Mixed media collage on canvas 40 × 30 × 1.5″ 2026 $1,500
Title after the 1970 David Bowie song.
About the work
The fourth in a series exploring the Afro Bassadella figure — a mid-century abstracted human form working in the tradition of Arshile Gorky, whose biomorphic abstractions redefined what the human figure could look like in paint. The earlier three works in this series were on paper and drew an enthusiastic response. This fourth and largest version moves to canvas.
The foundation is unexpected: fragments of a 2004 abstract oil painting, cut apart and reconfigured as the base layer. Over that, Gillespie built up spray-painted newspaper, Japanese papers, tissue, blue ink-marked rice paper, custom-dyed cloth, acrylic marker, graphite, various found papers and charcoal.
A circling yellow form anchors the upper composition while bold black diagonals push through the center figure, creating a surface that moves between the spontaneous gesture of the original oil painting and the deliberate architecture of collage.
The result is a work with genuine archaeological depth — two decades of painting compressed into a single surface, the 2004 canvas ghost-like beneath the 2026 collage, visible in fragments that could never be planned or replicated.
Exhibition
- Modern Myth Making, City of Burien Gallery Program at Merrill Gardens, June 5 – September 24, 2026
To purchase Contact GJ Gillespie at garjog@gmail.com
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| GJ Gillespie Artist |
Artist Statement
My work exists outside of time. Ancient Greek heroes emerge from supermarket circulars and consumer ephemera. Egyptian pharaohs are built from crossword puzzles. Mid-century abstract figures dissolve into Pacific Northwest landscapes layered with colored tissue and found paper.
Working in mixed-media collage from a 1928 Tudor Revival farmhouse on Whidbey Island, I stand on the shoulders of giants — riffing on cultural icons from Greek mythology, Pompeii frescoes, and the mid-century masters who transformed what painting could express: Arshile Gorky, the Northwest Mystics Morris Graves, Mark Tobey, and Kenneth Callahan.
Titles of each piece are drawn from rock and pop music, connecting ancient imagery with modern soundtracks.
While the themes may seem lofty, viewers will sense a playfulness in the work. Pompeii frescoes meet grocery ads. Ancient Greek busts emerge from fast food wrappers. When it comes to making art I follow the philosophy of Thoreau: the world is but a canvas to our imagination.
Biography
GJ Gillespie (b. 1955) lives and works in a 1928 Tudor Revival farmhouse on Whidbey Island, WA. His mixed-media collage practice draws on the Northwest Mystics, mid-century abstract expressionism, Greek and Roman mythology, and song titles from rock and pop music. He has completed six residencies at the UW Whiteley Center, Friday Harbor Labs. In addition to winning 19 awards, his work has appeared in 77 exhibitions and 214 journal publications.
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| GJ Gillespie Studio |
Gillespie Home overlooking Oak Harbor
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