We’re looking forward to introducing you to Scott Gengelbach. Check out our conversation below.
Scott, a huge thanks to you for investing the time to share your wisdom with those who are seeking it. We think it’s so important for us to share stories with our neighbors, friends and community because knowledge multiples when we share with each other. Let’s jump in: What are you chasing, and what would happen if you stopped?
My ultimate goal is to own a building where all my work can be permanently on display. The building would also house a non-profit art gallery. The gallery would consist of three wings. One wing would be for solo/2 person shows of my picking. A second wing would be for group juried shows. The jurors would be art professionals picked by me or recommended by other artists. Only one piece per artist would be picked for the show (I hate when there’s juried shows and some artists get more then one work in it, give someone else a chance). There will be no entry fee. The third wing would have a gallery that has a monthly salon style group display of artists in San Diego. People will sign up (anyone can do it there will be no requirements) for space on a first come first serve basis for a monthly display and you wouldn’t be able to sign up again until everybody has had their chance. Art should be democratic (whenever possible). This is my reason for getting up in the morning, sometimes it’s the only thing that keeps me going besides my love for my family members and friends. I think if I didn’t at least keep trying for this then I would have lived my life in vain.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a mixed media artist, I mostly do assemblage and collage type work. I focus on political/social commentary. I use a lot of toys in my work because they have an air of innocence about them and when people look at the work they won’t be initially put off by what they are looking at. It won’t be until they’ve looked for a second that they’ll realize the work is about a serious issue and not as innocent as it first seems. I lean to the left but I like to question everything. While my work makes a statement I like to think of it as more of a question than a statement.
Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What was your earliest memory of feeling powerful?
I don’t know if I’ve ever felt powerful but I do remember the first time I felt how powerful art could be. My grandparents had art books in their house that I used to look at when I was a kid. One of the books had a fold out of the painting “The Triumph of Death” by Bruegel. I would get that book out and put it on the floor and open the fold out and stare at the picture of the painting whenever I went to their house. That was the power of art. I know I’ll never be able to create a work that is that good but I think if you took my whole body of work ( all 3000 pieces) combined that it might make something as worthy of looking at as that painting. It still wouldn’t be as good. That’s how powerful that painting is- that it would take all my work just to come even close to matching the greatness of one of his paintings. And the closeness would still be far, very far.
When did you last change your mind about something important?
When I was kid I had faith in God. As I grew my faith turned into doubt and I thought maybe there isn’t a God but I still thought that there was a possibility that there could be one. Maybe about 15 years ago I started believing that there is no possible way that an omnipotent, all good, being could exist. I think a lot of it had to do with fear. I think religion has a lot to do with fear of going to Hell, I think religion doesn’t have anything to do with morality. I can’t remember who said it but – “If you’re only doing the right thing because you’re afraid of being punished, that is not morality”. Even though I don’t believe in God, and when I say God I mean the Christian God, I don’t discount the idea that there could be a God but whoever that is couldn’t be omnipotent, unless they were a sadist. Nobody who was good of heart could let suffering exist if they could stop it. I like to think that if there is a God he, she or it, would understand why I don’t believe and forgive me. I’ve tried 2 times and haven’t been able to finish the novel The Brother’s Karamazov because other things had taken over the time I had for reading it. One time I was clicking the channels late at night and I came across a movie version of the book that had William Shatner in it. There’s a very profound scene in the movie that I’ve always wondered if it is in the book. Anyway, one of the characters in the book is a priest and his father is an alcoholic womanizer. One day the father says to the son “My dear son, you never judge me”. To which the son says “No father, God will judge you”. “No” the father says “God will understand me”. That’s how I feel. If you’re wondering why I went so far off on a tangent when I should be talking about art, it’s because a lot of my art is about the hypocrisy of religion.
So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
Smart people are getting it wrong by not trying harder to fight Trump. A lot of them are betting on Trump not lasting much longer but it will probably be the same under Vance although without the charismatic(?) figure head sometimes the cult can’t go on. Our democracy is under siege, we are being occupied by a domestic enemy. They are an enemy to the LGBTQ community, an enemy to people of color, an enemy to the fight against climate change, an enemy to education, to science, the list goes on. They operate on a foundation of cruelty, just look at ICE, if that isn’t pure evil I don’t know what is. I recently did an art piece titled “Where is the French Resistance when you need it”. The piece consisted of a toy Citroen (French car) with a grenade launcher mounted to it’s roof aimed at a pumpkin with a bleeding ear, a bruised hand, googly eyes and a swastika where it’s mouth and nose would be. Because we are literally being occupied by domestic Nazi’s. We must be more disruptive. Disruptive almost to the very point of lawlessness. We need to be our own French Resistance. This is serious, this is the real deal. Read Project 2025, learn about The Heritage Foundation, know who Stephen Miller is. We must be united against this evil. There was recently an anti-fascism art show and I did a guerilla art installation outside of the gallery that consisted of a banner of 8 x 11 flags strung from two light posts that had an image of Trump embedded in a swastika. On one of the light posts was a box full of 8 x 11 pieces of paper with the same image that was on the flags for people to take. Unfortunately what I thought was a powerful commentary ended up being taken down by one of the curators because this person had issues with me. Resistance was thwarted by ego. We can’t let egos keep us from coming together. A lot of my art is a protest against the powers of authoritarian type administrations and I’m always doing my part in that way but I know I have to get out on the streets more and be disruptive on the front lines.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
I’m definitely doing what I was born to do. I have an innate desire to create. I’ve always done something creative, Even when I was spending most of my time surfing and not working on art, I looked at it as an art form not so much a sport. It’s like a combination of figure skating, gymnastics, platform diving and ballet. I can’t imagine not being creative. It’s like eating or breathing. I think that there’s a desire to be creative in everyone. That is not to say that everyone is an artist. And everyone doesn’t have the same level of creative desire, for some people it’s all consuming, in a good way. I’m definitely not doing what I was told to do. Lots of people don’t want you to be an artist. Even your closest friends and family members sometimes. And some people don’t care about your art unless you become well known or are getting some kind of recognition. I used to enter a lot of art competitions and go to a lot of art openings and I noticed that when people saw your work in a show somehow that made you more legitimate and they would offer you other chances to show your work . I don’t really enter shows or go to art openings that often anymore. I feel like my path is not the type of path where I have to impress any gallerists or curators to get where I’m going. I just have to figure out where to get the funding for my gallery.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.scottgengelbach.com
- Instagram: @scottgengelbach_art
Image Credits
Images by me
