Untitled
Artist
Ron Gorchov
(American, 1930 - 2020)
Datec. 1978
MediumOil on shaped canvas
Dimensions32 x 25 x 5 3/4 in. (81.3 x 63.5 x 14.6 cm)
ClassificationsPainting
Credit LineGift of James Pearson Duffy, 2008
Object numberUAC5439
DescriptionRon Gorchov, an American artist born in Chicago in the 1930's, is known for his use of color, shaped canvases, and biomorphic, organic shapes. His work has been on display at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and is a part of the Wayne State University Art Collection.Gorchov's artistic pursuits began around the age of fourteen while taking classes at the Art Institute of Chicago. At this time, many of his peers were veterans from the Second World War. To pay for art supplies, many of the veterans used their G.I. Bill benefits, and Gorchov recalled the experience he had while studying art, "A veteran... gave me a paper bag with all of his half-squeezed oil paint tubes and a bunch of old brushes and he said they'd be good luck." Going forward from this point of time, Gorchov moved on to study art at many different institutions, such as the University of Mississippi and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Known for his participation in the 20th century Biomorphism movement, which involved paintings, drawings, and sculptures that emulated nature and living organisms, Gorchov typically paired one or two biomorphic shapes within his paintings. He made work through the process of using his own intuition and impulse, allowing himself to space out and make decisions when they "felt right." He once stated in an interview with Nathlie Provosty that when those impulsive decisions turned out well in a work, that it felt like luck.
In the early '70s Gorchov started making paintings with a stretcher as part of the shaped canvas, and this is when he first met James Pearson Duffy. The third painting that he ever made in this fashion, Brother, was the first painting of Gorchov's that Duffy purchased. Gorchov's Untitled, which is a piece of his that James Pearson Duffy purchased later on, is an example of the marriage his work brings between painting and sculpture. The light green paint on the gray background makes the surface almost emulate a shield, or a symbol of protection, while simultaneously emulating a peaceful, quiet aura.
Text by Emily Lane Borden
