About the Artist ...
Gabriel Garbow grew up in the small town of Red Wing, Minnesota. His early years were spent climbing the nearby bluffs and letting his imagination wander. Art studies took him to Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. He was later drawn to the desert mountains of Las Cruces, NM but returned to Minnesota to establish his art career.
Now, Garbow creates watercolors in his home studio in San Francisco. His unique style takes cues from contemporary screen prints, pop art, and turn-of-the-century book illustration. With influences including David Hockney, Douglas Simonson, Egon Scheile, and Marc Silvestri, Garbow’s own work moves between the poles of high and low art. His work is known for conveying a sense of peace, energy, playfullness, and intimacy. Recent series have focused on male nudes outdoors and couples in more domestic settings.
Artist Statement
My artwork often uses images of figures in water to evoke playfulness, connectedness, and contemplation. These themes relate to people’s lives and quite literally reflect the subtle mingling of emotions that make up the human experience. I use watercolor with a combination of spontaneity and control for a crisp yet natural feel.
My attraction to these themes stems from those childhood associations with days at the beach, back home in the Midwest, as well as vacations to the coasts. These were moments of communion with nature and the people around me. Moments that I intensely looked forward to, but which also found fraught with feelings of isolation. It is my aim to evoke these moments that will ring familiar with the viewer - complicated states of being, that connect us far beyond the simple depiction of beauty and leisure.