JAMES GUCWA                
BIO/CV

 

I was
born with a paintbrush in my hand. There was never any doubt in my mind that
one way or another, I would become a professional fine art painter. This had
always been my dream.

After obtaining a BFA in painting, I yearned for more and began additional
study as a private student at the Dan Welden Lithographic Studio in Long
Island, N.Y., and shortly after, as a painting apprentice in the art studio of
the late contemporary painter, Gregory Gillespie, (Fulbright Scholarship,
Whitney Museum, Hirshhorn Museum, Forum Gallery, N.Y.C.).

I
worked as a hand-painter of signage before I was able to secure gallery
representation. It was my sign painting experience that led me to paint vintage
signs on canvas as fine art.

My
photorealistic paintings of vintage neon signs caught the eye of one fine art
gallery after another and before long I was having one-man exhibitions in some
of the finest art galleries across the country, from Scottsdale to L.A., San
Francisco to New York City, and points between. In 1998 I was made
an Officially Licensed fine
artist for Harley-Davidson, Chevrolet-Corvette, and Mattel Toys/Hot Wheels
Division.

 

ACADEMIC

Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, Newark, N.J.

The School of Visual Arts, N.Y.C., N.Y.

Memphis Academy of Art, Memphis, TN

Bachelor of Fine Art Degree

Arizona State University, Special Masters Program with
contemporary masters Ralph Goings and Robert Bechtle.

ADDITIONAL STUDY

Private study with Dan Welden, Dan Welden Lithographic
Studio, Deer Park, Long Island, N.Y.

Apprenticeship with the late Gregory Gillespie, Belchertown,
MA.

AWARDS

The Peabody Hotel (a National Historic Landmark), Memphis,
TN,

painted 'The History of
Memphis' large scale historic mural.

The City of Mesa, Mesa, AZ. The Mesa Southwest Museum.

painted six historic murals.

Made an "Officially
Licensed" fine artist for Harley-Davidson, Chevrolet/Corvette, and
Mattel Toys/Hot Wheels Division.

Art Brush Action, Special 15th Anniversary Edition, June
2000, Vargas Award Winners, 1st Place, Fine Art Category, pg.  47, 'Berry Go Round.'

Air Brush-Action, 13th Anniversary Issue, June 1998, Vargas
Awards, 3rd. Place, Fine Art Category, pg. 28, 'Bill and Wanda.'

Northland Pioneer College, Talon Gallery, Locally Grown 2022
Exhibition, First Place Award, 'Twigs
and Thorns.'

2024 Artsy Shark featured artist (view video on my Podcast
and Video page).

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2009, 2021, 2024 - Talon Gallery - Northland Pioneer College,
Show-Low, AZ

1997, 2000 - Bruce R. Lewin Gallery, SOHO, N.Y.C.

1988, 1990, 1997 - Leslie Levy Fine Art Gallery, Scottsdale,
AZ

1993, 1996 - Modernism, San Francisco, CA.

1999 - Shwartz-Cierlak Gallery, Santa Monica, CA

1985, Miami State University, Miami, FL.

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CURRENT REPRESENATION

Xanadu Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

Leslie Levy Fine Art, Online gallery,  Scottsdale, AZ
 

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GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Scott Richards Contemporary Art, San Francisco, CA

Uptown Gallery, Manhattan, N.Y.

Horwitz-Newman Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

Vannier Fine Art Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

Suzanne Brown Gallery, Scottsdale, AZ

The Cultural Exchange, Scottsdale, AZ

Eiteljorg Museum of American Western Art, Indianapolis, IN

Begovitch Gallery, Cal State Fullerton, CA

'Common Tread,
Traversing the American Landscape'

Los Angeles County Museum, L.A., CA

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PUBLICATIONS

American Art
Collector, June 2025, Issue 236, Page 133, The Cart.

Fine Art Connoisseur,
June 2025, National Oil an Acrylic Painters Society Membership Showcase,

Page 22, Hacienda
Motel.

Voyageur Press, 'This
Old Harley.' c. 2000, ISBN 0-89658-443-7, pgs. 8, 40/41, 63, 78/79,
138, 160.

Kingneon Books, 'Signs
of Art,' soft & hard cover.

California State University Fullerton, Mike McGee, 'Common Tread'

Modern Media Publishing Ltd.

Airbrush Art + Action International, 

Voyageur Press, 'This
Old Corvette.' c. 2003, ISBN 0-89658-622-7, p. 14.

The Open Studios Press, 'New
American Paintings' Number 11, Volume 2, number 6, ISBN 1066-2235, pgs. 24
& 25.

Chronicle Books, Barnaby Conrad III, 'The Martini.' c. 1995, ISBN 0-8118-622-7, pg. 116.

Eiteljorg Museum of American Western Art, Mike McGee, 

'New Art of the West.'

ART NEWS, Volume 93, Number 1, pg. 37. 'A Very Lucky Motel.'

Art Brush Action, Special 15th Anniversary Edition, June
2000, Vargas Award Winners, 1st Place, Fine Art Category, pg.  47, 'Berry Go Round.'

Air Brush Action, 13th Anniversary Issue, June 1998, Vargas
Awards, 3rd. Place, Fine Art Category, pg. 28, 'Bill and Wanda.'

Airbrush Art+Action, International Edition, June 1999, Cover
& Feature Artist, 'Reves De Neon
L'Art De James Gucwa,' pgs. 4-15.

 

OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Alligator Eyes, coming of age Novel, using the
pseudonym  J.G. Cragg

The Coming: A Message Whose Time Has Come, metaphysical
fiction. J.G. Cragg, Available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

The Iron Grip of Control: The Establishment’s Total
Takeover, non-fiction/political, using the pseudonym Inalienable Writes.

 

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Portfolio: