Biography

GERALD GUTHRIE

Gerald Guthrie was born in 1951 in Waukesha, Wisconsin. His father was a college art professor for 37 years and former graduate student of Grant Wood. Guthrie followed his father’s interests and received an undergraduate degree in art from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1973.

After receiving an MFA in Printmaking in 1975, he continued to make lithographs and color pencil drawings from 1976 to 1999. Concurrent with these 2D endeavors, he produced a series of kinetic sculptures in the form of mixed media animated peephole boxes. His final “Miniature Environment” was completed in 2001.

In 1988, he became a Professor in the School of Art and Design at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign. He pursued his professional art activities while teaching for 28 years.

In the mid 1990s, he turned to computer graphics and produced a series of limited edition ink jet prints, produced with 3D software. His final digital ink jet print was produced in 2005.

With a continuing interest in animation, he used 3D software to produce a series of short animations between 2002 and 2014. His digital animations won numerous awards and have been included in festivals and galleries in the United States, Australia, Russian Federation, France, Palestinian Territories, Serbia, Mexico, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Austria, Brazil, Nigeria, Portugal, Canada, and Denmark.

In 2014 he retired his teaching duties. His current activities involve building mechanical automata placed inside vintage cigar boxes. He has also produced hundreds of digital collages and 2d animations.

Beginning in 2021, he met his goal to post examples of his work and personal objects to Instagram for a total of 1000 days in a row.