Gregory Grenon
We are pleased to present Behavior, an exhibition of new paintings by Gregory Grenon, one of the most recognized artists in the Northwest. Grenon continues his work as a colorist exploring the dynamic and expressive qualities of the people he paints. His approach is incredibly honest. His portrait-like images, frequently of women in a range of expressive moments, are strong, haunting and frank. They engage the viewer with their outward glances. The rawness with which he chooses to lay down his compositions results in an intriguing range of characters, revealing thoughts, internal rhythms and emotional content. Grenon combines contemporary subject matter with a highly developed and energetic color palette. He paints directly on the reverse side of glass, a technique he discovered on his own, but which is also steeped in Russian folk tradition. These striking paintings continue Grenon’s passionate and evocative use of line and color.
Gregory Grenon grew up in Detroit where he studied at the Center for Creative Studies. After a stint in Chicago, where he furthered his printmaking skills at Landfall Press, he moved to the Pacific Northwest. Throughout his career, he has had one-person exhibitions throughout the region as well as in New York, Chicago, Boston and New Orleans. He has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oregon Arts Commission. His work is in numerous private and public collections including the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, OR; the Portland Art Museum; the Seattle Art Museum; the Tacoma Art Museum; the Boise Art Museum; and New York Public Library. Grenon recently completed a series of lithographic prints with Mahaffey Fine Art. Currently, his work is also featured in exhibitions at the Bellevue Arts Museum and The Montreal Museum of Fire Arts.