Gallery Reserve
For Viewing Only
About Drew Gentle
Represented Artist
Drew Gentle was born in 1947 and raised in Los Angeles, California. After high school, Drew went to work as Artist Assistant to his Father Robert Gentle at Hanna-Barbera Studios. For the next four years, he worked summers in animation and for the rest of the year attended Chouinard Art Institute (now the California Institute of the Arts), where he graduated with a BFA in 1969. Early on Drew aspired to a career in the fine arts, but at 21 with a budding career in animation, and a little later, marriage and children he opted for the steady paycheck and stayed in Animation. Over the course of the next forty years he developed a career as a multi-skilled animation artist working continually at one studio while frequently freelancing work at two or three other Studios. During this time Drew’s desire and passion to do fine art only became stronger and found frequent expression for his own pleasure and sanity. While working in the animation industry, Drew did his more personal work of abstracted figurative personas, and kept hundreds of these drawings in notebooks. Years later, this trove of drawings would form the basis for his long and large print series. He also produced paintings and sculpture, and was in several gallery shows.
Currently, he has been able to return to his long simmering passion and creative impulse of creating fine art. Drew moved to Eureka Springs, Arkansas in the summer of 2007, and is now enjoying the beauty of the Ozarks while he pursues his artistic vision.
About two and a half years ago, in the middle of my normal flow of paintings, the subject matter started changing. My work became protest paintings. The Trump Administration and our country’s hell-bent race towards a fascist future was something that compelled me to create these pictures. I felt like I had the need to comment on it by visually immersing the viewers to revisit these controversial yet familiar subjects. Now I have a collection. War, Immigration and Men Exercising their Power over Women are the three topics I chose to express my frustrations. Growing up in Hollywood has primarily exposed me to these unfortunate occurrences which are normalized in the entertainment industry. My Grandmother and mother were both actresses and were victimized by this very system.
About the art
Drew Gentle was born in 1947 and raised in Los Angeles, California. After high school, Drew went to work as Artist Assistant to his Father Robert Gentle at Hanna-Barbera Studios. For the next four years, he worked summers in animation and for the rest of the year attended Chouinard Art Institute (now the California Institute of the Arts), where he graduated with a BFA in 1969. Early on Drew aspired to a career in the fine arts, but at 21 with a budding career in animation, and a little later, marriage and children he opted for the steady paycheck and stayed in Animation. Over the course of the next forty years he developed a career as a multi-skilled animation artist working continually at one studio while frequently freelancing work at two or three other Studios. During this time Drew’s desire and passion to do fine art only became stronger and found frequent expression for his own pleasure and sanity. While working in the animation industry, Drew did his more personal work of abstracted figurative personas, and kept hundreds of these drawings in notebooks. Years later, this trove of drawings would form the basis for his long and large print series. He also produced paintings and sculpture, and was in several gallery shows.
Currently, he has been able to return to his long simmering passion and creative impulse of creating fine art. Drew moved to Eureka Springs, Arkansas in the summer of 2007, and is now enjoying the beauty of the Ozarks while he pursues his artistic vision.
About two and a half years ago, in the middle of my normal flow of paintings, the subject matter started changing. My work became protest paintings. The Trump Administration and our country’s hell-bent race towards a fascist future was something that compelled me to create these pictures. I felt like I had the need to comment on it by visually immersing the viewers to revisit these controversial yet familiar subjects. Now I have a collection. War, Immigration and Men Exercising their Power over Women are the three topics I chose to express my frustrations. Growing up in Hollywood has primarily exposed me to these unfortunate occurrences which are normalized in the entertainment industry. My Grandmother and mother were both actresses and were victimized by this very system.