Artist Interview: Gregory Coutinho

Gregory Coutinho, a longtime NYPL patron and artist talks to us about his work. You can find out more about him and see more of his work on his website or follow him on Instagram.

What's your background?

I grew up year-round on Martha's Vineyard Island, MA, then went to the Hartford Art School in CT where I took classes in figure sculpture, illustration, figure drawing and some printmaking, but ultimately graduated with a BFA in painting. I honed my skills for rendering a bit more by taking classical figurative painting and drawing classes with Tony and Celeste Ryder while living in Santa Fe, NM for a few years. Since moving to NYC in 1999, I've been returning to Martha's Vineyard for at least a few weeks every summer to work on commissioned paintings and/or take part in shows.

Why do you do what you do?

The reason above all else is to keep learning and developing, both technically and psychologically. I don't know that I'll ever feel like I've fully mastered painting or any other medium, but when I catch glimpses of it in the zone, during that rare effortless balance between technique and what I'll call, say, "blissflow," I'm shown that the reason I do this is for those moments. The more I work, the more frequently that zone is experienced between occasional stretches of doubt and drought. Transcendental Meditation helps keep that access open. Any sales or exposure beyond is a welcome bonus, of course.

What work do you most enjoy doing?

Painting from life, whether figure or landscape. Drawing/painting the figure came more naturally to me until I learned how to see everything objectively and simplify the complexities of landscape. Sometimes the difficulty of capturing the essence of a place en plein-air while the earth's rotation is constantly shifting the sun's angle can be more maddening than enjoyable but I still love the challenge of it, which is what drives me. As it turns out, I've painted and sold more landscapes than portraits because it's easier to get the buildings and trees to pose for me than it is to schedule a person to pose on short notice.

I'd like to revisit sculpting the figure in clay, which I also love but haven't done much of in the round since art school, or in "relief" since a project I worked on in Santa Fe with Sculpture Basis for the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, IN. The CF Hall of Fame has since moved to Atlanta, GA, where it is now unfortunately head-sponsored and co-branded by Chick-fil-A. I say "unfortunately" because I don't agree with Chick-fil-A's discriminatory practices.

What themes do you pursue?

Ironically, given how passionate I am about environmental issues, particularly plastic pollution, my paintings generally don't take on a theme that directly reflects them. Rather, light making form, along with perspective, is what simply inspires me to paint. Someday I'd like to paint a public mural. Maybe it'll take on a plastic pollution theme.

What does your work aim to say?

It doesn't say anything overt, but what I hope it communicates beyond retinal perception is the feeling and energy of a place, person or objects, which I believe filters through me much more truly when painted from life than if painted solely from a photograph. A camera sees with one eye, in 2D. We see not only with two eyes in 3D, but our other senses pick up all stimuli from and around the subject(s), which filter subtly through us onto the canvas. Imagination or memory can also communicate this feeling effectively, even if partially aided by a photo reference. Some of my earlier work was more expressionistic in that way.

How does your work comment on current social or political issues?

Referring back to the "themes" and "aim to say" questions, I wish I could say that the plastic pollution issue has made its way into my artwork, but as of yet two of my biggest passions haven't quite merged, at least not in the imagery. My research on plastic and fossil fuels has gotten me into the habit of investigating the materials of anything I'm considering buying, including the packaging, and avoiding plastic and petroleum-based ingredients whenever possible. I've learned that unlike paint thinner or mineral spirits, pure spirits of gum turpentine are not petroleum-based at all, but distilled from raw pine tree gum. Unfortunately even pure gum turps are hard to find in an all-metal container these days, since more and more of everything is being packaged or bottled in plastic. I haven't needed to buy new brushes for a while because I take care of them, but when I do I make sure the bristles are natural, not synthetic (usually nylon which is plastic). I paint with oils (linseed oil/earth pigments), not acrylic (plastic). I paint on oil-primed linen, not acrylic gesso primed canvas. However, some of my smaller pieces are still painted on wood or masonite panels primed with acrylic gesso. When I run out of my current batch of acrylic gesso I'll switch to priming the panels with oil, despite the longer drying time.

These actions are important to me because in addition to racism and COVID-19, plastic pollution is another pandemic we've been in the midst of for decades, and is only increasing every day. Everyone participates in this, mostly unwittingly, having been misled by the lie that recycling is the solution. Recycling is NOT the solution to reducing a material which can only be recycled a maximum of twice, is made from fossil fuels and is not biodegradable. Only about 9% is recycled anyway, and more new (not recycled) plastic was produced in the past ten years than was produced in the entire twentieth century! While we wait too long for policy/legislation to dramatically reduce the production of plastic because it's met with resistance by pollution-for-profit industries in the name of free enterprise, we as consumers should be asking ourselves the following questions before any purchase we make:

• Is this product made of, bottled in, or packaged in plastic (including polystyrene foam, aka styrofoam, and polyester fabric )?
• If so, do I need it at all?
• If yes, is there an alternative to this product NOT made of, bottled in or packaged in plastic which serves the same purpose or need?

This would go a long way toward reducing plastic pollution by dramatically shrinking the demand for it in the first place. It is especially important for artists to be aware of this and practice it. Otherwise, by feeding the demand for plastic/fossil fuels while adding more of it to the planet, we are actively perpetuating the problem instead of combating it, which I feel is the opposite if what being an artist is about.

I noticed the book How To Give Up Plastic is available at NYPL. I highly recommend everyone heed its guidance.

Who are your biggest influences?

There are many, but I'll start with one of my earliest painting assignments in art school from Pat Lipsky, when she gave a choice between copying a Paul Cézanne or a Henri Matisse. I chose a Cézanne still life, and emulated his style for a little while thereafter. His style first showed me, with the guidance of Pat and various other teachers, how to break down complexities into simpler abstract shapes. Since then I've been influenced by John Singer Sargent, Giacometti (his paintings and drawings—I don't love his sculptures), early Pissarro (before he went pointillist), Soutine, Justin Bua, deKooning, Bonnard, Rembrandt, Kehinde Wiley, JMW Turner, Gustave Moreau, Louis Michel Eilshemius, Thomas Hart Benton, teachers Tony and Celeste Ryder and Henry Finkelstein... on and on. Some have compared my work to Edward Hopper's, who I greatly admire but don't consider one of my biggest influences. Ironically though, one of my favorite paintings is his Queensborough Bridge, which doesn't depict his signature effect of direct sunlight, but beautifully captures a more diffuse, slightly hazy atmospheric effect of light.

Instagram has revealed many inspiring contemporary painters from around the world as well, some of whom are very prolific, which nudges me to keep painting.

How have you developed your career?

The cliche "one thing leads to another" is pertinent to this meandering journey. After art school I joined an artist co-op on Martha's Vineyard that took over a vacant commercial space where I had my first show. Exposure there fortunately led to another show later that summer at The Field Gallery—one of the longest standing art spaces on the island. After I moved to New Mexico that September, I approached a gallery owner in the town of Madrid, and was given a show a few months later. Taking painting/drawing classes in Santa Fe with aforementioned Tony & Celeste Ryder led to a connection with a fellow student employed by Sculpture Basis, who hired me (thanks to my school figure sculpture portfolio) to work on projects for the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, IN (before it moved to Atlanta), and The African American History Museum in Detroit, MI.

Fast forward to NYC, where interacting with customers while tending bar and serving in a Theatre District restaurant led to commissions for portraits, plus sales of landscapes and even a couple figurative paintings I had done while still in art school. This was helped by the development of my first website, which also happened to be designed by a regular customer.

After I moved to Washington Heights from Harlem eleven years ago, I discovered the Uptown Art Stroll by NoMAA (Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance), a month-long festival every June featuring artists of all media. I've participated in the Stroll one way or another every year since, whether it was opening my studio to the public on Open Studios day, and/or hanging my paintings at a participating business, or joining last year's three-day plein-air painters weekend culminating in a show that resulted in sales. This year's Stroll was held virtually of course, so I was part of an online Art Stroll exhibit, still accessible on the website. Even painting out in public has led to opportunities, including a group show at a Pleiades Gallery in Chelsea after an artist introduced himself because he noticed the easel strapped to my back while stopped at an intersection on my bike. That show led to another plein-air group show at NoMAA, organized by a member of Bowery Gallery that noticed my work at neighboring Pleiades. She and I have since been in a couple more group shows together. Instagram has also been a big boost to exposure since I joined less than two years ago.

And as I mentioned in "background," I remain connected to the arts on Martha's Vineyard island, where I return every summer to paint, show, and sell. Multi-artisans gallery owner Mikel Hunter has been a central figure in my Martha's Vineyard arts networking since first giving me a show on the island in 2008. Four of my paintings currently hang at Mikel's other space in Hudson, NY.

Why art?

As early as I can remember, a blank surface and any sort of marking utensil was all I needed to stay engaged for hours, so it wasn't a conscious choice. Presently, art of all genres helps distract us from these more isolating times, whether it engages the creator or inspires the observer. For me sometimes the "why" is to expose the magnificent within the mundane, or the sublime within the trivial. Light draping form can turn an overlooked scene into something spectacular, if we look. Of course, this is speaking in visual terms. Without the gift of sight, art can be therapeutically experienced by our other senses; music being the most obvious example. I was a drummer in a couple bands years ago. I haven't played much lately but my kit is still set up in studio. I love rhythm, percussion, and to dance... I was once in a Breakdancing crew too. All focus therapy.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

Never take anything personally. Much easier said than done, but setting the bar that almost unrealistically high is a useful ego-taming exercise for all aspects of life, and a reminder that we are in control of how we react. So, it applies to the art world when dealing with criticism or rejections from galleries and juried shows etc., and helps us to keep pressing forward.

Has literature impacted your art making?

Reading Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet years ago, and discovering that he had a strong skill for drawing as well, inspired me not only to be more mindful of maintaining a sense of spirit and poetry while painting, but to keep writing myself. I write less frequently now, but used to more often in a style I would describe as poetic philosophy.

Other favorite authors who also happened to paint or draw, are Hermann Hesse (watercolorist; I love his novel Demian) and Lawrence Durell (tempera and watercolor). I have a book titled Doubly Gifted: The Author as Visual Artist, by Kathleen G. Hjerter, which is illustrated with examples of visual art by sixty-nine famous authors. It's no surprise that Oscar Wild was a draftsman as well, gathering from The Portrait of Dorian Gray. Edgar Allen Poe's portrait drawings are surprisingly masterful. I've yet to read Mexican writer Fernando Del Pas, but his gauche/India ink surrealist pieces are intricate and filled with symbolism.

Additional readings that have made an impact on me, not in terms of any direct narrative in my work, but existentially to live life passionately as an artist in general, are The Subterraneans by Jack Kerouac, and a passage by Friedrich Nietzsche titled "The Genius of The Heart," about the tempter god Dionysus.

Also, a few years ago I was commissioned to paint the portrait of an accomplished "novelist, journalist, opera librettist, author or co-author of ninety-one nonfiction books" who shall remain nameless. He refused to look at his portrait during any stage of the multi-session posing process, which I appreciated because it alleviated some pressure, but even after I gave him the finished piece he waited until I was no longer present to look at it for the first time. After some suspense I was relieved to read his review via email:

" Gregory,

A triumph! He's not smiling giddily, but I am...

All of your assiduous work certainly shows in the details, from shirt to chicken neck to background, and the human (or what I take to be the human) comes through. It glows now warmly on a terracotta wall downstairs between West African wooden masks and dark photos, although the company may change.

Thank you very, very much.

I shall have to host a vernissage for the neighbors soon.

And finish something that could use a riveting author's portrait on the back. "

Are libraries a part of your world?

My grandparents' house on Martha's Vineyard Island was conveniently located next door to the Oak Bluffs Public Library until it changed locations in 2005, so my earliest memories of visiting a library are when my grandmother would take me there, just a few steps away. I can't say that I learned the Dewy Decimal System as a pre-schooler, but I vaguely remember grandma showing me how to flip through the card catalog to find the subjects/titles we were seeking. Not long after the library moved in '05 to the new location at the town's renovated former elementary school building, I was able to show my grandmother the first incarnation of my art website on the library's public computers. She passed away in 2007, so I was happy to share that with her—a full circle experience. Presently, my mom works part-time in retirement next door to that very library, at the Town Clerk's Office, also in a building formerly used by the elementary school she herself attended as a kid. When I go back to the island I always pop into the library after saying hi to her at work next door. Fuller circle! The Oak Bluffs Public Library has rotating art shows, one of which featured a photo of my mom by a photographer, and it kept six of my paintings hanging on its walls from 2016 to 2019. This past summer, the library featured my work virtually as August's online Artist of the Month. The show can still be seen on the Oak Bluffs Public Library website.

Of course, while attending the Hartford Art School I frequented the University of Hartford's library to study art history and work on academic assignments.

Admittedly, the convenience of doing research online at home in New York hasn't often led me back to libraries in the city, but I did recently discover NYPL's YouTube channel so I'll be logging into that more often. I did have my taxes prepared at your George Bruce location on 125th Street a few years ago. Thank you! Libraries are very important and essential in every community for a multitude of reasons!

Also, I recently signed an online petition in opposition to a certain corporate giant that is trying to monopolize the e-book market and keep them away from libraries!

What have you been working on recently?

After a spring, summer, and fall of painting mostly plein-air landscapes/cityscapes around my home in Washington Heights and Inwood,I've been finishing a few of the latest in studio that weren't quite resolved on location before the leaves lost their color. I prefer to capture most, if not all on location, but change of season is fleeting. This winter, social distancing might delay a couple in-person commissioned portraits. A painter I follow on Instagram recently displayed some portraits of models who posed via Zoom. Maybe I'll experiment with that if the models are willing. I might have to paint some more self-portraits to stay in practice instead, and will certainly paint some still lives while exploring different ideas and concepts.

I also hope to layer up and brave the cold for some plein-air snowscapes.

Have the recent events had an impact on your art practice?

At COVID-19's New York peak in the late winter/early spring of 2020 I was productive inside the studio (located in my apartment), i.e. a self-portrait with medical mask hanging off my ear, a couple still lives and a cityscape view from my window from which I paused to applaud the medical workers at 7 PM, but I was faced with a dilemma when the weather warmed and the leaves began to bud: 'Is it considered "essential" to go outside and paint while we shelter in place? Certainly I can remain socially distanced at my easel somewhere in the park, but would it be frowned upon because I might be putting myself and others at risk by leaving my home to engage in a non-"essential" activity?' It didn't take long to get over that though, and many warm weather days were spent riding my bike to and from painting spots with easel harnessed on my back.

During the late spring/summer intensity of protests for racial justice I felt strongly that my work should speak to it in some way. That manifested in other ways instead—I marched in a long protest with friends, donated to anti-racism organizations, made phone calls and signed petitions/letters to public officials, engaged in the kind of uncomfortable impassioned conversations I've been having most of my life where I stress the importance of putting our "feet in other people's shoes" to reach understanding (an empathy aided by growing up with Black step-siblings), and of course was very active on social media.

While painting on location during that time though, I was touched by the many compliments and words of encouragement from passersby of all races and ages, reminding that art can be transcendent and unifying even without containing a direct message.