Late 20th Century Postmodern Pastel Drawing by Gary Spradling, Framed

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This is a fanciful framed original drawing by Gary Spradling, c. 1990s. It is reminiscent of Warhol's early fashion drawings … Read more This is a fanciful framed original drawing by Gary Spradling, c. 1990s. It is reminiscent of Warhol's early fashion drawings as it depicts multi-colored gloves displayed on a pedestal in a gallery or museum. Fanciful patterns on the floor and wall highlight the objects. Nice oak frame with glass wired and ready to hang. The work appears to be signed and dated at lower right corner.

Gary Spradling, was born in Springfield Missouri in 1951. In 1973 he received a BFA from Southwest Missouri State University, and in 1975 an MFA from the Rinehart School of Sculpture, The Maryland Institute, College of Art, Baltimore Maryland. In 1978 he arrived in Williamsburg, a pioneer resident artist.

In 1997, through the Parsons School of Design, he was invited to teach 3-Dimensional Design and Model-making at a new school called The Center for Advanced Design in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for 18 months. During the school breaks he traveled extensively to China, Bali, Java, Borneo, Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, and Nepal, engaging in exotic experiences such as riding elephants and observing the sky becoming blackened by millions of bats pouring from caves. He even stayed with the Iban tribe, headhunters, who kept several human skulls on a rack in the long house. After he returned to New York in 1998, he became increasingly fatigued. After seeing a neurologist on June 5th, 2000, he was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrigs disease.

After he had been informed that he has ALS and had only three to five years to live, he was in a state of shock. Miraculously, poems began to appear in his dreams and he would wake at 4 in the morning to have his wife write them down. In 2002 Gary put together a collection of poems he called ‘Dead Man Talking.” He says in one of the poems, “We must embrace the cycle of existence and find our own unique way, to make peace with ourlife, to make peace with our death. To enjoy each fleeting day.”Gary did just that. Even after the disease had brought him to total immobility and loss of speech, such that he could only use minor flexing of a finger or knee, to speak through a computer, he still held on fiercely to enjoy the company of his loyal wife and friends, and, amazingly, to continue to create works of art using even his bare feet assisted by his caretakers and wife Michelle. See less