In this show, Indelible Life – A Memorial Exhibition, Traver Gallery remembers and celebrates the life of Gregory Grenon. A profoundly influential artist in our region, Grenon’s legacy and artistic contributions have left an indelible mark on our community. Bill Traver remembers, “Gregory’s whole life was about his art. He was always a figurative painter, even when abstraction was everything, and he used portraiture to depict potent, familiar, contemporary human emotions — connecting his audience to his subjects in a visceral way.”
A long-recognized artist in the Northwest, Gregory Grenon was well known for his work as a colorist and for his unique technique of reverse painting on glass. Employing rough-hewn, deeply color-saturated oil-on-glass, Grenon’s work suggests both folk-art and psychological portraiture; intensely exploratory and often voyeuristic, his work reveals the dynamic and expressive qualities of the people he painted.
Grenon was extraordinarily accomplished and received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Oregon Arts Commission. His work is in numerous private and public collections, including the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, Willamette University, Salem, OR; the Portland Art Museum; the Seattle Art Museum; the Tacoma Art Museum; the Boise Art Museum; and the New York Public Library. He is survived by his wife and collaborator, Mary Josephson, and his stepdaughter Aurora. He was a lifelong friend of the Traver family and a beloved member of our entire creative community – he is dearly missed.