Gary Aagaard

Artist Statement : My work is the product of my environment over the last three decades. Generally, I've had a positive experience yet tend to be irked by frequent political and religious hypocrisy, general apathy (relating to war, the environment, fact-challenged pundits, etc.) and dogma of any stripe that leads to social and spiritual tunnel vision. These themes are prevalent in many of my paintings although are often explored using satire and humor as opposed to a sledge hammer (granted, I do use that on occasion, too).

Quick Bio : My conceptual cover and interior illustrations have appeared in numerous publications including The Village Voice, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Golf Digest, Newsday, Philadelphia Weekly, Barron’s, Oxford American, Business Week, Bloomberg, National Lampoon, Seattle Weekly and Discover Magazine. Also, I've created book illustrations for Reader's Digest Books, Houghton Mifflin, St. Martin's Press, Harcourt Brace and “Emily and the Ostriches” (Rizzoli Publ.), a children's book collaboration with Dan Bernstein. In 2015, six of my paintings were published in “50 Masters of Realistic Imagery”.

Awards & Exhibits : My work has received recognition from American Illustration, 3x3 Magazine, the Society of Illustrators (NYC), the Society of Publication Designers, Print, the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles and Applied Arts. My paintings have been displayed in the Museum of American Illustration (NYC), Gallery-Henoch (NYC), the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum (Washington D.C.), Gallery 110 (Seattle…. “1st Place Juror’s Award”), The Studio Door (San Diego…. “Best of Show”), Phoenix Gallery (NYC), Verum Ultimum (Portland), Ward-Nasse Gallery (NYC), POP Gallery (Santa Fe), Gallery 114 (Portland OR), Contreras Gallery (Tucson), Tubac Center of the Arts and was part of the Museum of American Illustration 2000-2001 Traveling Exhibition (40 selected works).