Freeway Paintings Depict Artist's Uncertain Journey
(The following article originally appeared in the Claremont Courier on January 11, 2003)
By Sarah Torribio-Bond
When John Margaris left his job as an electrical engineer, his ordered life became filled with a vast uncertainty. How does one become an artist? Would he be able to make a living as a painter? Would his inner vision be meaningful to others?
This insecurity is reflected in "The Freeway Paintings: Form and Space," which is currently on exhibit at Pomona's Cuttress Gallery.
Mr. Margaris' 13 canvases have turned freeways into dreamscapes by rendering them without cars or signs. As swaths of sky peek through desolate overpasses, bridges, and exchanges, the viewer feels a palpable sense of solitude. The 39-year-old artist has come to see the roadways we travel each day as symbolic of life's uncertain journey.
"The irony of the subject matter is that usually on a freeway you're pretty certain of where you're going," Mr. Margaris said. "When you take out the signs and the cars, the viewer is left with a sense of "Wow, I'm really alone on this freeway... What am I doing here? Where am I going?""
He has found that life is full of similar questions, Mr. Margaris said. After 6 years working for Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan, he began to feel unfulfilled. In 1997, he left to try his hand at social work. After several month of working with troubled teens, he realized his career journey was far from over.
"I started seeing how the kids' lives were turning around," he said. "They were going back to school and pursuing their dreams. So then, I started asking myself, what were my dreams when I was a teenager?"
Mr. Margaris realized that he had buried a passion for art when he left high school, and he made the decision to return to painting. He moved to Laguna Beach, where he spent a year at Laguna College of Art and Design. Next, he rented a live/work space in the Pomona Arts Colony, where he now maintains a studio. He continued commuting to Laguna Beach to study under a private art instructor. It was during this commute that Mr. Margaris began taking digital photographs of freeways.
"They spoke to me," he said. "I didn't say, "My life is uncertain and my path as an artist is uncertain. What can represent that? Oh, I'll paint freeways.""
Mr. Margaris has learned to embrace his changing path through his freeway paintings as well as through Zen meditation. He hopes his work will help people take a closer look at their own lives.
"Limitless possibilities emerge when people allow themselves to enter a realm of uncertainty," Mr. Margaris said. His own journey from engineer to artist is testament to that. His paintings also offer a kinder view of humanity, he said.
"Freeways are dirty, congested, and polluted - there's graffiti on them," he said. "It's not easy to see the beauty of freeways because there are a lot of unpleasant things associated with them. But as I started seeing the beauty in the freeways, I started seeing it in myself and in other people."
The "Freeway Paintings: Form and Space" will be on exhibit through Saturday, January 18. There will be an artist's reception on Saturday, January 11 from 6 to 9 PM.
The Cuttress Gallery is located at 252-A S. Main St. in Pomona. Information: 868-2970.