About Cary Gries

Cary Gries has spent his whole life drawing and painting as well as sculpting. He studied art at California Institute of the Arts (1979, BFA), under such renowned artists as Susan Rothenberg, Jonathan Borofsky, David Salle, John Baldessari, Judy Pfaff, and Elizabeth Murray and was fortunate enough to study Art History under Paul Brach.

Although his style was a departure from the aforementioned artists, Cary came to embody a style not quite categorical in label.

If one were to ask Cary what his style might be called, he would say, “Illusory Figurative with a bit of Abstract Expressionism thrown in”.

Cary was never one to submit to an artistic label. “I’m a painter, plain and simple. It’s a cathartic act drawn out of me from need. I paint only what I need to paint.”

Cary was born in 1956 in Southern California to a father who was a film and television director and a mother who was an actress and part time interior designer. His father was also an artist in his own right but decided to forego a painting career for the film arts. Cary’s grandfather, Joe Gries, was a renowned illustrator in the early 20th century for magazine covers such as The Saturday Evening Post and Harper’s. Cary’s father always encouraged his son’s desire to be an artist. In 1963, the family moved to New York City, and it was there that Cary was given the opportunity to become exposed to all of what the New York art scene had to offer. In 1971, Cary’s father took him and his brother to Mexico City where the three were privileged enough to have an afternoon of conversation with David Siqueiros, the Mexican muralist. At that time, he was working on a huge relief for Hotel Mexico City. They talked with Siqueiros about art, Picasso, Rivera, Kahlo and Communism within the Art world and the significance it had in influencing the artists of the era. It was an eye-opening conversation that gave Cary the impetus to bear down and study the history of art and all its influences. His father wanted to expand Cary’s view of all imagery and had him meet the renowned political cartoonist, Paul Conrad. Cary learned about inking techniques from him. He was also able to meet the Live Action Cartoonist, Ralph Bakshi who had just finished his film, “Fritz the Cat”. Having these opportunities to meet all these talented artists gave Cary a well-rounded idea of what direction he wanted to go with his art.

After graduating from Cal Arts in 1979, Cary decided to pursue a career in the film arts as his father had, all the while keeping up with his painting. In 1981, Cary exhibited in his first show at The Roger Morrison Gallery in Los Angeles in which Cary sold what paintings were exhibited. While working in film, Cary felt he never had quite enough of an inventory to show and didn’t exhibit any work for nearly 30 years. In September of 2023, Cary had his first solo exhibit in Venice, CA at the noted Lantern House that had an amazing turnout which was convincing enough for Cary to pursue artmaking full time.