Gil's Realm

Gil Bruvel's work opens the realms of imaginative experience, deep personal mythology, exploration and visions to create a link between the conscious and the unconscious in an attempt to get closer to the mystery of the transformative process—what is engendered by growth and metamorphosis in the world of human experience. His canvases merge physical and organic forms to produce an amalgamation that is part human, part idea, part consciousness, and part spirit.

"St. George and the Dragon”  Maquette - 2009

- Marianne & Gil, July 2009

Featured Artist: Andre Derain - "I do not innovate. I transmit."
Derain co-founded of the Fauvist movement, which emphasized strong color and painterly qualities over realism in art. Gil cites Derain's influence in his aesthetic and the idea of art as a "transmission."

St. George and the Dragon

"St. George and the Dragon”

This past spring, Gil was privileged to be a finalist for the St. George Cathedral Sculpture Project, a Public Art Works commissioned by the Perth, Australia Cathedral to cap its renovation. Although the commission went to another artist, Gil's "St. George and the Dragon" won both the People's Choice Award (with over 50% of the public vote) and the backing of the project donor, Mark Creasy, who liked the longevity of Gil's design and the fact that it allowed for public interaction. In the end, says Gil, the experience, which allowed him to further explore his long-time passion for the story of St. George, "was a tremendous encouragement to continue to explore Public Art." He says he is "overwhelmed and enormously gratified" by the support for his work, and plans to seek more Public Art projects in the future.

"St. George and the Dragon" – 1983 Graphite on Paper

For the Perth commission, Gil says he wanted "to create something dynamic and modern that would pull St. George intact into the present moment--something that had the best opportunity for public exploration, experience, and interaction while also giving serious consideration to the social context of sculpture's surroundings."

The story of St. George has significance on so many levels that "it has the potential to contribute to our collective human consciousness,"says Gil, who points out that Joseph Campbell invoked the importance of stories and mythology in our collective consciousness when he said it was the special providence of the artist "to mythologize the world."

With this idea in mind, Gil says he created his "St. George and the Dragon"to simultaneously evoke the timeless and contemporary story of St. George in a way that would both "reinforce and reinvent"the mythology so that the Story and its symbols would be meaningful for current and future audiences. To this end, Gil's multi-figure composition invites interaction, becoming more a mini-pilgrimage than merely the viewing of an impressive object: "What child will not want to touch the dragon, what tourist would not want to be photographed amidst the drama?"asks Gil. According to him, the sculpture would have extended the interior of the church into the public space, creating the atmosphere of "a sacred garden." He says he had in mind a modern equivalent of the medieval labyrinth or meditative path that was so often a part of the European cathedrals, and wanted to create a time-tested device that fosters an interactive environment and builds community by expanding the use of the grounds beyond the scope of the formal church service.

"Looking at a lone statue, one maintains at a critical distance,"says Gil, "but walking amidst larger than life figures in dynamic action is a more personal and, I suggest, profound spiritual activity. In my sculpture, one easily enters the story of St. George, but finds it difficult to forget.”

Further, Gil says he intended to develop a dynamic figure that would tell the Story of St. George through posture and body language. "We are looking at Everyman at his best," says Gil, "spiritually charged and alert, but not alarmed," seated on a Horse made of ribbons and hollow spaces to convey the energy source beyond mere force of flesh. According to Gil, "the horse, is thus a vessel for Spirit which symbolizes the supremacy of persuasion over mere coercion, guile and creativity over simple brute force." Completing the sculpture, the Dragon whose emerging and submerging coils "provide the necessary sense of dread," was abstracted in order to allow it to transcend mere physicality and make room for a myriad of interpretations by diverse audiences.

In the end, Gil is quite proud of his work and the reception he's received. He intends to continue to develop his sculptural work and hopes to work more in the area of Public Art in the future.

George’s Horse

We are proud to offer an edition of Gil’s Sculpture entry for your collection