Manifesto:

I, Jared J.M. Gutekunst, do hereby proclaim my intentions to uphold and defend the great traditions of Western Civilization from an unprecedented, barbarous onslaught of mediocrity and cultural decay. This is WAR, and we as artists must take up the brush and fight! We must reject all forms of art NOT based on sound aesthetic principles: Marxism, postmodernism, conceptualism, identity politics, political correctness, fundamentalism. These are the failed ideas of the past and have no place in the soul of the true artist. We must reject the art of the outsider, the child, the criminal, the hillbilly, the hobbyist, the chimpanzee, and even the elephant! Art is the noblest of professions; it is the pinnacle of human achievement and must never be cheapened by incompetent hucksters or political ideologues. We must restore the concept of beauty, bring back the discriminating eye, and toss all evil and ugliness into the dustbin of history.

Arise ye artists of the world and unite! Wake up and smell the culture!! Look not to gimmicks; be patient, hone your skills, give up your desire for instant fame and think of the future! Think of that which makes a work of art endure throughout time: inherent quality, universal truths, and above all, BEAUTY!!! By restoring these "archaic" concepts, a new golden age will emerge where art, music, and literature are allowed to flourish, and we can once again take pride in our society and culture. The game is afoot! Not much time is left. The forces against us are numerous and strong, but if we remain united, we can rescue civilization from the edge of the abyss.

In art, all that matters is the ability to convey emotion, and the only emotions that matter are misery and despair. Art without pain is meaningless, for pain is the life blood of humanity.

Thus the subject of my work is Man. More specifically, the fundamental conditions of human existence: love, death, sex, pain, humor, hate, and all those vast complexities of human interpersonal relationships. Like so many artists throughout the ages, I work with the emotive power and beauty of the human figure. But the figures I paint exist in a fractured reality where scenes of contemporary life are mingled with romantic visions of the past and tragic hallucinations of the future.

And throughout it all is the role of Nature: its landscapes, the weather, and the fantastical plants and animals which populate it, are metaphors for the inner psychological and emotional states of Man. While my humans are flawed, and prone to evil and ugliness, I strive to have them revel in the blissful insignificance of their place in the universe. For beyond all the decadence and corruption, anguish and despair, lies a thin sliver of hope. If my characters can learn from their mistakes and accept the existence of a greater reality––a greater good––then perhaps there's hope for us all in understanding the grandeur and mystery of Nature, the universe, and the human condition.

Born 1972, San Francisco, California

EDUCATION:

• 1996 AA Santa Rosa Junior College
• 1998 BFA California College of Arts and Crafts

AWARDS:

• 1994 Charles Cherney Memorial Art Scholarship
• 1995 Paul and Lucile Kelly Scholarship
• 1996 CCAC Faculty Honors Award

EXHIBITIONS:

• 1998 Center Gallery, California Collage of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA
• 1998 North Gallery, California Collage of Arts and Crafts, Oakland, CA
• 1999 Au Coquelet, Berkeley, CA
• 2000 Nexus Gallery, Berkeley, CA
• 2001 Peacock Gallery, San Francisco, CA