In his first solo show at Medicine Man Gallery, Josh Gibson revisits landscapes he once called home. “When you move away from a place, you get a much better sense of that place,” the Tucson-turned-Bay-Area artist tells us. “My appreciation of the desert is at much greater magnitudes now not living there than it was when I lived there,” he notes.
Stone Fortress, oil on canvas, 18 x 24”
“Having grown up in Arizona, there’s some part of that place that sticks in your head that you kinda can’t get rid of. It’s the environment, but it goes beyond that in a way too,” says Gibson. “That mysterious, powerful thing is what I’m trying to channel in the paintings.”
Trained in animation and illustration at California College of the Arts, Gibson’s practice reflects today’s visual culture with a well-read nod to the past. His dynamic clouds and moody compositions convey a sensibility shared with 20th-century moderns, while his use of technology confirms he’s very much a 21st-century man. 
A Season in the Sun, oil on linen, 30 x 54”
For his show Outer Limits, Gibson taps into his background as an animator, creating digital editions that share the stage with his oil on linen works. “Let’s face it, the next generation—which is here now and is buying art—they’re tied to their phone. They like animation. They like digital art. They like NFTs,” says Medicine Man Gallery owner Mark Sublette. “Why not do something that’s unique and use that skillset that very few people have, if any, in our field other than Tom Gilleon?” asks Sublette, referencing an animation Gibson made for the Jimi Hendrix estate. 
Outer Limits, oil on linen, 30 x 30”
Instead of creating digital-only works for the show, Gibson’s animated paintings live in the 3D world on custom-built screens with museum glass. “This is the way to bridge the gap,” says Gibson, a young artist who’s interested in the possibilities of digital art, but still feels people want a tangible, in person experience.
Known for showing early work from then-up-and-comers Josh Elliot, Glenn Dean and Logan Maxwell Hagege, Sublette’s bet on the under-30 artist is a vote of confidence in Gibson’s trajectory. “With younger artists, I’m looking for commitment, real commitment. He’s the real deal and he’s going to be on the scene for a very long time. I continue to see amazing growth and innovation,” says Sublette. “He’s all in.” 
Spirit of the Wild Places, oil on linen, 30 x 30”For Gibson, the future of art is both technological and traditional. And this digital-physical hybrid indeed pushes Western art to its outer limits. “It’s a lot about building on what other people have done in the past,” says Gibson. “And seeing what they’ve done and trying to put my own spin on it and make it my own.”
While he ventures deep in the desert to find inspiration, Gibson’s goal is not to recreate it. Instead, he communicates the drama of being in the landscape, the feeling of something greater than life. “It can transport you,” he says. “A good painting is better than a window.” —
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