Scott A. Spencer (artist)
Encyclopedia
Scott Andrew Spencer is an American
abstract
painter
.
Born in Santa Monica, California
, grew up in Huntington Beach
. He has an Associate in Arts Degree
, from Orange Coast College
in Costa Mesa, California
, and studied at California State University-Long Beach. In 2004
he was admitted into the Pasadena Society of Artists
.
Mainly self-taught, Spencer began painting full time after a brush with cancer, in 1999. He had all of the lymph nodes, and salivary gland, on the left side of his mouth, as well as a good portion of his tongue removed, which left him with a speech impediment that he had to work through. He takes inspiration from his immediate surroundings, real or imagined, and paints into the wee hours of the night. "That's when the energy comes." He paints daily out on the balcony of his second-story condominium, in Los Angeles, California
, where he loves to listen to music and delve into abstraction.
He gets artist's inspiration from Henri Matisse
, Constantin Brâncuşi
, Max Beckmann
, David Hockney
, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
, and Francis Bacon
.
Scott Spencer is represented by Abstract Earth Gallery located in Columbus, Ohio
; 123 Soho Gallery in New York, New York; PicassoMio in Madrid, Spain; Art Majeur in San Francisco, California
; Period Gallery in Lincoln, Nebraska
; and Galleria Jan in La Jolla, California.
Artist Statements: Life is a game. Play along.
In the Grand Scheme of it all, we may very well be experiencing different realities. These are definitely wacky times. We live in an age of orange newscasters, Burger King memorabilia and war. We think we're smart and that we understand our existence. I'm not so sure. Sometimes I think we're just high-end monkeys.
I give myself over to That Which Governs. I know Someone or Something is watching after us, keeping vigil. Every day I thank my lucky stars and the Powers That Be for the presence of art collectors in this world. "Thank you," to everyone who owns and all future owners of these paintings. You are magical, wonderful people. If you're ever in Los Angeles, please look me up. I'll buy you some lunch.
Every canvas has an agenda—a life of its own separate from its maker, separate from thought or logic or reason—and to plot its course is only to interfere. To plan is to destroy. Trust the mess. All marks are good.
Oh, but the mutiny of scrutiny . . . if we could only leave it alone.
The self-taught artist has a great chance to be unique. Without knowledge of "rules" to hinder the hand or an instructor's style to imitate, what results is pure, entirely his own.
Contrary to popular belief, abstract art is "meaningful" on a parallel with representational art. Each of us sees differently, and individual responses to an abstract work of art are varied. An abstract work's "meaning" is oftentimes stronger and more personal for the viewer than it is in purely representational art where the subject matter is obvious and can only evoke a limited range of emotions.
So far, nowhere else in this existence have I found the freedom and exhilaration that oil painting affords. Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." These are welcome words to a daydreamer like me.
"There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion." Francis Bacon
Being gay is a gift, a variation on a theme. Love is too powerful to be shaped or confined.
I stepped off the deep end a long time ago and have been dog paddling for dear life ever since.
Nobody taught me to run from my problems. I had to learn that one on my own.
At the moment, I'm loving the paintings of Cecily Brown, Dana Schutz, Odd Nerdrum, Raimonds Staprans and Paul Balmer. My all-time favorites are Max Beckmann, Milton Avery, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Joan Mitchell, Egon Schiele, Richard Diebenkorn, Helen Frankenthaler and Lucian Freud
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
abstract
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
painter
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...
.
Born in Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica is a beachfront city in western Los Angeles County, California, US. Situated on Santa Monica Bay, it is surrounded on three sides by the city of Los Angeles — Pacific Palisades on the northwest, Brentwood on the north, West Los Angeles on the northeast, Mar Vista on the east, and...
, grew up in Huntington Beach
Huntington Beach, California
Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County in Southern California. According to the 2010 census, the city population was 189,992; making it the largest beach city in Orange County in terms of population...
. He has an Associate in Arts Degree
Associate's degree
An associate degree is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by community colleges, junior colleges, technical colleges, and bachelor's degree-granting colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study usually lasting two years...
, from Orange Coast College
Orange Coast College
Orange Coast College is a community college in Orange County, California. It was founded in 1947, with its first classes opening in the fall of 1948. It provides two-year associate of art and science degrees, certificates of achievement, and lower-division classes transferable to other colleges...
in Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa, California
Costa Mesa is a city in Orange County, California. The population was 109,960 at the 2010 census. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to a primarily suburban and "edge" city with an economy based on retail, commerce, and light...
, and studied at California State University-Long Beach. In 2004
2004 in art
The year 2004 in art involved some significant events.-Events:*24 May – A fire in the Momart storage warehouse destroys major works by Helen Chadwick, Tracey Emin, Patrick Heron, Damien Hirst and other British artists.-Awards:...
he was admitted into the Pasadena Society of Artists
Pasadena Society of Artists
The Pasadena Society of Artists, founded in 1925, is one of the longest-running, nonprofit arts organizations in the state of California, USA.-Overview:...
.
Mainly self-taught, Spencer began painting full time after a brush with cancer, in 1999. He had all of the lymph nodes, and salivary gland, on the left side of his mouth, as well as a good portion of his tongue removed, which left him with a speech impediment that he had to work through. He takes inspiration from his immediate surroundings, real or imagined, and paints into the wee hours of the night. "That's when the energy comes." He paints daily out on the balcony of his second-story condominium, in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, where he loves to listen to music and delve into abstraction.
He gets artist's inspiration from Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse
Henri Matisse was a French artist, known for his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a draughtsman, printmaker, and sculptor, but is known primarily as a painter...
, Constantin Brâncuşi
Constantin Brancusi
Constantin Brâncuşi was a Romanian-born sculptor who made his career in France. As a child he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. Formal studies took him first to Bucharest, then to Munich, then to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris...
, Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann
Max Beckmann was a German painter, draftsman, printmaker, sculptor, and writer. Although he is classified as an Expressionist artist, he rejected both the term and the movement...
, David Hockney
David Hockney
David Hockney, CH, RA, is an English painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who is based in Bridlington, Yorkshire and Kensington, London....
, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo , also known as Gianbattista or Giambattista Tiepolo, was an Italian painter and printmaker from the Republic of Venice...
, and Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon (painter)
Francis Bacon , was an Irish-born British figurative painter known for his bold, austere, graphic and emotionally raw imagery. Bacon's painterly but abstract figures typically appear isolated in glass or steel geometrical cages set against flat, nondescript backgrounds...
.
Scott Spencer is represented by Abstract Earth Gallery located in Columbus, Ohio
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
; 123 Soho Gallery in New York, New York; PicassoMio in Madrid, Spain; Art Majeur in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
; Period Gallery in Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln, Nebraska
The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
; and Galleria Jan in La Jolla, California.
Artist Statements: Life is a game. Play along.
In the Grand Scheme of it all, we may very well be experiencing different realities. These are definitely wacky times. We live in an age of orange newscasters, Burger King memorabilia and war. We think we're smart and that we understand our existence. I'm not so sure. Sometimes I think we're just high-end monkeys.
I give myself over to That Which Governs. I know Someone or Something is watching after us, keeping vigil. Every day I thank my lucky stars and the Powers That Be for the presence of art collectors in this world. "Thank you," to everyone who owns and all future owners of these paintings. You are magical, wonderful people. If you're ever in Los Angeles, please look me up. I'll buy you some lunch.
Every canvas has an agenda—a life of its own separate from its maker, separate from thought or logic or reason—and to plot its course is only to interfere. To plan is to destroy. Trust the mess. All marks are good.
Oh, but the mutiny of scrutiny . . . if we could only leave it alone.
The self-taught artist has a great chance to be unique. Without knowledge of "rules" to hinder the hand or an instructor's style to imitate, what results is pure, entirely his own.
Contrary to popular belief, abstract art is "meaningful" on a parallel with representational art. Each of us sees differently, and individual responses to an abstract work of art are varied. An abstract work's "meaning" is oftentimes stronger and more personal for the viewer than it is in purely representational art where the subject matter is obvious and can only evoke a limited range of emotions.
So far, nowhere else in this existence have I found the freedom and exhilaration that oil painting affords. Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than knowledge." These are welcome words to a daydreamer like me.
"There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion." Francis Bacon
Being gay is a gift, a variation on a theme. Love is too powerful to be shaped or confined.
I stepped off the deep end a long time ago and have been dog paddling for dear life ever since.
Nobody taught me to run from my problems. I had to learn that one on my own.
At the moment, I'm loving the paintings of Cecily Brown, Dana Schutz, Odd Nerdrum, Raimonds Staprans and Paul Balmer. My all-time favorites are Max Beckmann, Milton Avery, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Joan Mitchell, Egon Schiele, Richard Diebenkorn, Helen Frankenthaler and Lucian Freud
Lucian Freud
Lucian Michael Freud, OM, CH was a British painter. Known chiefly for his thickly impasted portrait and figure paintings, he was widely considered the pre-eminent British artist of his time...
.