkeley Art Museum, University of California, Berkeley
• Museum of Modern Art Ludwig Foundation, Vienna
• Museum of Modern Art, New York
• National Museum of the U.S. Navy, Washington, D.C.
• National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
• Neue Galerie, Kassel
• San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, Texas
• Santa Barbara Museum of Art, Santa Barbara, California
• Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
• Stanford University Center for Fine Arts, Stanford, California
• The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois
• Whitney Museum of American Art, New York

Literature:

Kimberly S. Bushby: James Gill: The Power of Pop Icons in the Age of Stars, in: James Francis Gill: Catalogue Raisonné of Original Prints (Vol. 1), 2017.

(H.W.)