Review Extracts
"Guy's work is often politically charged. He utilizes his skill as a
painter to reveal his social concerns. Themes of pollution, friction
between humankind and nature, and social degradation are common in his
work."
Intro to interview, My Art Space.com, 2007
“Colwell’s work can be described as social realism
presented through vibrant depictions of people and animals, often in
surrealistic situations. He is a multitalented artist who is well known
for his work in the “Comix” movement of the
1970’s....His work deals with social ills by presenting figures
in strange and sometimes violent situations....This show is rich in
color and texture, and everyy piece requires the viewers to read the
story depicted and think about its message. Repeated viewing is
recommended because of its depth and scope.”
Michael Morgan, The Guardsman, CCSF, 2007
“Colwell is a quiet man who speaks in measured tones and seems
shy of the spotlight. His work, however, is anything but shy.
Colwell’s magnum opus is Litter Beach, a large painting that hung
as the centerpiece of the gallery’s Urban Realists show in July
(2006).The cartoonish painting depicts a crowded beach so packed with
shallow people, discarded wrappers and brand name products that not a
speck of sand can be glimpsed.”
Alex Handy, Oakland Magazine, 2007
“...he devotes himself to creating personal and political
art....he today remains true to his artistic training and political
calling....Whether or not one agrees with his politics, Colwell refuses
to back down from relating his personal view of reality.”
Wikipedia article, “Guy Colwell”, 2006
“A strong believer in artists’ participation in public
discourse, Guy Colwell works from his underground comics sensibility to
create edgy paintings of protest.”
Review from Art Map Oakland, 2006
“The art varies from more established painters such as social
realist Guy Colwell, whose show of works reflect on Hurricane Katrina
and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks....”
John Herron Zamora, San Francisco Chronicle, 2006
“There’s one painting in the whole exhibit that rises above
morose retreads of old grievances, though, that’s Guy
Colwell’s “Disaster”. Two dozen modern Americans run
screaming to the left, away from an unseen calamity off-screen right.
yet there’s one young black dude near the action who isn’t
running. He’s not even screaming. He stands still, nonplussed and
suspiciously glancing toward Armageddon as if to say, “It
figures.” The only thing that comes close to the levity and
relevance of “Disaster” is Colwell’s 60-square-foot
oil-on-canvas mural “Litter Beach.” An orgy of bright
colors and human forms swarm over each other in a cartoonish depiction
of Americans having some hot fun in the sun atop a beach comprised
entirely of litter.”
David Downs, East Bay Express, 2006
“The cloning of the Man with the Hood was made even more emphatic by San
Francisco artist Guy Colwell, who portrayed the figure as triplets in a
tableau reminiscent of the surrealist artist, Paul Delvaux. [Fig. 11: Guy
Colwell, "The Abuse"] Three hooded men with wires on their hands and
genitals stand on pedestals, stripped naked from the neck down (perhaps to
emphasize their connectedness to the pornographic scenes from Abu Ghraib)
while American MPs brandish nightsticks and chemical lights, the
now-familiar instruments of sodomy, and a blindfolded Statue of Liberty is
led into the room, perhaps to "witness punishment." The San Francisco
gallery that dared to show this image was attacked by vandals and had to
shut down, perhaps a forecasting of the American reception of these images.”
W.J.T. Mitchell Clonophobia, Univ. of Chicago 2006
“In spite of the attacker’s intention to censor the
gallery, their crime has spurred the interests of the press, and has
caused worldwide exposure of the painting (The Abuse). No doubt not
only the value of the painting will dramatically increase, but people
will remember it for ages to come. This painting will live in
history.”
Commentary on nobeliefs.com, 2004
“One spectacular example is the massive canvas titled
“Litter Beach” which is “littered’ with
humanity as well as every conceivable piece of consumerism
available.”
Ashcroft and Bailey, North Beach Journal, 2003
“He’s experienced life at its most bleak and its most
hedonistic. He’s resisted the draft, been in jail and lived all
over the place. And his art shows it.”
Juxtapoz Magazine, 2002
“Colwell, who was part of the Bay Area underground comics wave of
the 70’s eventually applied his taste for ripe stylized human
figures (he admits a fondness for Hieronymus Bosch) to a number of
socially conscious pieces....These days his interest has turned
green....Litter Beach represents the “worst” of both those
worlds, a carnival of flesh spoiling the earth....”
Kelly Vance, East Bay Express, 2002
“The events in his life caused his work to evolve from benign
abstraction to powerful statements against violence. His latest work
combines both elements....It is colorful, abrasive and reflects a
sensitivity to homeless people....”
Jolene Thyme, Oakland Tribune, 1995
“Colwell’s Bosch-like visual world holds nothing sacred;
his portraits of city life’s underbelly made him a hit with post
boomers growing up in a post-peacenik age.”
Chiori Santiago, Oakland Tribune, 1992
“...densely-peopled tableaux of dramatically-pregnant life scenes....”
Lou Stathis, High Times, 1991
“Colwell has stuck to his convictions in painting throughout his
career....His work focuses on ecology, social protest, peace and urban
life...portraying groups of people interacting with each other....The
intimate details, as well as the subject, display his social and
political commentaries. Colwell’s works draw largely from
memories of his own experiences. He’s participated in nuclear
protests, peace walks...and was imprisoned for a year-and-a-half for
refusing to be drafted into the Vietnam War.”
Linda Dubois, Auburn Journal, 1991
Guy Colwell - Painter. Born in Oakland; attended CCAC. His
paintings, in a tight, linear style of illustrative surrealism, focus
on themes of urban violence and social protest.
Thomas Albright, Art in the San Francisco Bay Area 1945-1980
“To a small number of collectors, he is considered the most
daring and outspoken artist to come from the political upheavals of the
vietnam era...a modern Brueghal come to haunt us with mankind’s
eternal brutishness....But there is a positive image in this
revolutionary’s vision. See the hope filled multitude stream
forth from the boiling city, tossing guns aside...”
Gaylord Willis, House Organ, 1986
“ ...I have to mention a painting by Guy Colwell. An image of punishment by a painter who has lived on the inside.
For me this little 1977 gouache painting
called Free Lunch was one of the strongest images of the show. The
confined interior of a cell squashed even tighter by shallow
perspective. An anquished figure staring vaguely out of the picture
plane is aware of (but uncaring about) the tray of food pushed under
the door. Here is punishment - temporal monotony and physical
restriction.”
Chris Martini, California Letter, 1984
“Guy Colwell, who served time for
draft resistance, effectively paints fantasy aspects of prison life as
well as of the street people who inhabit our downtowns in increasing
numbers.”
Alfred Jan, Artweek, 1984
“Guy Colwell’s distortions may be deliberate or an
indication that he has not received enough training, but in any event,
this is an artist we should be watching as he develops.”
Al Morch, SF Examiner, 1983
“Colwell has become well known for his highly detailed, realistic
street scenes....his people are very particularized, their facial
expressions carry a lot of messages.”
James Phoenix, City Arts Monthly, S.F. 1982“
The comic panel is too small a universe for a painter like Guy Colwell.
The...artist likes to expand the world of his dreams on canvas, and
it’s a world that contains some of the finest American art.”
Clay Geerdes, Cobblestone, 1976
“A San Francisco master....You owe it to yourself to see this one.”
Ken Kelly, City Magazine, 1976
“...his profusion of detail and glossy, glistening surfaces lend
his images a prickly heat power which one does not forget
quickly.”
Thomas Albright, S.F. Chronicle, 1976
“His best pictures project a distinctive and unsettling vision
with a force that is not at all common on the art scene....a bizarre
blend of crude caricature and wyeth-like sophistication....There is a
steely hardness beneath the saccharine prettiness of Colwell’s
painterly surfaces, and an edge of nastiness to his expression that
charges these pictures with a Gothic quality....”
Thomas Albright, San Francisco Chronicle, 1975
“His approach is unique in that throughout his paintings, no
matter how gruesome or frightening or sarcastic on the surface, there
flows a kind of stoic faith in humanity rarely encountered in
contemporary art.”
Madrona Poetry Journal, 1971
“Guy Colwell is represented by the
largest paintings,...His big recent oils in the front gallery include a
quiet self portrait...and two large, bitter group paintings - one of
“Altamont” and one of a bloody race riot. In
“Altamont” the Stone sings and pulls down a rain of cash
money....Around him people smoke, drink, have sex, and generally
disport themselves in complete disregard for each other.
In the race riot, on the other hand, there is total,
violent, bloody interaction...around the seething central group, quiet
lines of indifferent people and animals move in to join the massacre.
There are reptiles and animals of all sizes taking part in it all.
These reptiles and animals of Colwell’s are
something special for him....It is a question, however, whether he has
them because he feels friendly toward them or because they represent
something he is trying to come to terms with. In his paintings the
animals are usually distorted into unreality, as the creature is in
“Self Portrait with Creature.”
Cecile McCann, Artweek, 1971