Asheville artist Gus Cutty to open show Aug. 8 at DeSoto Lounge

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Image: Charles Bukowski, by Gus Cutty

Here’s the press release from Gus. I really love his work. The image attached to this post is a shot of Cutty’s work on the wall of Hot Stuff Tattoo in West Asheville. Can’t wait to see his show.

An opening reception for “Drinking Buddies: A celebration of great drinkers in aerosol,” featuring new works from Asheville artist Gus Cutty, will take place at DeSoto Lounge on Wednesday August 8th at 7 pm. The show will run through September.

Cutty’s work demonstrates a unique approach to his medium. The 10 stylized portraits stand somewhere between comic illustration and photorealism using a mix of gradients and hard lines to project the dichotomy of his subjects, great thinkers who are known for their abuse of alcohol as much as their genius.

As a teen in the early nineties in Nashville, Tennessee, Gus witnessed an important and mostly undocumented time for the city when several of today’s greatest graffiti writers converged on local walls. A shy child, he realized at a young age that his drawing talent was a way of gaining notoriety and confidence making graffiti an obvious evolution. Since moving to Asheville at 15 he has continued to pursue his art through various mediums but never leaving a spray can far behind. His recent works include outdoor murals on Static Age, Forever Tattoo, Rosetta’s, and a collaboration with artist Dustin Spagnola for the Moog factory.

“A huge part of graffiti and my thought process in particular is the interaction between the work and the space it inhabits.” Commented Gus. “I often find art imposing on a space. Being that this show is in a bar I decided to fill it with patrons I would like to interact with, great musicians and writers.”

He says the idea to paint each canvas in two tones of color came from the DVD menu of a documentary about Melvin Van Peebles, “It had a great seventies feel to it and the balance of pop created from the brightness of swatches on a black background and the subtleness of the tones was really appealing to me. I knew when I saw the dark walls in the space that I could create a similar effect.”

For further information about Gus Cutty visit www.gusisrich.com.

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

  • 1

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