Hugh Shurley’s art radiates a deep, dark and moody vibe. Shadows of grey, black and sepia, with judiciously applied dabs of crimson, pink or midnight blue, are layered in ways that one could figuratively and literally attempt to peel back for hours to decipher how he made the work and what it means.
But the artist himself?
He shows up as a kinetic, bright life force, humming and peripatetic, much like his muses — moths drawn to his studio lights in the night or a bird that might want to settle in one of the birch nests he weaves by hand.
Richmond Open Studio
What: Richmond Open Studios
When: Aug. 8-9: Individual studio tours. Download a PDF map or use a Google map.
Through Aug. 15: See local artists’ work at the Made in Richmond show at the Richmond Art Center, 2540 Barrett Ave., from now until Aug. 15.
Aug. 15: Partner venue exhibits at the Richmond Art Center, NIAD and the Richmond Museum of History and Culture).
Aug. 15-16: Collective group exhibits at multiple locations.
You can witness this all yourself because Shurley is opening up the garage studio behind his 1914 Point Richmond home to the public for the first time, on Aug. 8 at 78 Montana St., from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. He’ll join dozens of other local artists participating in the Visual Artists of Richmond’s fourth annual Richmond Open Studios, held over two weekends. There’s also a Richmond Art Center preview that runs until Aug. 15. (Download a PDF map or a Google version to plan your self-guided studio tour.)
Artist turns his heart and mind inside out
Shurley’s work, which he says is all self-portraiture, is certainly an example of an artist turning his heart and mind inside out, but meeting him in his element adds more facets.
He flits about the studio with warmth and humor and an endless well of stories about his 66 years on the planet.
His mediums include photography, weaving and collage, but he also writes, so some of his works are accompanied by fantastical stories (a mysterious man writing with a moth’s wing!?) and poetry. He collects natural materials and objects he calls “covets” on walks around Richmond or San Francisco, or anywhere else, and squirrels them away in stacked black Depression-era deed boxes or the wooden drawers of a well-worn cabinet.
Then, when the occasion arises, it gets pulled out to become something, a process that might involve it being ripped, inked, glued or even buried in his back yard for months of distressing and weathering.
The final product ends up framed under plexiglass or in a shadow box. He only figures out its significance when it’s finished.
“If I start a piece, I never know where I’m going with it,” Shurley told Richmondside during a recent studio tour. “I always seem to find myself with my artwork.”
The collecting process and resulting work reflect his philosophy, for life and for art.
“We have all we need in abundance,” he said. “It takes creativity and imagination to take those pieces and build a life that’s brilliant and satisfying.”
Financial success didn’t equal satisfaction
His art career certainly took that trajectory. Happenstance after happenstance led to lucrative placements in galleries nationwide and prestigious jobs, but ultimately the tried and true story of financial success not necessarily yielding creative satisfaction proved true. Now he says he’s most happy just making art.
He recalls his youth fondly, describing his cowboy “Okie” father, Arthur Shurley, as a quintessential manly man who didn’t blink an eye when his then-closeted son tenderly held a bottle to a naked baby doll’s lips.
Visitors to Shurley’s studio will get to see his vision board, a tall glass case holding many things he “covets,” including a black-and-white photo of his Salvadoran mother Leyla Shurley daintily winding up a pitch in the yard of his childhood home in San Francisco’s Mission District.
“(My parents) supported me in a life with no limits,” Shurley said. His dad, 96, is still alive and living in Mountain View.
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“We have all we need in abundance. It takes creativity and imagination to take those pieces and build a life that’s brilliant and satisfying.”
— Artist Hugh Shurley
He particularly credits his mother, who died in 2018, for teaching him the beauty of pausing to truly look at things and appreciate them, a benefit, he said, of growing up poor.
The artist and his partner have lived in Point Richmond for 31 years. They moved here because it became logistically difficult to maintain a studio space in San Francisco.
While Shurley has taught art and held creative positions, notably as art director of the now-defunct Moda fashion magazine, he didn’t start to make his own until he was in his 30s, landing exhibitions at the John Pence Gallery, the Bolinas Museum and the Tampa Gallery of Photographic Arts. His work is also represented in the collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and public and private collections.
Ultimately Shurley sums up his purpose this way: “Make. Create. Hold. Covet. Share.”
“When you’re out in life every day something magical happens,” he said.
