Gerry Chapleski

I've always loved the paintings of the old European masters: Rubens, Rembrandt, Tintoretto, Titian, Goya, Velasquez -- their stories, designs, techniques and sizes at which they painted, as well as the propensity of nudes in their art, still amaze me.

So I attempt to steal a little of their magic and put a new twist on it. I replace their designs with images referenced from the internet -- figures are replaced with nude dancers, burlesque performers, selfie models or bodybuilders (Rubens' nudes were always so buff!), clothing, drapery and hats become flowers (I've always had a love affair with flowers, I think that they are the best evidence of design of a higher power, and that's where you find all the best color!), faces feature celebrities, icons, masks and personas.

I paint these new compositions in a funky, still-haven't-totally-figured-it-out-yet, blurred, distorted, pixelated-looking technique using color shapers and pieces of rubber. I like the way this technique produces a look that falls somewhere between old & new, fake & real, illustrated & photographed, analog & digital, blurred & clear, fiction & truth. I think it also adds additional mystery and opens up more lanes of interpretation, creat...

BFA Communication Design Kutztown State University, Kutztown, PA

2018
Analog | Digital, Beacon Gallery, Boston, MA, Self Portrait #3
Small Works - Big Talent, Las Laguna Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA, Boca
Contemporary Portrait: A National Juried Exhibition, Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts, Lubbock, TX, Goddess #3,
Mona Lisa Closeup
Small Works, Core New Art Space, Denver, CO, Christmas 2013
In the Fields: Botanical Lore, Arts Benicia, Benicia, CA, X, Passion Flower #2
Creativity Takes Courage, Gainesville Fine Art Association, Gainesville, FL, Goddess #3, Passion Flower
31st Annual Open Competition, Nicolet College Northwoods Center Gallery, Rhineland, WI, Madonna Of Africa
LA Artcore 4th Annual Juried Exhibit, Los Angeles, CA, Goddess #3
Providence Art Club National Juried Open, Providence, RI, Mona Lisa Closeup
3rd Annual Nature's Beauty, International Gallery of the Arts (online), First Place Winner, Rose
All Landscapes, Contemporary Art Gallery Online, Pink Cactus
A Summer Song, Mills Pond Gallery, St. James, NY, Birth Of Venus #2
Celebrating Woman, Location 1980, Costa Mesa, CA, Madonna Of Africa
Yellow, Colors of Humanity Gallery (online), Sasquatch, Colorado 2016, Sasquatch #2, Colorado 2016
Succulent, Gallery DeCamille, The Love Hacienda, Los Angeles, CA, 12 Red Lips, Striped B...