Shane Guffogg

Guffogg's works consist of mediums such as oils on canvas or paper, watercolors, gouache, pastels on paper, and traditional etchings on zinc plates. The size of Guffogg's pieces can range anywhere between 10” x 8” to 10’ x 8’. The paintings with oils typically have as many as 60 to 70 layers of translucent colors. These colors are mixed with a glazing medium that gives these works an illuminated look. This particular process of layering is customary of the Masters and shows how Guffogg's work is rooted in ways of historical European painting techniques.

After that summer, Guffogg enrolled in Porterville College where he put all his focus on painting and studied art history. He felt that it was important to study art history because he felt that it was essential to understanding the art world if one wanted to be a part of it. He looked at it as if it were a conversation that had gone on for years and in order to be fully immersed in it, he must understand how the dialogue began. At the same time, he was curious about Einstein's theory of relativity and space. After studying at CalArts he returned to Strathmore to live with his family and began painting fruit at the family's farm. This homecoming changed his thoughts of how he could contribute to the dialogue of the masters. Guffogg explained, “I began wondering what thoughts look like before we attach language to them. I was also wanting to make paintings that hover between abstraction and realism – between what we see and what we sense.”

Guffogg's Ginevra de Benci series of paintings are inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's "Ginevra de Benci” painting. The series was created following Guffogg's “At the Still Point Series” and is thought of as an evolution of that series. The portrait by Leonardo da Vinci is on display at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. The series by Guffogg consists of fifty-two oil on canvas pieces that are meant to symbolize a conversation between Guffogg and Da Vinci. Each painting in the series is titled Ginevra de Benci then numbered. The series appeared in Guffogg's 2013 exhibition, titled, “The Annunciation of Ginevra de’Benci: Conversations with Leonardo.”

Guffogg's Amor Fati #1, 2013 sold under the "best sales" category at the Beach Cannes Auction in August 2016 for €148,100. In June 2017, Guffogg's As of Today #3, 2011 oil on canvas (60” x 80”) was sold for a record high price of $285,000 at Paris auction house, Cornette de Saint CYR.

Guffogg began his At the Still Point series in 2009. The series was inspired and its name was taken from T.S. Eliot's poem, ‘Burnt Norton (No. 1 of Four Quartets).’ He first read the poem, years previous to the series’ creation, however, he returned to it because Guffogg feels that the poem addresses his concerns about the art world and the world of painting in the 21st century. Guffogg stated, “for me this is a continuous conversation between past and present, and about creating movement out of stillness in order to make the abstract real.” Although most works in the abstract movement are about flattening of pictorial space and denying the Renaissance window, in this series Guffogg's goal was to create it.

The Pharmaka non-profit gallery space opened in Downtown Los Angeles in 2004 and stayed until 2009. This space was used for different exhibitions and to continue to open up the dialogue of the current state of contemporary art for artists and curators.

In 2004, Guffogg was approached by a Venetian art dealer that was looking to have a California artist collaborate with a Murano glass master. He then pursued this opportunity and went to Venice. There, he learned the history of Murano glassmaking. He collaborated with the glass master to display this negative space found with in his oil paintings in a three- dimensional sculpture form. Guffogg and the glass master proceeded with this, and “The Fifth Sound” Murano glass series came to fruition. Guffogg sees these pieces as extensions of his two-dimensional work. These pieces are hand blown and then sanded down so they appear more opaque. Some pieces in the series are also mirror coated as well.

In 2003, Guffogg began meeting weekly with fellow artists John Scane and Vonn Sumner, and art dealer, Adam Gross, discussing art and the LA art scene. Guffogg created a manifesto for the group that explained the ideas discussed within the group. The manifesto became a constitution which would be called Pharmaka. The name Pharmaka was utilized after their dialogue became public when they opened it up through three exhibitions in Downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood, and Los Feliz.

“The Fifth Sound” is the name of Guffogg's Murano glass pieces. The inspiration that would later create this series came to Guffogg in 1997. He began drawing the negative space between the ribbons found in his oil paintings. Then Guffogg would fold the paper with the drawing of negative space in half then cut out the shape would appear as a mirrored image. These shapes created from negative space in his paintings spurred the idea of creating sculptures and would later become templates for the Murano glass series, “The Fifth Sound.”

In 1985, he was chosen by Huebler and other faculty members at CalArts to attend an internship in New York where he could work at a gallery, museum, or as an artist assistant. Guffogg chose to work alongside New York artist, Gary Stephan. The internship lasted around six months, Guffogg chose to focus on learning and watching Stephan work and chose to make no artwork during this time.

Shane Guffogg (Guf-fogg; born August 12, 1962) is an American artist associated with the abstract art movement. He has worked in the media of painting, drawing, and sculpture. Guffogg lives and works between Los Angeles and Strathmore, California.

Guffogg was born in Los Angeles on the 12th of August 1962. At the age of four, he and his family moved to Lindsay, a small farming town in the San Joaquin Valley. In 1975, his family moved to Strathmore, the neighboring town, because they bought an exotic bird farm. He worked on the farm during his teen years. In the late 1970s Guffogg realized his passion for art and convinced his parents to let him build a studio on the farm. After graduating high school in 1980, Guffogg traveled around Europe visiting various art museums for two months. That fall, he began studying art in a local community college in the Tulare County area. In fall of 1983, he entered the fine arts program at California Institute of the Arts, also known as “Cal Arts.” Attending Cal Arts was a recommendation by artist, Joe Goode after Guffogg visited his studio earlier that year. Douglas Huebler became Guffogg's mentor at Cal Arts because of his influence in the conceptual art movement. He received his B.F.A. from Cal Arts in 1985. He was an assistant to Ed Ruscha and Joe Goode from 1989 until 1995.

Guffogg's attraction to art began at an early age. In the late 1960s his mother would take him to the library to check out books. Many of these books were art books with pictures of the art created by the masters, Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and Van Gogh. He saw their works as magic and wanted to be a part of that. From then on he was always drawing or painting. Guffogg said, “I would look at a tube [of paint] and smell it and dab a little bit on my fingers and wonder how artists could take this substance and make it into a work of art. I thought it was like alchemy, like magic. So I always wanted to be a magician in that regard.”

He was also inspired by William Turner's seascapes that were made from 1835-1846, Mark Rothko's last works on paper, pieces by Rembrandt, and Jasper John's early ‘Alphabet’ paintings. Guffogg sees this series as a conversation with the artists that inspired him.