Ellington

If you tried to draw a circle around 17-year-old Greg Gandy, you would most likely fail. One of his lanky arms might poke through an arc, or an errant foot may render the circumference incalculable. He could pop up into unexpected dimensions, leaving your boundaries flat and futile. Most likely, he would sidestep the construct altogether, and appear alongside you amiably offering consolation for your failed undertaking.

Gandy defies labels, limitations and definitions. He's the sensitive, reflective artist who cherishes his time alone at the easel, but also served as the class president of a 500-plus student body at Madison's Rosa Scott school and spent two consecutive years on the homecoming court. He's the award-winning attendee of Mississippi's prestigious Governor's School summer leadership program. He also builds duck sculptures out of mud and has discovered more uses for duct tape than George Washington Carver found for peanuts.

Touring the halls of his current high school, the Mississippi School for the Arts in Brookhaven, Gandy stops to greet every passerby. In the elevator, a group of young junior girls say they've written a new song for him, before breaking into a chorus of "I Want Gandy." After singing his praises, an art teacher jokes that he's trying to stay on Gandy's good side, in the hope that the young artist will someday give him a piece of his artwork.

Gandy's art reflects his complex personality, wedding weighty imagery and somber reflection to optimistic, lighthearted whimsy. A handmade book he recently completed for a class project visually narrates the travails of a scuba man who leaves the pollution-ravaged world of man for a paradise beneath the sea. After encountering a series of aquatic creatures, scuba man wins an audience with the underwater kingdom's queen. Despite his entreaties, she refuses to let him live among them. Devastated, scuba man cuts his own cord, ending his life with the words "If I cannot live in the world I love, I'd rather not live at all."

The comical drawings lend an almost sarcastic note to the work, in direct contrast to the melodramatic storyline. In one sense, Gandy revels in toying with his audience's emotions. "I'm real sarcastic," he says. "That guy died at the end. You liked him, but he's dead now."

This same sarcasm allows Gandy to address real and grave subject matter, while preserving his humor and good spirits. One of the primary influences behind this story, the tragic drowning of one of his best friends in a boating accident, shadows but does not define the work.

Gandy explains this balancing act: "It's very serious, relating to my best friend's death. At the same time," he continues, "you should not dwell on the past, (or) be negative. You should be happy, which is why all the images are uplifting."

This melding of serious and light-hearted emotions produces a subtle layering of messages in Gandy's art. He doesn't limit his artwork to the confines of his own intentions and, instead, invites viewers into the conversation. "I want to have as many meanings as people can come up with," he says, "I want it to be different for everyone."

Gandy parallels this depth through his methods, often applying a variety of materials to his pieces to compound their complexity. For his book project, he began with a foundation of cardboard and handmade paper, and layered Vogue magazine dress patterns, thread, ink, paper cutouts and watercolors. The resulting product invites viewers to examine closely and explore a multitude of potential meanings.

The artist makes frequent use of text in his works, but doesn't always bow to the gods of syntax and spelling. The final page of his scuba man book features the aquatic adventurer cutting his own oxygen line in an ocean cluttered with the blood-red word "dispair" repeated ominously in the bright waters. He explains that he unintentionally misspelled it, but decided not to alter his own wording to conform to a correct spelling. The erroneous spelling lends a note of absurdity to the otherwise tragic scene, as if the scuba man died due to a simple and correctable mistake.

Keith Shore, Barry McGee and Jeremy Fish are among Gandy's favorite artists, and he frequents Web sites such as fecalface.com, a San Francisco-based network for cutting-edge contemporary artists. Many artists featured on fecalface.com draw upon a cross-pollination of styles, melding the traditions of urban "have-skateboard, will-paint" street art with iconography from Japanese pop culture and late-psychedelic-era fantasy art. But Gandy doesn't seek labels or identify with movements. He emphasizes his desire to establish his own style and stresses that his art is "his thing."

Even at age 17, Gandy will occasionally rail against artists who emphasize innovation, but neglect fundamental skills. "I cannot respect anyone who does not do direct observation," he remarks. He puts his easel where his mouth is by assiduously pursuing his own mastery of perspective, shadows and proportions. Reflecting upon the famous quote by playwright Berthold Brecht, Gandy considers art to be both "a mirror held up to reality," and "the hammer with which to shape it." The best art encompasses both, in his view. He sums up his philosophy neatly: "I want to see life for what it is, and then I want to show people the way I want life to be."

Gandy cherishes individuality and vision, but doesn't believe that an artist's sense of self should translate into selfishness. He decries the notion of the self-absorbed artist consumed with personal expression. To the contrary, he delights in sharing his work with others, and gets "as giddy as a child" when they enjoy his art. Along with fellow artists Clay Hardwick and Morgan Welch, Gandy helps run Mixed Core, a local organization dedicated to encouraging and promoting younger artists in the Jackson area. Mixed Core maintains a Web site (http://www.mixedcore.com), manages art exhibitions and other events, and promotes contemporary art education in local schools.

Although he appreciates art's utility as a tool for communication and community building, Gandy also gains deep personal satisfaction from the process. He often falls into a mild trance when working on a project, losing track of time and focusing entirely on the act of creation. "It's kind of numbing," he says, "in a good way, kind of like a euphoria." The longest Gandy ever worked on a piece was 12 consecutive hours spent preparing a mural for a show at Swell-O-Phonic, and he often burns the midnight acrylics in his dorm room, finishing projects in the wee hours. "I am sleep deprived," he jokes, "whenever I do paintings or drawings of people, they always have bags under their eyes. If I have bags, they have bags, or it's not fair."

As expected for any developing artist, Gandy often speaks in terms of bold principles that aren't always adhered to in practice. Despite his policy of nonconformity to spelling standards, a careful survey of his room will turn up some works that were abandoned due to misspellings. When an error enhances a piece, he will preserve it. But, some mistakes are just mistakes.

Another notable principle Gandy follows—for the most part—is maintaining a liberal policy on suitable subject matter. A striking miniature painting features a desolate landscape beneath a sky filled with the repeated word "Facebook." The piece is part of a series of 60 small works depicting aspects of his life. He concedes the Facebook one to be "cheesy as hell," but explains that the social-networking Web site is important to him, and therefore deserves a place in his art. A telling sign of changing Internet habits, he makes a point of adding: "I'm not going to have one for MySpace, because I never check my MySpace."

In some cases, though, Gandy does cordon off some areas of interest, denying them entry into his art. A self-avowed Harry Potter freak, he dispensed altogether with his already spotty sleeping habits for a number of days in order to read the first six books consecutively before beginning the seventh. He proudly shows off a recent purchase—a Harry Potter coloring book that he intended to fill in and give to a friend. But he does not plan to incorporate the adventures of the top-grossing boy wizard into his artwork. "I would discuss Harry Potter up the wazoo ... but I have to draw the limit there," he says.

Harry Potter aside, limits in Gandy's life are few and far between. Following the completion of 10th grade, he intrepidly left his successful high-school career at Madison Central to brave the unknown at the recently established Mississippi School for the Arts in Brookhaven.

Founded by an act of the Legislature five years ago, the publicly funded high school currently serves about 150 talented 11th and 12th grade artists from across the state. The school's mandate is "to provide a more challenging educational experience for artistically talented and gifted students of the state to develop their full potential."

MSA occupies the campus of the historic Whitworth College, a former women's college built amid the gathering storm that would soon erupt into the Civil War. Whitworth educated generations of Mississippi's women until closing in 1928. A series of smaller secular and religious schools and colleges occupied the grounds until 1985, after which the campus lay dormant until the establishment of MSA in 1999.

Touring the MSA grounds gives visitors the impression of a work in progress, promising great potential but still stuck in the production stage. A smattering of red maple, cedar and holly bush saplings—some already withered after a hot and dry summer—bear witness to an ambitious landscaping project not yet complete. The unadorned brick buildings stand in various states of renovation, in sharp contrast to the modern residential addition built for MSA's opening. Some of the structures remain boarded up, awaiting the necessary funding for further restoration.

Although MSA itself may be an unfinished project, students such as Gandy demonstrate the school's success in producing mature, disciplined artists. MSA attracts a variety of misfits and free spirits from around the state. Dyed hair and facial piercing once abounded, but since school officials recently tightened regulations, they are now rarer sights. Many of the students chose the school because of their passion for the arts, and are richly rewarded by a dedicated and committed staff. The teachers emphasize fundamentals and a steady accrual of foundational skills.

Gandy got in trouble with one teacher for painting a self-standing wood shape he had found, because they're not supposed to start three-dimensional objects until next semester. He trains in a variety of mediums, including photography, painting, digital arts and drawing.

"I never was able to complete a portrait until I got here … this was the first portrait I completed," Gandy says, leading a tour of a classroom. He proudly points to a large self portrait with a characteristically sarcastic face of mock-horror. Like many of his works, the award-winning portrait achieves an emotional intensity despite his somewhat silly pose.

MSA means a great deal to Gandy, and he works hard to promote a positive student experience at the school. When he entered the school as a junior, he and many of his classmates felt uncomfortable attending their morning math and science classes at neighboring Brookhaven High School. Veteran MSA students warned them that they would be reviled by Brookhaven students and teachers as "the art kids." As he recalls, "We were scared as hell when we got off the bus." After realizing that the rift largely existed in people's imaginations, he developed close friendships with a number of students at Brookhaven, and encouraged his MSA peers to adopt a more positive attitude towards the school.

The way Gandy interacts with schoolmates mirrors his artistic method; he doesn't shy away from his peers' hardships nor does he dwell on them. He notes that even people who seem happy or upbeat may have troubled pasts, offering the example of a friend who "was made fun of at high school because she didn't wear Abercrombie in middle school, and no one ever forgave her for it. But she's an awesome, amazing girl." While some might use a story like this to harden their opinions about an overly judgmental society, Gandy strikes a conciliatory note, and emphasizes the need for communication and acceptance.

His unique character traits allow him to function as a bridge between MSA and BHS. At the close of the Governor's School this summer, the faculty selected Gandy out of the 100+ statewide participants for one of two creativity awards. Maggie Cupit, a close friend of his and a junior at Brookhaven High School, was the other recipient.

It's not hard to identify where Gandy inherited his leadership skills. His mother, Patty Gandy, co-founded the MSA Parent's Network and coordinates the efforts of parents from across the state. His father, Johnny Gandy, was a star high-school athlete and, like his son, a popular figure among his peers. "I've been embedded with a sense, ever since I was little, that I can do whatever I want to do," the son says.

The question of where his artistic skills came from is a little murkier. The Gandys can't trace their lineage back to a Michelangelo, or even a Keith Haring. In fact, they don't know of any artists in the family tree before their son took up the brush. His father, who currently works in the service department at Patty Peck Honda, is gifted mechanically, but never developed a desire to work in watercolors or mixed media. His mother, a lawyer who works with legal aid at Mississippi College, likewise possesses a range of talents, but none of the arty kind. Both of his parents took some time adjusting to his new environment, particularly last year when the school maintained less restrictive dress policies. "(We) were shocked when we first went down there, some of the kids had blue hair, and all the piercing," she recalls. They gradually grew more comfortable, and his mother now feels proud that "when I walk in, the kids come up and hug me."

Whether you credit a long-dormant art gene or an evolutionary U-turn, it's certain that Gandy showed an affinity for art from an early age. In second grade he completed a requisite "three wishes" project. As expected, most of his classmates opted for the standards: invisibility, wealth and the faculty of flight. Seven-year-old Gandy, however, wished "to be the greatest artist ever." As a youth, he dragged home any spare lumber or abandoned doors that crossed his path, to be painted or otherwise incorporated into his projects. His supportive parents welcomed the splinter-inducing additions to their modest home, adopting a policy of "use it within a month or it's in the trash." For materials, Gandy raided the cupboards for pie pans and commandeered countless rolls of duct tape. To this day, his father instinctively hides every roll that he buys.

As he comes to the close of his high school career, Gandy looks with uncertainty at the difficult path of an aspiring artist. He understands that without public recognition, he'll have a difficult time pursuing his passion. Through Mixed Core events, he hopes to reach a wider audience. He is currently finding time between his high-school studies to prepare for a Mixed Core show at Swell-O-Phonic in Fondren, featuring promising young artists living in the Jackson area. The show goes up in mid-September, with a large open house featuring live music Oct. 4.

What awaits Gandy after high school is uncertain. He has his sights set on the Memphis College of Art, but his parents would prefer that he pursue a traditional college degree closer to home before committing to a career as an artist.

A sensitive extrovert, a brooding optimist, an observer and an innovator, Gandy embodies all the contradiction—and the promise—of good art.

When the subject of his future plans comes up at home, Gandy always tells his mother, "Mom, just let me dream a little longer."

Previous Comments

ID

81954

Comment

If he did the cover, that is awesome! Powerful!

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-09-06T09:48:06-06:00

ID

81955

Comment

He did, Pike. Cool, eh?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-09-06T10:03:55-06:00

ID

81956

Comment

Very much so! The piece reminds me of King Crimson's cover art for the album "In the Court of the Crimson King."

Author

pikersam

Date

2007-09-06T10:17:12-06:00

ID

81957

Comment

I'm such a baby. The cover scared the stew out of me. That sort of thing catches you off guard when you're in the middle of a sinusitis fog. Still nice, though. :-)

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2007-09-06T20:58:10-06:00

ID

81958

Comment

Any relationship to the now deceased, LT. Gov.Evelyn Gandy? This young man is truly a talent! MS continues to have a lot to be proud of and Gandy adds to that list of positives. The cover was wild and different. It was an eye-catcher - something you will never forget. Great concept.

Author

justjess

Date

2007-09-10T11:02:48-06:00

ID

81959

Comment

I wondered that, too, justjess, but I don't know. Yeah, I think the cover is great. That was Darren and Maggie's idea.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-09-10T11:04:04-06:00