Ron Gorchov
Encyclopedia
Ron Gorchov is an American
artist who has been working with curved surface painting
s and shaped canvas
es since 1967. Gorchov's primary invention consists of finely fitted, curved wooden frames resembling shields or saddles, across which is stretched linen or canvas. He uses simple paired strokes to create images that play with asymmetry within a basically symmetrical design, creating his emblematic doubled or mirrored image.
Gorchov's paintings are included in many prominent collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art
, The Museum of Modern Art
, the Whitney Museum of American Art
, the Detroit Institute of Art, and the Guggenheim
.
. Many of his fellow students were servicemen returning from World War II
who used G.I. Bill benefits to pay for art materials. "A veteran... gave me a paper bag with all his half-squeezed oil paint tubes and a whole bunch of old brushes and he said they'd be good luck.".
Gorchov attended the University of Mississippi
in 1947 and called it "the most unlikely place I could go. The deep south was exotic. I went fishing with William Faulkner
...but because of the horrific racial problem
I was mentally not at all able to think about art." Gorchov returned to Chicago and took both academic and art classes at Roosevelt College and the Art Institute. In 1953, Gorchov came to New York with his wife and newborn son and eighty dollars. The family moved into the Marlton Hotel
, across the street from where the Whitney Museum used to be and what is now the New York Studio School.
Gorchov's career has included impressive showings at Susan Caldwell and Pat Hamilton galleries in the 1970s, followed by Hamilton, Marlborough, and Jack Tilton galleries in New York and galerie m in Germany
in the 1980s. In 1972, Gorchov installed two of his "experiments in neocontructivism: multipaneled stacks of heraldic monochromes" at the Everson Museum of Art
in Syracuse, New York
. One of these stacked works, titled Set, was later included in Rooms, the inaugural exhibition at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center
in New York in 1976, while the other, titled Entrance, was also exhibited at P.S. 1 in 1979. In 2006 Gorchov's work was again shown at P.S. 1 in a solo show titled Ron Gorchov: Double Trouble.
, who chose him for Art in Americas "New Talent U.S.A.: Painting."
Gorchov was part of a group of artists working in Manhattan
in the 1960s and 70s that was responding to the concept of "Action Painting
" as defined by Harold Greenberg, a concept that purported to demolish pictorial conventions and held as suspect the notions of facility and harmonious composition. His work shows an affinity with that of Arshile Gorky
(Gorchov was at one point affiliated with Gorky's mentor John Graham
), Joel Shapiro
and Richard Tuttle
. He was a mentor to Willem de Kooning
and friendly with Mark Rothko
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
artist who has been working with curved surface painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s and shaped canvas
Shaped canvas
Shaped canvases are paintings that depart from the normal flat, rectangular configuration. Canvases may be shaped by altering their outline, while retaining their flatness. An ancient, traditional example is the tondo, a painting on a round canvas: Raphael, as well as some other Renaissance...
es since 1967. Gorchov's primary invention consists of finely fitted, curved wooden frames resembling shields or saddles, across which is stretched linen or canvas. He uses simple paired strokes to create images that play with asymmetry within a basically symmetrical design, creating his emblematic doubled or mirrored image.
Gorchov's paintings are included in many prominent collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a renowned art museum in New York City. Its permanent collection contains more than two million works, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. The main building, located on the eastern edge of Central Park along Manhattan's Museum Mile, is one of the...
, The Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, the Whitney Museum of American Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art, often referred to simply as "the Whitney", is an art museum with a focus on 20th- and 21st-century American art. Located at 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street in New York City, the Whitney's permanent collection contains more than 18,000 works in a wide variety of...
, the Detroit Institute of Art, and the Guggenheim
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is a well-known museum located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, United States. It is the permanent home to a renowned collection of Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, early Modern, and contemporary art and also features special exhibitions...
.
Biography
Gorchov's career as an artist began in 1944, at the age of fourteen, when he began taking classes at the Art Institute of ChicagoArt Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
. Many of his fellow students were servicemen returning from World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
who used G.I. Bill benefits to pay for art materials. "A veteran... gave me a paper bag with all his half-squeezed oil paint tubes and a whole bunch of old brushes and he said they'd be good luck.".
Gorchov attended the University of Mississippi
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi, also known as Ole Miss, is a public, coeducational research university located in Oxford, Mississippi. Founded in 1844, the school is composed of the main campus in Oxford, four branch campuses located in Booneville, Grenada, Tupelo, and Southaven as well as the...
in 1947 and called it "the most unlikely place I could go. The deep south was exotic. I went fishing with William Faulkner
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner was an American writer from Oxford, Mississippi. Faulkner worked in a variety of media; he wrote novels, short stories, a play, poetry, essays and screenplays during his career...
...but because of the horrific racial problem
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
I was mentally not at all able to think about art." Gorchov returned to Chicago and took both academic and art classes at Roosevelt College and the Art Institute. In 1953, Gorchov came to New York with his wife and newborn son and eighty dollars. The family moved into the Marlton Hotel
Marlton House
Marlton House, or the Hotel Marlton as it was known for most of its existence, is located at 5 West 8th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It is notable for having housed many famous artistic figures, especially during the peak...
, across the street from where the Whitney Museum used to be and what is now the New York Studio School.
Gorchov's career has included impressive showings at Susan Caldwell and Pat Hamilton galleries in the 1970s, followed by Hamilton, Marlborough, and Jack Tilton galleries in New York and galerie m in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in the 1980s. In 1972, Gorchov installed two of his "experiments in neocontructivism: multipaneled stacks of heraldic monochromes" at the Everson Museum of Art
Everson Museum of Art
The Everson Museum of Art in Downtown Syracuse, New York is a major Central New York museum focusing on American art.-History:The museum was founded in 1897 by art historian George Fisk Comfort ; at that time, it was called the Syracuse Museum of Fine Arts...
in Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
. One of these stacked works, titled Set, was later included in Rooms, the inaugural exhibition at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center
P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center
MoMA PS1 is one of the largest and oldest institutions in the United States dedicated solely to contemporary art. It is located in the Long Island City neighborhood of New York City...
in New York in 1976, while the other, titled Entrance, was also exhibited at P.S. 1 in 1979. In 2006 Gorchov's work was again shown at P.S. 1 in a solo show titled Ron Gorchov: Double Trouble.
Tradition
Gorchov is sometimes known as a "perennially emerging artist.". His first appearance on the scene was in 1960, when he was included in the Whitney Museum's Young America 1960: Thirty American Painters Under Thirty-Six exhibition. Some years later Gorchov was rediscovered by Dorothy Miller, then a curator at MoMAMoma
Moma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
, who chose him for Art in Americas "New Talent U.S.A.: Painting."
Gorchov was part of a group of artists working in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in the 1960s and 70s that was responding to the concept of "Action Painting
Action painting
Action painting sometimes called "gestural abstraction", is a style of painting in which paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied...
" as defined by Harold Greenberg, a concept that purported to demolish pictorial conventions and held as suspect the notions of facility and harmonious composition. His work shows an affinity with that of Arshile Gorky
Arshile Gorky
Arshile Gorky was an Armenian-born American painter who had a seminal influence on Abstract Expressionism. As such, his works were often speculated to have been informed by the suffering and loss he experienced of the Armenian genocide.-Early life:...
(Gorchov was at one point affiliated with Gorky's mentor John Graham
John Graham
- Politics and history :*John de Graham , Scottish soldier*John Graham, Earl of Menteith*John Graham, 3rd Earl of Montrose , Scottish peer*John Graham, 4th Earl of Montrose, , Scottish peer...
), Joel Shapiro
Joel Shapiro
Joel Shapiro is an American sculptor renowned for his dynamic work composed of simple rectangular shapes. Shapiro is represented by The Pace Gallery in New York. He lives and works in New York City, with a summer house on the shore of Lake Champlain, in Westport, New York...
and Richard Tuttle
Richard Tuttle
Richard Dean Tuttle is an American postminimalist artist known for his small, subtle, intimate works. His art makes use of scale and line.- Biography :...
. He was a mentor to Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning
Willem de Kooning was a Dutch American abstract expressionist artist who was born in Rotterdam, the Netherlands....
and friendly with Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko
Mark Rothko, born Marcus Rothkowitz , was a Russian-born American painter. He is classified as an abstract expressionist, although he himself rejected this label, and even resisted classification as an "abstract painter".- Childhood :Mark Rothko was born in Dvinsk, Vitebsk Province, Russian...
.