Jorge E. Gamboa

I started off as a painter, but from hanging out with Chuck Sperry and Ron Donovan, I started helping out, and gradually, with their help and Hella encouragement, I dipped my toes into making posters. I had made Xerox fliers for my band, RA,  in the 80s when we would play Mabuhay Gardens, Ruthies Inn, and the Vis (currently called the Independent), but only the artwork from a couple remains. I was taught art by the last of the Beatnik artists and had a great friendship with Wally Hedrick, who founded the legendary 6 Gallery from where the SF poetry explosions started. I wouldn’t call myself PRO in terms of posters, but I have loved the art form since I was a teenager, and I do them for the bands I love.

I would like to say my work should always start off, Once upon a time. Maybe add an addressed to the occupant . While I work within the narrative and the figure, I am in love with the medium of oil paint through all its moods of thick and thin. The canvas is as much as the medium as the final varnish. I wish for these works to span movements but side with narrative, stumbling into the middle of an event for the viewer. Sometimes I want it to be like you’ve just happened upon some event beyond your control. Maybe you were invited but didn’t realize what was going to happen. I base these narratives on contemporary and historical events. I feel it all still boils down to the three great themes of art since day one: sex, politics, and religion. The Grand Tradition. There is where I stand trying to stay true to what I’m saying.