‘Places’ ju xtapose the obvious and obscure

In one of Scott Guelcher’s new paintings, there are objects anyone who has walked through the Patio De Leon in downtown Fort Myers will recognize. There is the fountain, the bricks, the pizza and the streetlamp. It’s all there. The painting captures the essence of a place in disparate objects, like the other canvases in his series of 30 paintings, “Places: Road Trip Number 1.” Mr. Guelcher said his aim was to use sometimes mundane, everyday objects, to strike an emotional chord in observers, instead of simply painting a realistic landscape.

COURTESY PHOTO Artist Scott Guelcher’s exhibit opens Friday at daas Gallery in downtown Fort Myers. “I wanted to describe places without painting a picture of the place,” he said. “Like there’s Cabbage Key, and there’s the dollar bills and the cheeseburger, but not actually a picture of the island.”

COURTESY PHOTOS Two pieces by Scott Guelcher. The paintings juxtapose the obvious with the obscure. In one, you’ll find a dolphin near a sign that inexplicably suggests, “Shower with a friend.” For people who have visited the places he has depicted, the work may be more obvious; for those who haven’t, the work is more obscure. The paintings each feature images and objects from his travels and closer to home. They will debut at dass Gallery in downtown Friday, Nov. 6, to coincide with Art Walk.

Mr. Guelcher described his style as a mixture of surrealism and pop art. The explanation makes sense. A slice of pizza, in the upper left hand corner of one canvas, drips and bends like the clocks in Salvador Dali’s famous surrealist work. But Mr. Guelcher seems less obsessed with ethereal themes like time and space than Dali probably was. Like pop art, he picks everyday objects that are often kitschy. His favorite artists include both Salvador Dali and Robert Rauschenberg, and also his contemporaries Michael St. Amand and Marcus Jansen.

In an artist’s statement, Mr. Guelcher wrote that his “Places” are “paintings of cities, towns, buildings, monuments, or other places in the U.S. with a portion focusing on Fort Myers and Lee County.” He hopes each person will take away something personal from his work.

“Not everybody is going to feel the same emotion,” he said. “Not everybody will be attracted to the same object. Everybody will be able to take away a little different piece.”

Most of the paintings in “Places” will be at daas Gallery during the reception Friday night. It’s the first solo gallery show of his career. He has already gained some notoriety for his senior project at Florida Gulf Coast University, “Bikinis and Bombs,” which was partly about his father. His paintings have been displayed in many Southwest Florida galleries, and he was decorated with some awards and grants recently. He is also the education coordinator at Alliance for the Arts. He isn’t new to the art scene, but this show still feels like a beginning.

“This a big deal for me,” he said. “It’s my first gallery show.”

Mr. Guelcher, 32, has been “drawing and doodling” since he was a kid. Now his old high school friends aren’t surprised at all that he’s an artist. But because a high school guidance counselor once told Mr. Guelcher he was “crazy” to try being an artist, he went into restaurant and hotel management for a while. He grew up in Harrisburg, Pa., and also worked with his guidance counselor at a Bob Evans restaurant, where he was a cook.

“I pushed art away,” he said.

Working in the hospitality business was not a satisfying experience. He gave it up and enrolled in art school in Sarasota, near where his parents relocated. Eventually, he graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University as an art major.

He now lives in Lehigh Acres. He loves baseball and builds and stretches his own canvases to paint on.

“Married, no children, two cats and a dog,” he summed up.

After “Places” debuts on Friday night, he will continue work on a similar series called “Things,” followed by another interconnected set of paintings called “People.” He carries a notebook to jot down ideas for new paintings, hoping to continue such work for the rest of his life. He is happier being an artist than working in a restaurant or hotel.

“I tell people, ‘your guidance counselor is not always right,’” Mr. Guelcher says. 

if you go

>> What: Reception for Scott Guelcher’s “Places: Road Trip Number 1” >> When: 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6 >> Where: daas Gallery, 1542 Broadway Street, downtown Fort Myers >> Details: The exhibit runs until Nov. 27. For more information, call 939-1194 or visit www. daasgallery.com or www.guelcherart.com