Al Gury

     Al Gury is an artist, educator, and writer.

     He is a Professor of Painting and Drawing at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia, America’s oldest and first Art School and Art Museum.

     As a painter, Al explores the tension between representation and the formal possibilities of color, composition and content. Harmony and visual poetry are a focus of his interpretations of nature.

     Deeply committed to art education, he teaches many courses on painting, drawing and art history, as well as teaching art education methods to undergraduate and graduate students, and is the founder and instructor of a large, free, after school art education program at PAFA for underserved inner city high school students. National and international workshops are also a regular part of his engagement in art education. He is also a lecturer at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia.

     As a writer, Al Gury has written three books for Penguin-Random House on art methods and art history, Alla Prima, Color for Painters and Foundations of Drawing. In addition, he has authored dozens of articles on art and art history for museums and art publications in the US and Europe such as the Victoria and Albert Museum, Artists and Craftsman Magazine and numerous other venues. Al’s specialties include the traditions and use of color in painting, old master and contemporary painting methods, the history of drawing methods, and the traditions and practices in portrait and landscape painting.

     Al Gury is a practicing painter, with regular one person exhibitions at the F.A.N. Gallery in Philadelphia, as well as galleries and museums in other states.

     Very involved over the years in many community and social justice activities, including with homeless persons, inner city youth and the Mural Arts Project in Philadelphia, Al is a cat foster parent and advocate for animal rescue and nursing care via the Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society.

Artist Statement:

“Exploring the creative possibilities of color and design, while remaining true to the observation of nature is the focus of these new works.

Interpreting color for its expressive possibilities is a source of joy for me as well as providing opportunities for the analysis and interaction of pure colors and the formal qualities of shape, value and brushwork.

The shapes of objects in nature, and how they can be orchestrated in a poetic manner in dynamic compositions, is a great pleasure for me.

                                                                                                    – Al Gury