Today we’d like to introduce you to George Goodridge
Hi George, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I graduated from the School of Visual Arts after attending the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Prior to graduation, I worked as the Senior Technical Adviser to the Student Body at the School of the Art Institute, and taught Visual Techniques while assisting students in SVA’s media workshop. After graduation, I relocated several times between New York, Los Angeles, and Miami, working as an Art Director in print media and as a Production Designer for feature film and International commercial spots, designing sets and managing art departments for support. But the truth is, I always wanted to be a fine artist.
Early in my fine arts career, I spent the better part of my time at the Art Center South Florida’s Studio and Print Lab Residencies, now Oolite Arts, producing a variety of drawings, paintings and sculptural works. In the early 1990’s, I realized my first three-dimensional paintings which I refer to as Dimensional Paintings. During that time, works were represented at the Patricia & Phillip Frost Art Museum, the NSU Art Museum, the Boca Raton Museum of Art and the South Korean Embassy in Washington, D.C. They were also featured in numerous commercial galleries, Scope, Pulse, and other relevant art fairs during Art Basel Miami. I was also awarded multiple purchases and commissions from United Airlines, Jorge Perez’s Related Group, who is the namesake of the Perez Art Museum, Banyan Capital Investments in both Miami and Atlanta and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines. Miami was working out well until the Art Center’s studio building was sold and the artists were displaced.
So now what? Having thoughts of expanding my practice, on a whim in 2017, I moved back to New York once again and leased a commercial live work space in Bushwick Brooklyn. I chose Bushwick because at that time it was one of the largest artist’s neighborhoods world wide. On the books it was stated that there are over 1800 registered artists in Bushwick alone, and most of the artists I’ve met aren’t registered.
Soon after getting settled in, I was awarded the Eileen S. Kaminsky Family Foundation Residency at the Mana Contemporary Museum in Jersey City. It is an amazing private museum with an extraordinary permanent collection. It’s on the other side of the world by New York standards and took me 1 hr by train and nearly a mile walking to get there every day. You get used to it. I was paid a stipend for more materials than I could use and was a part of something way bigger than myself. I did produce the new breed of my current works there which basically set the stage for what I produce today. Since I’ve been a New Yorker going on 7 years now, I’ve had many shows, have sold works at much higher prices through a few galleries and art advisors which have serve me well. My work has surely matured, so I’ve been told. There are challenges however.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The biggest obstacles for fine artists, especially in New York, is getting past the gatekeepers. These days, the better galleries and foundation grants are more or less juried by your pedigree, such as the schools you went to, what residencies did you attend, do you have the right MFA, how large your works, what artistic genres and color palette are currently trending and of course your age. Younger is better, and being a minority is better, at least for now. Your art may be excellent, but that doesn’t necessarily buy you opportunities or financial success. I wish acceptance became more about invention and the work, rather than pedigree. It would open a whole new cultural mindset. I consciously neglected to mention artificial intelligence, which is a pandoras box and a much longer conversation.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My fine art practice is making multi-piece three-dimensional shaped canvas wall installations. This hybrid genre explores timely narratives through humanity’s emotional reaction to form and color. These concept-driven works are to be considered both figurative and abstract simultaneously, merging painting, sculpture, and installation while incorporating elements of sacred geometries and divine proportions. That’s the short response.
I am also well known as a production designer and art director for the motion picture industry, which is a better paying freelance position designing sets, specialty props and scenic paintings. It’s an all encompassing career path with long hours and high responsibilities and travel. But, it’s a way to pick and choose assignments rather than carry a full time position at something that doesn’t relate to my artistic practice. This was a learning experience where I learned much about budgeting, time frames and how to build just about anything.
I’m very proud of the many things that are going my way. I love my unique hybrid artworks and the diverse cultures that I have come in contact with through work related travel. My real joy is in the making the works and the financials become secondary. It gives me real purpose in life and it keeps me inquisitive on many diverse topics including the human condition, politics, popular culture and more.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I was raised in Miami and spent many years in Coconut Grove and South Miami Beach. It’s my hometown. To be able to walk a few blocks and take a swim during my lunch break while living on South Beach is something I may never experience elsewhere. Miami is a relaxed atmosphere and has a resort vibe. Up until recently, it was affordable too. I can’t say Brooklyn has that but has massive opportunities in the arts. Miami is very diverse culturally, but being heavily weighted in hispanic culture, at times leaves me isolated. I’ve had some difficulty gaining employment and at times socializing, not being of hispanic heritage or raised multilingual. I still on occasion get called upon to design and art direct a film in Miami or to contract a large scale commissioned artwork for the cruise lines or corporate client. It’s a lovely place, I miss it and do look forward to my time there.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.georgegoodridge.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/geogood777
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/geogood/
