GABRIEL COMBS'S ARTWORK HAS BEEN VIEWED BY COUNTLESS members of the public without them knowing the artist's identity, much less anything about the impressive variety of stylistic turns his works have achieved during his career.

His graffiti/street art works can be seen in many neighborhoods in the Cities. It's there that thousands of drivers or passers-by have encountered his art. It appears and then it disappears, depending on the buildings and whether or not they've been tagged or painted over completely. While viewable, they provide us with a sample of the personal vision of this gifted artist.
His commissioned murals adorn the walls of many area restaurants and cafes, providing the public with opportunities for a more upfront and personal consideration. Along with these venues, Combs has been included in many local and national gallery exhibitions and has shared his work on-line through a variety of public and commercial websites. For instance, Combs was one of the first artists from this area to sell his works on Ebay.

His is an art that is rooted in (to my mind) a mastery of drawing. You don't draw this well without having worked at it very long and very hard to develop and perfect your skills and techniques.
Basing much of the compositions of his imagery on drawings, he'll go on to add color in such a way that might be eye-popping at times, but never crosses over into becoming garish to the extent that it overwhelms the rest of the visual makeup of the work. The results can be spectacular. The artist understands it's a tricky path he's on, considering the elements he's working with during the creation of a drawing, a painting or a collage that combines the two with physical objects. Experience has helped him to realize exactly when it's time to stop with a work before it loses its visual balance and tension and collapses altogether. It's a matter of skill combined with a sophisticated visual sense of what works and what doesn't.

The results are works that - while they may exhibit the influence of many artists, periods, styles, and techniques - feature subjects of Combs own making, a rotating cast of characters and/or symbols that might easily be at home in the world of cartoons, political art, or as sci-fi illustrations as they are in the world of art for arts sake. I think it would be exciting to find that at some point in the years ahead, Combs has gone on to create his own graphic novels. Certainly, that's an option the artist might consider. For an artist of his caliber - there's bound to be many more options and opportunities on the horizon.

I've chosen to create this collection in order to spotlight an artist who - while he has been a member of mnartists.org since its inception - may not be as well-known to the larger membership as he is to those members who participate in the Forums. This is by no means a scholarly critique or assessment. It’s more of an appreciation of the artist and for his making his works available for public viewing.
--James Michael Lawrence

Statik Kineticism
Gabriel's blog: See works in progress, read Gabe's artists's journal.

Gabriel Combs (Pilbox) on MySpace

Gabriel's artwork for sale on eBay
Get some fabulous artwork at affordable prices. Shop victoriously indeed!

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