Roark Gourley Sold at Auction Prices

b. 1949 -

Roark Gourley is an American painter, sculptor, and mixed media artist in Laguna Beach, California noted for wall sculptures that depict humorous subject matter. In 1992, the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History commissioned Spaghetti Meets Tomato in the Collision of the Continental Plates, a high relief map of the world with depictions of various foods making up the topography and borders of countries.

Roark was born in Lynwood, California. He received his art training at Orange Coast College, The Art Institute of Southern California Laguna Beach and the University of Colorado where he studied electronic optics, physics, holography, and photography.

Roark specializes in 2.5 dimensional wall sculptures made from wood, resin, and acrylic, often depicting humorous scenarios: pets that match sofas, an out of control executive with 4 arms, chefs cooking up a storm and other whimisical subject matter including, hearts, martinis, shoes, and coffee cups. He ran The Sherwood Gallery in Laguna Beach from 1979 to 1988. In the 1980s Roark created several 2.5 dimensional pieces for Warner Bros. depicting their characters in humorous scenarios, including his Daffy Executive and Golfer Taz.

In addition to light-hearted work, Roark painted portraits of his friends and family . He told Dawn Pettit of Orange Coast Magazine that his most favorite pieces are the two portraits of his wife that are displayed in his Laguna Beach home.

In 2007 he debuted his B-Side, a more serious body of abstract contemporary work featuring light paintings, underwater photography, and 3D Abstract sculpture printed on both traditional and nontraditional materials (plexi-glass and metal).