Words
There’s a borderland where the nature of paint’s material substance meets the culture embedded in my body and mind. A liminal zone swarming with life, with discoveries. This is where my work happens.
I begin with a ground line. For me it’s three things at once: the ground of all being; the stasis from which all consciousness arises; and the horizon of the endless Midwestern plains where I grew up, the line by which every life and action is oriented.
I unleash paint beginning at this line, guiding it only distantly, intuitively, according to subconscious cultural programming. This often results in waves, loops, or lobes of discovered energy. Sometimes other forms arise. Each is unique. Each carries its own meaning, its own music.
Next, I have choices. I can refine this first set of gestures, or add similar markings. I may respond to them with slashes, scribbles, with gestures of different qualities and energies. Or I may use them as a skeleton for other intuitively painted elements.
In each artwork I enact new existence, new life, rising from the void. Powered by a synthesis of the nature of paint, and the culture embedded within me, guiding my movements.
These artworks can fail spectacularly. Sometimes I lose the thread. Intuition evaporates. The temptation to overwork can become irresistible. These failures assure me that I’m on track.
I consider them finished when they contain event, peculiarity, and a depth of meaning approaching the sublime.
Each is simultaneously a diagram, an imprint of psychic energies, a votive object, and, strangely perhaps, a unique, functioning, two-dimensional organism.
Hit the Inquire link at the bottom with questions. Thanks for stopping by.
Bio
Gusky is an interdisciplinary visual artist. He has exhibited throughout the United States and internationally, and his work is featured in collections public and private. His degrees were earned at Pratt Institute and Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Among other distinctions Gusky was Visiting Artist at the International Workshop and Presentation on Contemporary Experimental Art at the University of Kalyani, India, and he’s a recipient of the St. Botolph Club Emerging Artist Award and the Elizabeth L. Greely Prize in Watercolor.
Education
MFA – MassArt
BFA – Pratt Institute
Select Distinctions
The Elizabeth L. Greeley Prize for Watercolor, New Haven Paint & Clay Club – April 6, 2025
Visiting Artist, International Workshop and Presentation on Contemporary Experimental Art, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, India – January 10 – 12, 2019
Visiting Artist, Indian Institute for Science Education and Research, Kolkata, India – January 9, 2019
Dave Bown Projects 9th Semiannual Competition (Curators: Steven Matijcio, Dominic Molon, Marina Pacini) Honorable Mention – 2014
Residency Award, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, Nebraska City, NE – 2012
Residency Award, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT – February, 2012
Emerging Artist Award, St. Botolph Club Foundation, Boston, MA – 2010
Distinguished Panelist, Blogpix Panel Discussion on Art Blogging – Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York, NY – May 25, 2009
Invited ongoing contributor to The Art-Tistics, an art blog published by Minds Eye Art Moving and Storage, Boston, MA – 2009
Requested by artist John Morris to write the position paper for The Blogger Show, produced through Digging Pitt Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA – October, 2007
Requested contributor to the catalog of Portraits or Landscapes from the Uncanny Mist, Paintings by Steve LaRose, held at Kristi Engle Gallery, Highland Park, CA – June, 2007
Community Advisory Board Member, Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network, Hartford, CT – 2006-2007
Press
A Conversation with GUSKY – Ninth Heaven, November 21, 2025
GUSKY – Artistcloseup Magazine #33, August 2025, p. 52
Six Pieces by Gusky – A series of evocative pieces by the internationally acclaimed American artist, Gusky – Ninth Heaven, June 23, 2025
Paintings, statement, and bio vignette – Modern Renaissance Magazine, June 2025, pp. 79-80
Hannah Carrigan – “A Horse Walks into a Bar” and Other Curious Notions at Hampden Gallery – Artscope Online, Thursday, March 19th, 2020
Julie Garisto – Water Over the Bridge: Contemporary Seascapes – Dart International Magazine, Summer 2018 Edition
Julie Garisto – Who Cares For Planet Earth? – Culture Catch, July 9, 2018
Steve Rockwell – ReVision All Over Again – dART International Magazine, Spring/Summer 2016
D. Dominick Lombardi – Amanda Cooper and the Exquisite Porch – Huffington Post, March 1, 2016
Jeanne Wilkinson – New York’s Lesley Heller Workspace, ‘Shaky Ground’: Seeing Nature in New Ways – Artes Magazine, February 4, 2016
Lisa Marsova – ReVision curated by D. Dominick Lombardi at Galerie Protégé – Arte Fuse, December 1, 2015
Torrington: Five Points Gallery to host new exhibit The Ruckus on Main Street– Oneida Daily Dispatch, July 5, 201
D. Dominick Lombardi – Detonate: Chaos and Consumerism at Denise Bibro Fine Art – Mana Fine Arts Blog, February 24, 2012
Victoria Weseley – Cartoons of the Future: McLean Project for the Arts Exhibits Work by Bill Gusky – McLean Patch, January 28, 2011
Lauren Edmondson – Shiny New Tomorrow: New Work by Bill Gusky – McLean Patch, January 10, 2011
Shirley J. Gregory – Artist’s Work Goes Beyond the Pale: New Exhibits Open at the McLean Project for the Arts – McLean Connection, January 26 – February 1, 2011, p4
Taylor E. Polites – Space to Discover; MassArt / FAWC Low-Residency MFA– Artscope Magazine Vol 4 No 6, January & February 2010, pp 52-53
Jordan Bartel – Artsy Weekend: Personal Journeys at School 33–b the site, the website of Baltimore’s “b” Magazine, August 5, 2009
Joanne Mattera – Awash in Color: More Friends of Mr. Biv – Joanne Mattera Art Blog, June 21, 2008
Joy Garnett – The Blogger Show opening in NYC + elsewhere. – NEWSgrist blog – where spin is art, November 3, 2007
Edward Winkleman – The Blogger Show – Edward_Winkleman blog, October 17, 2007
Select Solo Exhibitions
The Ruckus – Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT – July 12-August 11, 2013
The Inertia Garden – New Milford Public Library, New Milford, CT – April 14-May 27, 2012
The Atomic Overcoat – Northwestern Connecticut Community College, Winsted, CT – March 3-March 30, 2012
Shiny New Tomorrow – McLean Project for the Arts, McLean, VA – Jan. 20-March 5, 2011
Select Group Exhibitions
The Fall Show 2025 – Kalaveshi Arts, Avon, CT – October 17 – November 9, 2025
North East Watercolor Society 49th Annual Juried Exhibition – Kent Art Association, Kent, CT – October 5 – 25, 2025
In the Moment – Galatea Fine Arts, Boston, MA – July 31 – August 31, 2025
Five Points 2025 Small Works Juried Exhibition – Five Points Gallery, Torrington, CT – July 25 – September 6, 2025
124th Annual Juried Art Exhibition – New Haven Paint & Clay Club, New Haven, CT – March 31 – April 25, 2025
79th Annual Connecticut Artists Juried Exhibition – Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, CT – January 25 – February 28, 2025
52nd Annual Juried Art Show – Mark Twain Library, Redding, CT – December 7 – 15, 2024
The Pleasure of Small Art – MVA Gallery, Bethlehem, PA – October 23 – November 21, 2024
All Who Wander – Rockaway Artists Alliance, Rockaway, NY – May 18 – August 17, 2024
Cityscapes Landscapes Seascapes – D. Velez Art Gallery, Huntington, New York – April 12 – May 10, 2024
A Horse Walks into a Bar – Hampden Gallery, UMass Amherst – March 7 – April 12, 2020
Art for AIDS – ArtSpace, Hartford, CT – June 8, 2019
Alter Ego – Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata, West Bengal, India – April 5 – 7, 2019
Water Over the Bridge: Contemporary Seascapes – Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg, FL – May 12 – June 23, 2018
Tell Me a Story – The B Complex Gallery, Atlanta, GA – October 5 – 18, 2016
The Nkisi Project – The Center for Visual Art, Denver, CO – June 3 – July 2, 2016
Exquisite Porch – Morean Arts Center, St. Petersburg, FL – March 12 – May 1, 2016
Shaky Ground – Lesley Heller Workspace – New York, NY – January 8 to February 16, 2016
reVision – Galerie Protégé, New York, NY – November 12 to December 31, 2015
The Writing on the Wall – The Painting Center, New York, NY – June 23 to July 18, 2015
The Walker Art Committee National Multi-Media Art Exhibition – The Walker Art Gallery, Garnett, KS – April 11 to May 16, 2015
The Animal Heart – The Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, CT – June 15 to August 10, 2014
Show for a Show – Artwell Gallery, Torrington, CT – August 24 to September 29, 2013
Slide Slam – Real Art Ways, Hartford, CT – December 20, 2012
Strange Glue: Collage at 100 – Thompson Gallery at The Cambridge School, Weston, MA – September 10, 2012 – June 21, 2013
Detonate: Chaos and Consumerism – Denise Bibro Fine Art, New York, NY – February 2 – February 24, 2012
Wee Works by Awesome Artists II – The Norfolk Library, Norfolk, CT – December 2, 2011– January 13, 2012
Crop Circle – Field Projects, Watertown, CT – October 28 – December 1, 2011
Foundation on Parade – St. Botolph Club Foundation, Boston, MA – October 25 – November 21, 2011
The Global Perspective: Understanding the Past, Looking to the Future – The Gallery at Worcester State University, Worcester, MA – October 20 – December 1, 2011
Cultural Crossroads – Associated Artists of Winston-Salem, Winston-Salem, NC – October 13 – November 23, 2011
4th Annual Juried Exhibition – Sylvia White Gallery, Ventura, CA – August 3 – September 3, 2011
Litchfield County Screen Project – Various locations, Torrington, CT – June 30 – August 25, 2011
Instructions for Initial Conditions – Parallax Space, Lincoln, NE – November 5 – 29, 2010
Shunpikers – School 33 Art Center, Baltimore, MD – August 7 – October 3, 2009
Lost Weekend – La Motta Fine Art, Hartford, CT – January 17 – 24, 2009
R • E • S • P • E • C • T (artists on pedestals) – CreateHere Collective, Chattanooga, TN – July 18 – September 8, 2008
The Blogger Show – Digging Pitt Gallery, New York, NY and Pittsburgh, PA – November 10, 2007 – January 12, 2008
50/50, a traveling exhibition of new media objects curated by Sue Berg and Daniel Buttrey Artwell Gallery, Torrington, CT – ArtSpace, Windham, CT – ArtSpace, Norwich, CT – ArtSpace, Hartford, CT Nov 4, 2007 – Feb 25, 2008
Small Works– Digging Pitt Gallery, Pittsburgh, PA – Nov 11, 2006 – Feb 3, 2007