George D. Green: In Memoriam 1943 - 2020
There is no subtitle for this exhibition
14 April — 31 May, 2020
George D. Green, the Abstract Illusionist artist known for his vividly colored paintings that featured trompe l’oeil abstractions, died on April 14th in Portland, Oregon. He was 76.
His death was announced by the George D. Green Art Institute on April 19th.
A founder of the Abstract Illusionist movement that emerged in the 1970s, George Green is widely recognized for his non-objective paintings that incorporated layered geometric elements which appeared to hold three-dimensional space. Created across the span of his fifty-year career, Green’s work continually evolved, becoming more vivid and multidimensional over time as he ventured ever deeper into the realm of trompe l’oeil.
Despite having roots in Abstract Expressionism, Green’s first body of paintings, although possessing some of the exaggerated gestural brushwork and processes of the Expressionists, are focused on creating playful, joyous illusionistic space. His earliest Abstract Illusionist paintings feature compositions of realistic “layered” banners on a 2-dimensional plane. As his work matured work in 80s and 90s, the banners transformed into geometric shapes that seem to protrude from the surface of the canvas, disorienting the viewer. Experimenting with brighter palettes and shaped canvases, the compositions of his later paintings appear to abandon the picture plane.
As Louis Meisel wrote, “[George Green] has consistently produced vital and challenging work…yielding not so much deception (as implied by the genre’s name) but a very real and very rich fullness of space. His most recognizable works…were wildly shaped, and boldly illusionistically three dimensional-exuberant paintings—dynamic and vigorous yet movingly and deeply contemplative.”
In the early 2000s, Green advanced on his experimentations with trompe l’oeil with a new body of work. These paintings appeared to be small seascapes that were presented in heavy wood frames. In reality, the entirety of the surface was painted, frames included. The new series eventually incorporated many of the whimsical pinstriping and details from Green’s earlier work.
Green expounded on this change saying, “…you will notice that my art has changed significantly over time…The engine of change was random activity; mistakes and problems of all kinds recognized as opportunities…In these paintings, no change was thought up as such. What appears to have been invented, has in fact, evolved.”
Represented by Louis K. Meisel Gallery since 1975, George Green’s work has been highly celebrated. During the course of his career, he had over 65 solo exhibitions, both domestically and internationally, in addition to the hundreds of group shows. His paintings are included in 60 museum collections, which include the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, CA, The Denver Art Museum, CO, and the Art Institute of Chicago, IL, amongst others.
George D. Green was born in 1943 in Portland, Oregon. He studied at Oregon State University, Corvallis, and University of Oregon, Eugene, receiving his B.S. in 1965. He earned his M.F.A. in 1968 from Washington State University, Pullman. Early in his career, Green taught painting and printmaking at the University of Texas, Austin; he later chaired the painting department at SUNY Potsdam.
Green spent his life working bicoastally, living in New York City for 35 years, as well as in Neskowin, Oregon. In more recent years, he resided outside of Portland, Oregon in Milwaukie. There, he established the George D. Green Art Institute, a non-profit organization founded to improve arts education.