William Gary
Good Grief 2024
Oil, Oil Stick, Oil Pastel, Colored Pencil, and Graphite on Wood
48” x 36”
$6,000
“Good Grief” reinterprets the iconic moment of Charlie Brown falling for Lucy’s football trick, again. Charlie is forever suspended in the fall, creating a moment charged with realization, shock, frustration, confusion, and disappointment. Depicted with thick, expressive paint-handling, tactile textures, childlike drawing, and extremely warped figures, the painting transforms nostalgic, humorous imagery into a surreal reflection on trust, failure, and unwavering persistence.
By embracing methods that echo children’s art, the work taps into the idea of resistance through play — an act of radical joy and emotional honesty in the face of uncertainty and sociopolitical disintegration.
“Good Grief” embodies hope against all odds in the face of an imploding America, where we continue trying to persevere within systems that are decaying and collapsing.
Due to the volume of horrific news and images with which we are constantly bombarded, I’m interested in creating work that may be the one of the only things someone sees on a given day that isn't soul crushing. This idea has become central to my work – emotionally complex, connecting to the material sophistication of modernist painting, while remaining aware of the present moment. Contemporary art can be meaningful, relevant, and funny all at once.