UNITED STATES—Jane Gang, is a British artist who has been drawing since the age of 11. Gang who grew up across the pond, but has lived in New York and Los Angeles. Her works include a variety of styles where she paints live on site or in studio.
Canyon News had the pleasure of speaking with Gang to discuss more about her growth and background as an artist and the importance of the Cheremoya Foundation that is about to celebrate their 100 year anniversary in 2015.
When asked about what comes to mind when she thinks of art, Gang stated, “Art is transformative. I don’t believe everyone is an artist. A visual artist can produce something that transforms the everyday…it infuses magic. Art is not a Reality Show. It has to speak to the whole spirit of each individual. It transforms reality opening doors to the imagination.”
She shared that a picture is an opportunity to express interaction with the viewer, allowing a moment in time that produces magic in communication with the viewer and the artist to see their own words, similar to that of a movie.
Canyon News asked Gang about the three paintings she donated to the Cheremoya Elementary School where she indicated the focus of the paintings were kids. One of those paintings includes her 6-year-old son, Boulevard. Some of the paintings were done live on site and some in studio and the paintings were a donation to the school.
The paintings reflected a time in her life back in 2011 in Miami, and in New York that were a reflection of her time with her son. The paintings also reflected things like the playground, mothers, fathers, friends and children. It was an opportunity to capture a moment in time in a painting. “There are abstraction elements that come into the future or out of the past in my paintings,” said Gang.
She also reflected on her paintings she did highlighting the world of male and female strippers, where Gang expressed that back than the stripper world was about “power, and the male gaze.” She wanted to bring something to the viewer, a sense of humor that hadn’t been seen.
When asked what she wanted people to know about the Cheremoya Foundation, she indicated that the school recently began putting effort into fundraising to make the school better. “They were bringing something new and fresh,” said Gang. She added that 10 years ago she was in the region, and being able to reflect back on that is humbling. The Cheremoya Elementary School is a nice school that houses less than 300 students and the friendships these kids build are long-term, Gang noted.
Gang explained that when she begin drawing at the age of 11, she had an epiphany, that she was going to be a painter, and it might be lonely (joking). She noted that growing up she didn’t have a television in the home and that art was a “naked form, raw, like writing; it’s just a blank canvas and a pencil.” She informed Canyon News that one of the artists she admires is Joseph Beunys, who was a bit of a performist artist and he made strong drawings. She indicated that she had various influences in her career and lots of practice. “To be an artist you have to have an inner drive to do it,” added Gang.
Some things people might be surprised to learn about Jane Gang is that she only likes certain cats. She likes cats, but is weary of them and takes to time get use to other people’s cats. She also informed us that she has written many stories. She loves people with a sense of humor. She jokingly laughed about her love of going to shopping malls, especially the high-end ones.
“I have to confront head on now as this situation keeps blocking my ‘present and future.’ There is a scandal been revealed from within the International Art World, originates in London back in the mid 80s. I have been writing a book about it all which is nearly finished. It is quite an Opera,” Gang told Canyon News.
To learn more information about Jane Gang and her art you can visit her website athttp://www.janegang.com. To learn more information about the Cheremoya Foundation visithttp://www.chermoyafoundation.org/about.
