Chaz Guest
Presentation
Chaz Guest (b. 1961, Niagara Falls, NY) holds degrees from the University of Southern Connecticut State University, CT and the Fashion Design/Fashion Illustration program at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York, NY.
A fascination with Japan has pervaded Guest's life since his formative years, a predilection he traces back to a seminal moment during the Montreal Olympic Games of 1976. There, the indomitable display of poise and mental tenacity exhibited by Japanese gymnast Shun Fujimoto, who valiantly performed despite sustaining grave injuries, left an indelible mark on Guest's artistic sensibilities, and continues to inform his practice today.
His work has been subject of numerous exhibitions, including at Les Moliere Palais Royal in Paris, the Museum of the African Diaspora (MOAD), Vito Schnabel Gallery, Night Gallery and the Torrance Art Museum, among others. Guest’s work belongs to the collection of the Ulrich Museum of Art, Zuzeum Art Centre, and numerous private collections, including former President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie, and Herbie Hancock. His work has been featured in reviews from the Guardian, The New York Times, National Portrait Gallery, and Los Angeles Magazine, among others. Guest recently completed a residency at Atelier Jolie in New York, NY. Guest lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. His LA -based studio, affectionately dubbed "the cave," serves as the crucible wherein Guest meticulously realizes his artworks.
Biography
EDUCATION
B.S -University of Southern Connecticut State University - Connecticut, CT
(FIT) Fashion Institute of Technology – 9 Months in the Fashion Design/ Fashion Illustration program - New York, NY
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 Chaz Guest: Gaining Pride with Promises Broken, Night Gallery - Los Angeles, CA
Chaz Guest: Memories of Warriors, Vito Schnabel Gallery, - Greenwich Village, New York, NY
2021 Chaz Guest & Josh Callaghan: Promised Land, Night Gallery - Los Angeles, CA
2018 Chaz Guest: Buffalo Soldiers, Patrick Painter Inc. - Los Angeles, CA
2017 Chaz Guest: Buffalo Warrior, Patrick Painter Inc. - Los Angeles, CA
2016 Visual Artists Group, Justin Gilanyi – Los Angeles, CA
2010 – 2015 Le Cabinet de Curiosities de Thomas Erber, Les Moliere – Palais Royal, Paris, FR
2009 Decoding Identity: I Do It For My People Museum of the African Diaspora, San Francisco, CA
2006 Left Coast Galleries – Studio City, CA
2003 Kretchner Gallery – West Hollywood, CA
2002 ALP Gallery – Chelsea, New York, NY
2001 Muriel K Boris Gallery – West Hollywood, CA
2000 Alitash Kebede Gallery – Los Angeles, CA
1999 Benjamin Horowitz/ Heritage Gallery – Los Angeles, CA
1997 Blue Note Gallery – Tokyo, Japan
1993 – 1995 Lumina Art Gallery – SOHO, New York, NY
SELECTED PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS & COLLECTIONS
2017 Commissioned to Paint Ashanti Osei Tutu – Accra, GH
2015 Work displayed on set of Fox Network show Empire
2008 Painting installed in President Barack Obama’s Oval Office – Washington DC
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 Freize Studio Visit - Los Angeles, CA
2022 Growing Out? Growing Up? Contemporary Art Collecting in the Baltics, Zuzeum Centre - Riga, LV
Color Of The Times, Leeahn Gallery, Daegu - KR
These Days Part II by Vito Schnabel Gallery, Sotheby’s Los Angeles - Los Angeles, CA
2021 Friend Zone, Half Gallery - New York, NY
2019 To Save The Day: Superheroes In Art, Torrance Art Museum - Torrance, CA
2017 The Xenomorph’s Egg, Patrick Painter Inc. - Los Angeles, CA
SELECTED RESIDENCIES
2024 Atelier Jolie - New York, NY
2015 Balthus Fondation Artist Residency at the Grande Chalet – Lausanne, CH
2014 Mexican Consulate General IPSUM
SELECTED PRESS & INTERVIEWS
NHK World - Japan, “Art Beyond Cultural Barrier: Chaz Guest / Artist,” Documentary, Jan. 2024
UTA Fine Arts, “Chaz Guest & Arthur Lewis,” May 2023
Ulrich Museum of Art, “The 2010s: Chaz Guest,” 2023
Cultured Magazine, “At Night Gallery, Chaz Guest Paints His Own Superheroes,” Ricky Amadour, Jun. 2022
The Guardian, “I’m Battling having my Culture be so Misrepresented” Veronica Esposito Jun. 2022
Essence, “Artist Chaz Guest on Legacy, Integrity, and What it Really Means To Be Brave” Keyaira Boone Mar. 2022
The New York Times, “Painting Black Warriors, With Michael K. Williams as His Model” Ted Loose, Feb. 2022
News at Southern, Southern Connecticut State University, “Painter Chaz Guest, 85’, Portrays ‘Memories of Warriors’” Feb. 2022
Trebuchet Magazine, “Memories of a Warrior” Jan. 2022
Los Angeles Magazine, “Painter Chaz Guest’s Long, Lively Road to Art - World Acclaim” Michael Slenske Apr. 2021
National Portrait Gallery, “In Conversation with Chaz Guest” Oct. 2020
Monarch Magazine, “Chaz Guest Soul Immortalized”