James Gobel

Steve Turner Contemporary is pleased to present Fancy Wonder Free, a solo exhibition by James Gobel featuring work created during the past year inspired by German New Objectivity artists Otto Dix and Christian Schad. Riffing on these artists and the political and social atmosphere of the 1920s and 1930s, Gobel portrays “Bears” (large, bearded gay men) in both social settings and as solitary figures, depicting his subjects not in paint but in felt and yarn. Some compositions refer directly to Dix or Schad; other references are more nuanced. This is Gobel’s second show at Steve Turner Contemporary.

James Gobel creates paintings made of felt, yarn and other fabrics that refer to a range of artistic movements–Renaissance and Baroque portraiture; German Neue Sachlichkeit painting; Japonism, Pop Art and most recently abstraction. Whether depicting large men or abstracting nautical flags, Gobel uses textiles to create complicated compositions which are as tight as old master paintings or as loose as drawings from his sketch book.

Born in 1972 in Portland, Oregon, James Gobel received his BFA at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (1996) and his MFA at the University of California, Santa Barbara (1999). He has had solo exhibitions at the UCLA Hammer Museum (2000); Kravets/Wehby Gallery, New York (1999, 2001, 2002, 2005); Marx & Zavattero, San Francisco (2008 & 2010) and Steve Turner Contemporary, Los Angeles (2008 & 2012). Gobel’s work was included in the traveling museum exhibition curated by Dave Hickey, entitled, Las Vegas Diaspora: The Emergence of Contemporary Art from the Neon Homeland, Las Vegas Art Museum (2007) and Surface Value, Des Moines Art Center (2011).

Born 1972, Portland, Oregon
Lives and works in San Francisco

Education

1996
BFA, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

1999
MFA, University of California, Santa Barbara

Selected Solo Exhibitions

2012
Fancy Wonder Free, Steve Turner Contemporary, Los Angeles

2010
I Get What I Want, and Always Get It Again!, Marx & Zavattero, San Francisco

2008
Bear Hunting, Marx & Zavattero, San Francisco
Happy Hour, Steve Turner Contemporary, Los Angeles
Heather Marx Gallery, San Francisco

2007
I [heart] JCRT, Kravets/Wehby Gallery, New York

2005
Ridicule is Nothing to Be Scared of, Kravets/Wehby Gallery, New York

2002
Kravets/Wehby Gallery, New York
Hayworth Gallery, Los Angeles

2001
Kravets/Wehby Gallery, New York

2000
UCLA Hammer Museum, Los Angeles
Huge, Contemporary Arts Forum, Santa Barbara
Kravets/Wehby Gallery, New York

1999
Fatty, Sheppard Gallery, University of Nevada, Reno

Selected Group Exhibitions

2012
All I Want is a Picture of You, Angles Gallery, Los Angeles

2011
Surface Value, Des Moines Art Center, Des Moines
The Mysterious Content of Softness, Bellevue Arts Museum, Washington
Rough Edges and Loose Ends, Bellevue Arts Museum, Washington
Embodying, Atlanta Contemporary Art Center (curated by Stuart Horodner), Atlanta
Pattern ID, Akron Art Museum, Akron, Ohio

2010
Underground Pop, Parrish Art Museum, New York

2009
Big Rock Candy Mountain, Naomi Arin Contemporary Art, Las Vegas
All Messed Up, Sam Francis Gallery, Crossroads School, Santa Monica

2007
Las Vegas Diaspora: The Emergence of Contemporary Art from the Neon Homeland Las Vegas Art Museum, Las Vegas (curated by Dave Hickey)

2006
Naughty, Heather Marx Gallery, San Francisco Art Rotterdam, Netherlands
Gigantic, Auto Gallery, Oakland

2005
Superfat, Brooklyn Fire Proof, Brooklyn
The Altoids Curiously Strong Collection, The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York Art Rotterdam, Netherlands
Unexpected Developments, Playspace Gallery, San Francisco
Smack, The Brewery Project, Los Angeles
The Altoids Curiously Strong Collection, Consolidated Works, Seattle

2004
Eye of the Needle, Robert & Tilton, Los Angeles Kontainer Gallery, Los Angeles The Armory Show, New York
Art as Autobiography, Rare (curated by Norman Dubrow), New York
One Hundred Artists See God, iCI, traveling exhibition (curated by John Baldessari & Meg Cranston), New York

2003
Beauty: A Group Painting Show, Kravets/Wehby Gallery, New York
Today’s Man, John Connelly Presents, New York
Summer Romance, Sandroni Rey, Los Angeles
Art a Century Apart: 1903 and 2003, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson

2002
21 Paintings from LA, Fullerton Art Museum and Cal State San Bernardino
Outside: A Group Show of Three LA Based Artists, Kravets/Wehby Gallery, New York
The Dubrow Biennial, Kagan Martos Gallery, New York
Almost Heaven…, Peter Miller Gallery (curated by Aaron Baker), Chicago
Subject Matters, Kravets/Wehby Gallery (curated by Norman Dubrow), New York

2001
[Las] Vegans, James Kelley Gallery (curated by Dave Hickey), Santa Fe
The Magic Hour-Art and Las Vegas, Center for the Visual Arts, Cardiff, Wales (traveled to Cornerhouse, Manchester, England; Neue Galerie, Graz, Austria; College of Creative Studies, UCSB, Santa Barbara; Sheppard Gallery, University of Nevada, Reno)
Installed Collections/Collections Installed, Zimmerli Museum of Art, New Brunswick, New Jersey
Summer group show, Kravets/Wehby Gallery, New York
Spring, Kravets/Wehby Gallery, New York
Before They Became Who They Are, Kravets/Wehby Gallery (curated by Norman Dubrow), New York

2000
Collector’s Choice, ExitArt, New York
Tan Lines, Purple Orchid Gallery (curated by Jane Callister), Dallas
College of Creative Studies Gallery, University California Santa Barbara
Sheppard Gallery, University of Nevada, Reno

1999
Grin and Bare It, Ridley-Tree, Santa Barbara
Summer Group Show, Kravets/Wehby Gallery, New York
James Gobel, Gina Magid, Aaron Romine, Kravets/Wehby Gallery

1998
ShopPost.com, Post Gallery, Los Angeles
Sweet, FM Gallery, New York
100 Dollar Show & Up, Post Gallery, Los Angeles
1-15, Post Gallery (curated by Jeffrey Vallence), New York
Fat City, Gallery 1434, UC Santa Barbara, California

1997
Easy to Chew, Hard to Swallow, College of Creative Studies Gallery, Santa Barbara
Cranberry Show, Oceanspray Factory (curated by Jeffrey Vallance), Henderson, Nevada

1996
The Magic Show, O’Sheas Movie and Magic Museum (curated by Jeffery Vallance), Las Vegas
Debbie Reynolds Exhibition, Debbie Reynolds Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas
Liberace! The Man, the Myth, Contemporary Arts Collective, Las Vegas

1995
Liberace, A Visual Tribute to Mr. Showmanship, Liberace Museum, Las Vegas

Selected Bibliography

2010
Wolff, Rachel. Pop Goes Mighty Mouse, ARTnews, Summer, p. 33

2008
Pagel, David. Finding the softer side of burley men, Las Angeles Times, October 17, p. E26
Helfand, Glen. San Francisco Critic’s Picks: James Gobel, Artforum.com, March

2007
Knight, Christopher. Embracing and Refining Las Vegas Gaudy, Los Angeles Times, November 20, p. E1, E5
Helfand, Glen. Las Vegas Diaspora: The Emergence of Contemporary Art from the Neon Homeland, Artforum.com, October
Pagel, David. The Neon Rebels, Vurb Magazine, September-October, p. 50-51
Choklat, Aki and Trippe, Christian. Bearflavoured, Bearflavoured Ltd., London
Huston, Johnny Ray.  Flaming Creators: Hot shots of a dozen-plus-one LGBT artists bringing wild fire to the Bay Area, San Francisco Bay Guardian, June 20, p. 26

2006
Feinstein, Lea.  Naughty: Heather Marx, San Francisco, ARTnews, December, p. 157
Speer, Richard.  A Fine Affair, Willamette Week, October 4
Laemoa, Stephanie, Last Chance: Naughty, San Francisco Chronicle (96 Hours section), August 17, p. 12
Janku, Laura Richard.  Regional Roundup: San Francisco, artinfo.com, August 2
Goldstein, Melissa.  Girly Show, 7×7 Magazine, August, p. 38
Helfand, Glen.  San Francisco Critic’s Picks: Naughty, artforum.com, July
Nataraj, Nirmala.  San Francisco Critic’s Picks: Naughty, SF Weekly (Night & Day Section), July 12, p. 27
Fricke, Kristen. Et Cetra- Kravets/Wehby Gallery, Beautiful Decay, Issue N, p. 28

2005
Miller, Leigh Anne.  James Gobel at Kravets/Wehby Gallery, Art in America, December, p. 151
Miles, Christopher.  Exhibitionism, Flaunt, May/June, p. 148-150
Owens, Greta.  Mint Condition, Zink, Summer, p. 98
Johnson, Ken.  James Gobel: Ridicule is Nothing to be Scared of, New York Times, May 13, p. E26
Sicha, Choire.  Dandy Painting, New York Times, April 17

2003
Cottor, Holland.  By and about Men, and They’re Running With It, New York Times, August 8, p. E22
Pagel, David.  From Perky to Unsettling, Los Angeles Times, July 4

2002
Drohojowska-Philip, Hunter.  Undiscovered? Not for Long, Los Angeles Times, November 10
McGovern, Thomas.  James Gobel at Hayworth, Artweek, July/August
King, Sarah S.  Report from Santa Fe: Sin City Sampler, Art in America, July, p. 51
Pagel, David.  A Visual Equivalent to Comfort Food, Los Angeles Times, May 31
Miles, Christopher.  James Gobel, Artforum.com, May

2001
Johnson, Ken.  James Gobel, New York Times, October 26-November 2
Miles, Christopher.  Heavy G, Flaunt, September, p. 104-110
Zimmer, William.  At Rutgers, A Collection of Collections, New York Times, July 29
Bischoff, Dan.  What Makes Collectors Tick?, The Star-Ledger, July 20, p. 27
Smith, Roberta.  Before They Became Who They Are, New York Times, February 9, p. E33

2000
Myers, Holly A.  James Gobel, Art Issues, November/December, p. 44
Miles, Christopher.  James Gobel: Armand Hammer Musuem, ArtForum, October, p. 150
Knight, Christopher.  Seeing Things, Los Angeles Times, August 4
Harvey, Doug.  Crazy Summer, LA Weekly, July 7-13
Blake, Nayland.  James Gobel, (essay for brochure for UCLA Hammer Museum exhibition)
Piene, Chloe.  James Gobel, Flash Art, May/June, p. 8, 116
Crowder, Joan.  And Now, Something Completely Different, Santa Barbara News Press, June 23
Wright, Duncan.  Chunky Chaps at CAF, Santa Barbara Independent, June

1999
Robertson, Kirk.  Two for the Show, RN & R, September 16, p. 17
Paladino, D.J.  Fascinations and Fixations, The Independent, June 17, p. 51
Gardner, Colin. Grin and Bare It (exhibition brochure with essay)
Vallance, Jeffrey.  Jeffrey Vallance’s Top Ten, ArtForum, January

1997
Vallance, Jeffrey.  Jeffrey Vallance Plundering the Strip, Juxtapoz, Summer, p. 58-60

1996
Rugoff, Ralph.  Jeffery Vallance’s Strip Shows, ArtForum, May, p. 84-85