For Geoffrey Gersten, there is no end to the fascination and allure of American life in the mid-century. “I’m still working through my obsession with the idea of the perfect quintessential American neighborhood in the 1950s. I love to imagine what life was like- without today’s technology.” Geoffrey explores subjects that capture the nostalgia and romance of the 1940’s and 50’s, finding references and inspiration from a variety of sources: lucky finds at the antique store, images torn from vintage magazines, old advertisements, newspaper clippings and other ephemera. He has also traveled to photograph bygone remnants along Route 66, capturing what’s left of iconic roadside attractions.
The process and source of inspiration vacillates from painting to painting. “I am always switching between inspiration for the painting image, and my drive and focus on technique and technical application. Sometimes I love the image above anything, while other times, I love finding myself one or two hours into a very detailed area of a canvas, having completely forgotten the time, just trying to sculpt and blend.", says Gersten. Fresh ideas are never in short supply. “I’m always working against the clock. There’s a finite time in each day and a finite time in every life. I have 1000 more ideas than I’ll ever get to paint. My motivation is to try to explore as many as possible within the constraints of being a human with one single mind and one single lifetime.”
Geoffrey Gersten is an internationally represented artist based in Scottsdale, Arizona. After early success as a CAD designer for Honeywell and Boeing, he began painting professionally in 2007. A self-taught artist, his signature style developed from the confluence of abstract expressionism and photorealism. His work explores themes of personal realization meeting popular culture. Gersten’s work can be seen in respected galleries and art fairs throughout the United States, and he has been featured in American Art Collector Magazine, Phoenix Home and Garden and The Aspen Times.