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Dark,
somber and foreboding, Arthur Gonzalez's
works encourage serious deliberation and
reflection on the relationship between
personal concerns
and world issues. Raw in form, lacking in
smoothness and rough in finish, the
ceramic sculptures give glimpses of a
conversation or a contemplation in progress. Gonzalez's creations of
ceramic and found objects reveal visions and
feelings that are not polished but ongoing
processes of gyrating
thoughts and churning emotions that
threaten to erupt into reality and
consciousness to defy the fantasy of a
peaceful experience.
Three
distinct phases have influenced the
direction of Gonzalez's artistic career
and expression. First, as a graduate
student, at the University of
California at Davis, under Robert Arneson
and Manuel Neri, he entered the Master of
Fine Arts program as a figurative sculptor
during the late 1970'safter completing an Master of Arts in
painting at the California State
University of Sacramento. His second phase
was as an artist in residence atthe University of Georgia, Athens from
1981 to 1982. Gonzalez's attitudes towards
art changed through his exposure to a
creative life-style that
blended music and visual art. The third
phase of Gonzalez's career was through his
involvement in the early 1980's East
Village Art Scene, in New
York City, which fast-forwarded public
recognition of his work. |
