Like many artists, Guy Diehl’s early induction into the world of self-expression was met with criticism rather than acclaim. In Catholic grade school he was sent to the Mother Superior for drawing at his desk when he should have been reading.  At home he would rather stay indoors and draw than go out to play, or do his school homework. 

At the age of eight he stumbled upon the magic of linear perspective and with this new perception suddenly unlocked a whole new world.  This all played a part in how he would shape his life and career as an artist. Through grade school and high school his attention never wavered. Guy knew that his future would somehow be in the realm of art. 

In 1974 he began work on his Masters Degree in Fine Art at San Francisco State University. He studied with photo realist artists Robert Bechtle and Richard Mclean. He graduated with honors in 1976.  In 1984 Guy began to examine the work of Bay Area painter Gordon Cook and his exquisite, minimal still lifes. With Cook’s influence, Guy began his still life series, smaller and more intimate paintings.  This allowed him to move away from his strict Photo Realism style of painting to a more flexible interpretation of what he was seeing. 

Beginning in 1992, Guy began to focus on the book as his primary subject matter, with references to Cubism; German Expressionism; Abstract Expressionism; and the artists of the early Modernism period from 1900 to the 1960s. His aim is to first capture the viewer’s attention with the objects themselves, then encourage the viewer’s further reflection on the work and its narrative.  Guy’s concept of art-about-art has become the focus of his work.  It is not a new concept as artists have been remixing ideas from other artists throughout history.  By referencing artists’ images with books and their titles they are employed to comment on or link to the objets within the painting. He makes this juxtaposition to place the familiar in a different context, combining diverse ideas to create unexpected compositions.    

Guy sees himself as an interpreter, who is making a record of his observations. These observations are intuitive, as well as responsive to images within the composition. The satisfaction with his work comes when he can make a painting as minimal as possible and still capture the fundamental nature of the subject matter. To know what to paint and what to exclude is the challenge. This distillation helps reveal the essence of a painting for him. As Guy continues this exploration, he’s challenged to take his work further both in content and subject matter. Guy sees the refinement and depth that he wants from his work grow and evolve as he moves closer to what is most important to him; to make a worthy painting that connects him with the world both past and present.

2012