The New Heroes

Gregory Euclide Installation at U. of AZ

Gregory Euclide, featured artist (issue#1) has a new exhibit at the Joseph Gross Gallery in Arizona through November 17th. His landscape paintings and now multidimensional pieces examine our societies vision and idea of nature. As we evolve further away from our natural surroundings we are losing the ability to have authentic experiences in nature. For more check out Gregory’s featured artist page here.

In Real, Natural, and Unsustainable, Gregory Euclide creates an environment that is both critically observant and wryly humorous. His characteristic dioramic landscapes sit atop dust devil-like structures that sprout from the floor. These ethereal, bucolic topographies are precariously balanced by buckets of water, representing the abundance of golf courses within Tucson’s arid desert. Euclide utilizes local flora from the city within each structure; bits of palm husks and tumbleweed grow from the wooden structures beneath the Rillito riverbed scenes. Plastic bags and driftwood protrude from the island vistas to create an artificial dreamscape reminiscent of golf courses. On the outskirts of the metro area lies model resort communities formed from fertilizer. The installation is both idyllic and disturbing when critically examined within the context of the city. Euclide’s work physically references the tension between our wants and our need to preserve the natural world. - brooke grucella, curator, joseph gross gallery

In Issue #2 during our interview with Micah Ganske I noticed strong parallels between his ideas of nature and those of Gregory, whom I had the privilege of speaking with half a year earlier. While both seemed concerned with our environmental impact this was not necessarily what motivated their art. Instead they seemed to be driven by an idea about our societies inability to authentically experience nature. Micah expressed this in many of his earlier paintings by visually representing a blockage between people and nature; often his subjects were seen through a camera lens. Similarly, Gregory has moved away from flat painting in an attempt to recreate an immersion in nature, or in this case the 3-D environment generated by his work.

What is really interesting is the trend that is seen in the artwork of these two individuals. An anachronistic ideal that seems to be slipping through our fingers as we lose touch with our natural surroundings. Be sure to check out Gregory’s work if you are in Arizona.