Matter Studio Gallery is honored to announce a solo exhibition with George Evans
Titled Matter in Motion
February 4, -March 3,, 2024
ARTIST TALK, Sunday
February 18, 2024 2-4 PM
George Evans’ solo exhibition at Matter Studio Gallery, titled Matter in Motion, presents his recent body of works, using multiple methods and techniques, which focus on the movement and grace in the human form and the magnificence and awe we perceive in nature and how they reflect and influence us and our relationship to each other.
Artist Statement
Growing up in South Central Los Angeles, I started drawing at an early age. My father, a graphic artist, began teaching me lettering and painting by the time I was nine. Throughout the early years of my adolescence, I would join my father at his advertising shop where I painted signs and sold prints after school. Outside of learning from my father, I would spend many summers learning letterpress printing from our community printer, Mr. Carter’s Printing. However, my interest then lay in drawing and painting.
After the 1965 Watts Riots, artists Charles White, William “Bill” Pajaud, and William “Bill” Tara created the Tutor Arts program. It was a program created to inspire young artists from all ethnicities and cultures around Los Angeles. I was selected to participate in this program, which was held on the campus of Chouinard Institute of the Arts (today known as CalArts).
My father introduced me to Mr. Valentine, a client of his who owned a portrait salon in Compton. Mr. Valentine trained me in darkroom printing, film processing, and finishing. He would eventually hire me, which allowed me the opportunity to attend L.A. Trade Technical College in 1969, where I studied commercial art. I spent a summer taking classes at Stanford University working in the studio of Nathan Oliveira and Frank Lobdell.
The experience of drawing and painting with all these renowned artists changed my life. Ultimately, Tutor Arts awarded me a four-year scholarship to Chouinard where I completed my Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1972. By my senior year in art school, I was asked to teach drawing at Tutor Arts. There, I greatly enjoyed and was honored to be close to one of my mentors, Charles White. Oftentimes, I brought my students to his class for demonstrations. As I continued towards my professional path, I joined another mentor, Bill Pajaud. I worked with Bill Pajaud at Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Company (GSM) as a freelance graphic designer.
Bill Pajaud was especially talented at watercolor and I would spend evenings after work at his studio learning some of his techniques. Also, he taught me about African American Art. Mr. Pajaud used the building’s offices to create one of the largest collections of African American art. There were works by John Biggers, John Riddle, Elizabeth Catlett, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, and including Charles White. During that time, I had left my home, met and learned from the most influential painters of their time, and experienced other significant artists, such as poets John Thomas and Charles Bukowski.
It was at this time that I met and married my sweetheart, Annie. Annie and I found a home and created our family, where I could set up my own film lab and silkscreen printing company.
In 1976, I started my own graphic design and photography practice and extended my services as a photographic retoucher at Custom Color Labs in Glendale. I found working on the technical side of photography fascinating working on photographs from small to large scale prints and the various types of processing and finishing. We worked for NASA, entertainment, architectural firms, interior designers, and defense companies. In 1980, I was offered a position as a graphic designer for J. Walter Thompson Recruitment Advertising Agency (JWT). I would often do a lot of street drawing, as well.
By 1994, I was offered a position at Warner Bros. Studio Facilities, Graphic Services Department to build digital prepress systems. During this time, I continued working with the Art Team where students produced annual art exhibitions and murals, and eventually met Cecil Fergerson, a community curator and curator for Los Angeles County Art Museum. Cecil provided several places to exhibit the art of the Black community. I designed brochures and posters for exhibitions as well as provided photography. It was through Mr. Fergerson, that I had the opportunity to work with Self Help Graphic on a 12-color silkscreen print for the LA Expressions exhibition at LACMA in addition to exhibiting my paintings. Following that I began to build a relationship with the Museum and became an art educator.
In 1997, I took the position as a tenured professor of Visual Communications at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College until retirement. While there, I designed and supervised the building of two new computer labs. My family ultimately settled in the Culver City area, where my wife Annie, owned a French bakery with her parents and the help of our daughters. I continue to produce art in my home studio. Though our work with the Art Team ended we were proud of all our accomplishments. I’m honored to serve my community and proud of the students who have gone on to accomplish great things. -G.Evans
