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À PROPOS DE L'ARTISTE

"Le succès n'est pas la clé du bonheur. Le bonheur est la clé du succès. Si vous aimez ce que vous faites, vous réussirez."     --  Albert Schweitzer

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Peinture équine en cours.

J ames de Kingneon 'Gucwa est né avec un pinceau dans sa main. Il ne faisait aucun doute dans son esprit que, d'une manière ou d'une autre, il deviendrait un peintre professionnel des beaux-arts. C'était son rêve.
A près l' obtention d' un baccalauréat en peinture, il aspirait à plus et a commencé des études supplémentaires comme un étudiant privé au Dan Welden lithographiques Studio à Long Island, NY, et peu de temps après, comme apprenti peinture dans l'atelier d'art de la fin du peintre contemporain, Gregory Gillespie , (bourse Fulbright, Whitney Museum, Hirshhorn Museum, Forum Gallery, NYC).

L e post-impressionniste français Paul Gauguin s'installe à Tahiti pour vivre et peindre ses habitants et ses paysages tropicaux. Admirant le choix de cet artiste, Guçwa part pour l'île de la Jamaïque pour faire de même.

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La vue de James depuis sa maison à Port Antonio, Jamacia

Purchasing just a one-way ticket, his easel, paints. a 10-speed bike, and $300., I set off to the Caribbean. I  was looking for an inexpensive shack to rent, away from tourist areas.  My legs pedaled me around the island until I found the town of Port Antonio where my days were painted away while drinking coconut water, Red Stripe beers, and swimming. After a few months, however, I realized my cash was running low when a Jamaican entrepreneur approached him. The man wanted me to paint him a sign for a new lobster house he was planning to open.  I never painted a sign before, but needing the money, so accepted his offer. When I returned to the states, it was this sign that prompted me to begin painting vintage signs on canvas as fine art. 
I'm currently represented by the Leslie Levy Fine Art Online Gallery and the Xanadu Gallery, both in Scottsdale, AZ
.  I would welcome additional representation at a quality gallery outside Scottsdale.

Gucwa's painting of 'The Blue Swallow Motel.' Acrylic on canvas, 15" x 24.

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'Blue Swallow Motel'  acrylique sur panneau, 15" x 24"

My photorealistic paintings of vintage neon signs caught the eye of one fine art gallery after another and before long I was having one-man exhibitions in some of the finest art galleries across the country, from Scottsdale to L.A., San Francisco to New York City, and points in between. In 1998 I was made an Officially Licensed fine artist for Harley-Davidson, Chevrolet-Corvette, and Mattel Toys/Hot Wheels Division. The two images below are available as limited-edition, museum quality, signed and numbered, paper prints (not posters)

'Bill and Wanda's' among the first Harley-Davidson painting that was printed and circulated to H-D dealerships throughout the country.

"Bill et Wanda"  acrylique sur toile, 64" x 48". Des tirages en édition limitée sont disponibles.

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"Le roi et moi"  acrylique sur toile, 64" x 48".  Des tirages en édition limitée sont disponibles.

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"Portrait de l'artiste"  acrylique sur toile, 30" x 24"

I'll paint any subject of your choice, in your favorite style. Use your imagination and let me bring your idea into reality. Heck, I'll not only paint a masterpiece for you, I'll serenade you with some smooth jazz, and read something from one of the books I've authored. How about a mural on the wall of your business or home? The sky's the limit, (I know, that cliche is worn out already). Hope to hear from you soon.

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   JAMES  GUCWA  BIO/CV

ACADEMIC

Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, Newark, N.J.

The School of Visual Arts, N.Y.C., N.Y.

Memphis Academy of Art, Memphis, TN

Bachelor of Fine Art Degree

Arizona State University, Special Masters Program with contemporary masters Ralph Goings and Robert Bechtle.

ADDITIONAL STUDY

Private study with Dan Welden, Dan Welden Lithographic Studio, Deer Park, Long Island, N.Y.

Apprenticeship with the late Gregory Gillespie, Belchertown, MA.

AWARDS

The Peabody Hotel (a National Historic Landmark), Memphis, TN,

painted 'The History of Memphis' large scale historic mural.

The City of Mesa, Mesa, AZ. The Mesa Southwest Museum.

painted six historic murals.

Made an "Officially Licensed" fine artist for Harley-Davidson, Chevrolet/Corvette, and Mattel Toys/Hot Wheels Division.

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2009, 2021, 2024 - Talon Gallery - Northland Pioneer College, Show-Low, AZ

1997 2000 - Bruce R. Lewin Gallery, SOHO, N.Y.C.

1988, 1990, 1997 - Leslie Levy Fine Art Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

1993, 1996 - Modernism, San Francisco, CA.

1999 - Shwartz-Cierlak Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

1985, Miami State University, Miami, FL.

CURRENT REPRESENATION

Xanadu Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

Leslie Levy Fine Art, Online gallery,  Scottsdale, AZ  

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Scott Richards Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA

Uptown Gallery, Manhattan, N.Y.

Horwitz-Newman Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

Vannier Fine Art Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

Suzanne Brown Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

The Cultural Exchange, Scottsdale, AZ

Eiteljorg Museum of American Western Art, Indianapolis, IN

Begovitch Gallery, Cal State Fullerton, CA

'Common Tread, Traversing the American Landscape'

Los Angeles County Museum, L.A., CA

PUBLICATIONS

Voyageur Press, 'This Old Harley.'

Kingneon Books, 'Signs of Art'

California State University Fullerton, Mike McGee, 'Common Tread'

Modern Media Publishing Ltd., Airbrush Art + Action International

Voyageur Press, 'This Old Corvette.'

The Open Studios Press, 'New American Paintings' Number 12.

Chronicle Books, Barnaby Conrad III, 'The Martini.'

Eiteljorg Museum of American Western Art, Mike McGee, 

'New Art of the West.'

MEMBERSHIPS
 

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