In planning this exhibition, “Gary Spinosa: Philosopher’s Stone,” I’ve had the opportunity to witness the reaction of many people encountering a Spinosa piece for the first time and I’ve been struck by the almost universal resonance and dissonance that they experience in its presence. Many do not quite know what to make of it. Some suspect that it is an authentic antiquity of religious or funerary purpose and are appropriately deferential and inquisitive. I have also watched a strange phenomenon play out with the hand-sized stones as even the most restrained and seasoned art observer feels somehow compelled to touch them. Like yakshi goddess temple figures of South Asia, whose labial area and breasts have been rubbed smooth by the touch of centuries of women seeking fertility assistance, the multi-sided Spinosa stones seem to be somehow utilitarian or sacred, requiring some ritualistic response.

Viewers of the work, or rather “participants,” often come to realize that they are encountering fine art pieces that are unique and, I would say, beautiful, a word that has become suspect in the art world during the past few decades. But the uniqueness and the beauty is what makes Spinosa’s work hard to contextualize or classify in such a way that it could achieve the nameable pedigree so important to postmodern criticism. And therein lies the power of the work. Is it outsider art, or even of this era? If one comes to know Gary, one will find out that all of this was both consciously intended and studied in his artistic training, but it is also equally intuitive, and sometimes unintentional.

Bring what associations you will to the work and they are probably right and wrong at the same time. Spinosa’s smooth, variegated, multiple-sided pearlescent “creatures, ” his niches/shrines, his death-shrouds, his demons and angels, gods and monsters, all embody an intuitive telling of universal myth. Imagine opening some fantastical special edition, Spinosa-illustrated copy of Joseph Campbell’s The Masks of God or The Hero with a Thousand Faces and seeing freshly incarnated manifestations of the “monomyth” played out in photographs of Spinosa’s iconic beings. While this is purely speculative, I can imagine that Campbell would probably have a deep recognition of and appreciation for Spinosa’s work and probably be able to apply his ample intellectual insight to find associations and cross-references in the pieces that a lay scholar might not begin to fathom. I imagine that the artwork would serve to better illustrate and amplify many of his discourses on animal totems, shamanism, or the Jungian collective unconscious. C.G. Jung himself, a great collector of art, would probably have become a collector and champion of Spinosa’s work, had their paths ever happened to cross.

In Spinosa’s pieces, one might recognize shades and shadows of myriad avatars. Their countenances can seem hauntingly stern yet compassionate at the same time. Their eyes hint at some strange prescience, with each reflecting an embodiment of the godhead, and indeed their triangular symmetry often gives a Renaissance nod to the trinity. A piece might illustrate the psalmist’s mighty eagle mother-god, sheltering her young beneath her wings, while another may resemble a doe-eyed Ganesha or the enlightened Siddhartha Gautama. Animal spirits like spoonbills, ibises, elephants, hawks, jackals, opossums and goats become power totems and tricksters in a living hieroglyphic bestiary that is clearly derived from actual human myth but often without nameable associations. His “masks of God” are numerous in allusions that may or may not represent Horus, Osiris, Khmer apsaras, Greek caryatids, Boddhisatvas, Yoruban orishas, Christ, Shiva, yoni-lingums, minotaurs, Vishnu or Mesoamerican naguals. But what is also hidden in each stone or shrine, often symmetrical and iconic, is a self-portrait of the artist who lives with a deep, personal connection to his creations.

This catalogue is a physical record for the exhibition “Gary Spinosa: Philosopher’s Stone,” at the Bruce Gallery of Art at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, held from January 31-February 22, 2007. It is the second installment of the Edinboro University Distinguished Alumni Series that honors the work of art alumni from Edinboro, which has long been the largest, and regarded by many as one of the best public art schools in the state of Pennsylvania.

This exhibition is a retrospective covering over four decades of Spinosa’s work. The most recent piece, the large bull figure titled “Life Force of the Fields,” took 13 years to complete and is a tour de force that speaks to the expanding and maturing present-day Gary Spinosa. The title of the exhibition attempts to address Spinosa’s ever-present desire to distill form and spirit into essences. The “life force” sought after by spiritual alchemists was meant to culminate in the achievement of a magnum opus, but looking at the depth and quality of the assembled work, it’s hard to believe that just one individual piece could be considered somehow superior or emblematic. There is a consistent standard of excellence and revelation that passes from piece to piece and decade to decade. Many plateaus are yet to be achieved in his work as he matures and finds deeper expression and distillation of spiritual truths.

Due to a generous donation by an anonymous donor and the Ceres Trust, we were able to expand the quality of this document and exhibition so that many may share in an artistic life of skill, mystery and innovation. This exhibition could not have taken place without the contribution of Charles T. Mayer of Sandusky, Ohio, who is Gary Spinosa’s preeminent collector. He lent over 200 works from his monumental collection of over 600 Spinosa pieces and helped serve in the role of co-curator. He was instrumental as an archivist in establishing a chronology for the stone pieces and in helping us to document the work.

Many had a hand in making this all possible. I speak on behalf of many in saying that I am grateful for the rare opportunity to view such a large sample of Spinosa’s awe-inspiring artwork. I’ve also been grateful for the chance to get to know Gary, and to see the unique creative soul who is able to manifest such a wildly individual vision with the simple vehicles of clay, paint, and wood.

John Bavaro,
Bruce Gallery Director, Edinboro University