SAN ANGELO, Texas (Concho Valley Homepage) — San Angelo is considered to be the fine arts capital of Texas, and this artist’s works make him fit well within that title.
James Gill was born in Tahoka but grew up in San Angelo, and in the 1960s, many of his works helped popularize the ‘pop art’ movement. Many people might recognize pop artists such as Andy Warhol, but Gill’s works are in museums all around the world, including the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts.
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According to the museum’s website, ” When Gill was around 10 years old, his mother painted a wooden floor in the family home in the style of Jackson Pollock. In high school, Gill and some friends started a rodeo club to pursue their first dream of being cowboys. From 1953 to 1956, Gill served in the United States Marines. After leaving the Marines, he earned his living as an architect/illustrator. This was a curious beginning for an artist about to explode onto the pop art scene.”
Many of the people Gill depicts are classic Hollywood celebrities and music artists, including Marilyn Monroe, Bob Dylan, Tony Curtis and Mick Jagger. Gill’s works exhibit a lot of pop colors and often focus on the face of his subject.
According to Castle of Fine Art, “Gill has had countless exhibitions internationally, and as one of the last living Pop Art pioneers, and one of the first to investigate the modern cult of celebrity, his unique take on iconic imagery has been re-discovered and its place in art history re-affirmed.”
During the height of pop art and his career, Gill decided to step back from producing and teaching art. He had previously been a professor in Idaho and California, but he ended up leaving the art world for decades.
According to the San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, one of the biggest reasons he left was because Gill was disillusioned with the current state of the art scene.
“At the height of his success, he walked away – becoming a legend, an icon, in the Pop Art world. Not wishing to further succumb to the “me” generation, Gill joined a small group of artists, poets and writers to form an artist’s colony on the California/Oregon border, far from the materialistic world.
Gill would return to making art in the 1980s, and it is something he still continues to do today. At the age of 90-91, Gill’s work can still be viewed and purchased through various vendors. A gallery of some of his work is available below.
By JgTTbD – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19094931 Original work by James Gill
By JgTTbD – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19908469 Original work by James Gill
By JgTTbD – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19908470 Original work by James Gill
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