Roark Gourley's Bio

Mr. Gourley and his wife, Michelle, are long time residents of Laguna Beach, California where he also maintains his studio. He is a 10 year participant in the Festival of Arts, and with a vociferous commitment to Laguna Beach, he is now serving his third year on the Board of Directors for the Festival of Arts/Pageant of the Masters.

Like many artists whose work is deceptively simple, Gourley's is not. He works in a technique he coined "two-and-a-half dimensional art." That's it, 2.5 dimensional, somewhere between flat painting on canvas and completely freestanding sculpture. Each piece starts out as a small sketch, which is then scanned into his computer, manipulated to his liking, printed and transformed into a full size image. His art works are made from wood; cut, shaped, sanded, resined, and brightly painted into all manner of outrageous cartoonish objects.

His work is characterized by his humor. There is always a social commentary that lies underneath the whimsical imagery. One must look beyond the visual gag employed by the composition to the real purpose of the work at hand. "If I can slip some deeper meaning and careful execution, both of which have to exist in good art, into funny, lighthearted work that keeps you smiling and feeling alive while you learn, then I've accomplished my goal," says Gourley. His work has reputedly been seen in cities as far reaching as Nagoya, Japan. It not only reaches the many galleries, museums, and exhibits, but also enriches the private collections of many celebrities and other connoisseurs in the realms of the industry, politics and the professions.

In the Spring of 1991 the Smithsonian Institution commissioned Gourley to create a 10' x10' x 5' wall sculpture for their show, entitled "Seeds of Change", which remained on exhibit through 1993. This piece is currently on tour of the United States. You may also come across his work while on a visit to the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, or while watching television on the set of Tri-Star Productions, "My Two Dads." He also was invited to appear and create animation for Big Daddy Production/NBC's "Name Your Adventure". You will find Roark's State of the Hearts featured on A&E's 22 episode Romance Series hosted by Elayne Boosler and Roark himself was chosen as the featured artist on a GMC Jimmy 4X4 commercial. Along with upcoming book projects, future deals are in process for Roark's work to appear on prime time television's Friends.

This multimedia artist is fascinated by the high tech world of computers and has now taken on another aspect of his talents as "Cyber-Guy". Now, with an eye for majestic animated creations and his knowledgeable technical background, Roark Gourley captures the spirit and magical aura behind his artwork and others. Through the internet, one can view his colorful graphic design techniques at Coolsville.com.* The palace is a chat area on the internet where Roark is currently showing his work in a cyber art gallery at House of Media.