In my current project I appropriate elements of TV cartoons from the 1960’s and 70’s. I’m using a collage-like painting process that dissects and reconfigures these elements, altering their cultural charge. Through deploying these reconfigured elements toward a variety of aesthetic and conceptual ends I find new ways of thinking about the past, present and the future. Bill Gusky, Artist

The McLean Project for the Arts (MPA) is currently featuring the works of Bill Gusky in the Atrium Gallery. In the exhibit, “Shiny New Tomorrow,” the artist combines the unconscious with pop-culture using cartoon-like images in unexpected juxtaposition. Gusky watched DVDs of classic cartoons as inspiration. He then made modifications from the source material to create his fluid dream-like imagery.

Gusky shared with McLean Patch his process and growth as an artist which led to his current works:

McLean Patch: How did your work evolve into the cartoon-like images?

Bill Gusky:  I was producing works on urethane foam…but they were limiting and toxic...I looked for some effects in other medium. I began making objects sculpture…using things that others threw out…they took a lot of time…Then I began abstract drawing which evolved to cartoons…An early piece was Cap’n Crunch with a bomb.

MP: You mentioned in your artist’s statement that you use a collage-like painting process – how is that achieved?

BG: I projected cartoon images…using a DVD with images from as early as the 1910’s…then I’d trace and cut them apart and make a collage…Later I’d sample the cartoons on the computer…using a screen shot and save as a jpeg-file…I’d put them on an opaque projector and put on canvas…I use acrylic paints…I add and remove elements…I wanted to make paintings that open up questions the more you look at them.

MP:  How long have you been creating these cartoon-influenced pieces?

BG:  Since February of 2009.

MP: Who are your greatest influences in the art world?

BG:  Arturo Herrera. He did collages…extremely inventive…in between something recognizable and something new..Also Steve Gianakos…He’s a New York artist using a collage-like process…all black paint on white.

MP: On your blog it states that you are also a teacher and a writer – what do you teach and what genre of books do you write?

BG: I’ve taught digital art in community college. I work for Left Brain Games; they make educational games. I write the text base and do project design. I’ve also written a couple of novels, not ready for release…and stories and narratives for software.  Also I write book reviews…for art books  typically…like for Rizzoli.

MP: How did you come to exhibit at the MPA?

BG: I was showing my urethane pieces at School 33 in Baltimore…Nancy Sausser [the MPA Exhibitions Director] came by and was interested in the work.

 MP: How did you come up with the title “Shiny New Tomorrow?”

BG: In the 1960’s technology would save us...the shiny new tomorrow…It seemed there was a palpable sense that it was onward and upward and the abundance of cartoons came out of the booming economy. Now we are living in it. It was almost a utopian future that has now turned to Twitter and Facebook…The future is never what anyone thought it was going to be. It is humorous.

What:  Shiny New Tomorrow, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Avenue When: January 20, 2011 - March 5, 2011

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