Boyd Gavin

Boyd Gavin, "...paints in a very straightforward manner, with a loose brushstroke and bright palette that lends itself well to painting small, easily recognizable objects such as crayons and marbles. All these paintings are done in perfect scale, the compositions are well balanced, the colors are bright, the subjects are playful and fun and the themes are simply enjoyable." - taken from an article by Tim White

Gavin states, "I'm drawn to the quirky shorthand style of artists like Fairfield Porter or David Park, artists who seem to invest even the homeliest of subjects with an offhand grandeur. Certain themes and motifs recur often in their work, but that's almost beside the point: the point is to arrive at them differently, oddly. They are a playful excuse to load a canvas with lush color and oddity of shape.

A lot of revision goes on in my paintings. Passages are often reworked extensively so that the resulting patchwork of brushwork takes on a life of its own. The sheer physical beauty of paint becomes as central to the work as the chosen subject. Much depends on my willingness to make changes, to take advantage of the unpredictable process of pushing paint around canvas."

Since his 1975 solo debut, (at the age of 16), at the Crocker Art Museum, Boyd Gavin has been in numerous exhibitions including the San Jose Museum of Art, Winfield Gallery in Carmel, the Memorial Union Gallery at UC Davis, and the Artists Contemporary Gallery in Sacramento. He received his B.A. from UC Santa Cruz, and his M.A. at CSU Sacramento.