Big as Life
John Pugh, master of illusion on a grand scale
by Lisa Kirk
John Pugh's trompe l'oeil murals are so lifelike they
cause mishaps and confusion for the unsuspecting. In 1981, after
the completion of his first major project, the mural on Taylor Hall
on the CSU, Chico campus, several fender benders occurred because
motorists were distracted by what looks like a gaping hole in the
building. At a café in San Jose, California, that features a Pugh
mural, a customer complained he had received the "silent treatment"
when he tried to introduce himself to a pretty woman reading a book.
The woman was a painted illusion in Pugh's mural.
Pugh (B.A., Art, '83) wants to clear up a common misconception
about his art, one that is understandable when you see his painted
illusion of a glass of wine, for example, perched on a "granite
ledge," casting a small gray shadow, the burgundy liquid seemingly
trembling in the tumbler. Art patrons at the show where this painting
was displayed spilled their wine trying to set their own goblets
on the "ledge." Because his art is so realistic, people often think
it is photorealism, which Pugh says it is not.
"I'm not projecting a photo up on the wall and painting it," he
explains. "What I do is a little different than that -- a little
more original." An understatement, to be sure, from this easygoing
artist whose stunning murals grace buildings across the country
and have been noted in Time magazine.
Pugh's trompe l'oeil murals -- a French phrase meaning
"to fool the eye" and pronounced "tromp loy" -- are masterpieces
of illusion that begin with research, idea development, and sketches.
"Then I take a very accurate slide of the sketch and project the
sketch onto the wall," says Pugh. "That's how I get a rough outline
of the 'cartoon,' and then I make adjustments because usually when
you get it up there that big you see some perspective flaws."
Then the magic begins. Colors and shadows create the mind-boggling
illusion of depth that makes us reach for the wineglass or talk
to the woman who is eerily "alive."
An artist's vision
As an undergraduate at CSU, Chico, Pugh says, he had the good
fortune to be a student of art professor Steve Wilson, now retired.
"Steve taught me a lot," acknowledges Pugh. "He was kind of a walking
encyclopedia of information." It was Wilson who encouraged Pugh's
idea to paint a mural on Taylor Hall.
"I kept eyeing that particular wall …," he reminisces. "It has
a northeastern exposure with little sun, a smooth surface, and it
is perpendicular to traffic -- better for a perspective illusion.
Plus, it is the downtown entrance to the university with a lot of
pedestrian traffic."
Pugh's idea for the mural was inspired by a dream he had in which
he witnessed the wall "breaking open." He also considered what people
passing that corner might imagine was inside Taylor Hall. "I liked
the idea of visually excavating the building to expose a particular
imagined vision," he says. "The modern educational façade is broken
away to reveal the ancient Greek academe -- the essence of our
educational system."
The mural on Taylor Hall marked the debut of Pugh's signature
style: exclusively illusionary painting.
Beyond pretty
What is it about trompe l'oeil that people find so appealing?
Inherent in every trompe l'oeil piece is the delight viewers
feel when they realize they are seeing an illusion. "Everyone likes
being tricked," says Pugh, "and people kind of bond with a piece,
so it's a great language for public art." Pugh believes it is a
language that anyone can understand, even those not knowledgeable
about art.
"Trompe l'oeil presents the opportunity to convey sophisticated
concepts, fine arts concepts," he says. "It's a great way for people
to be invited into the concept part of the piece that maybe the
average viewer wouldn't normally wander into."
Pugh is passionate in his defense of trompe l'oeil being
used as a fine art form. While he considers light, color, and perspective
intrinsic to the craft, it is context that Pugh says lifts trompe
l'oeil into the realms of fine art. Something must be said
besides the illusion, Pugh believes, a value beyond mystery or mere
decoration.
Pugh's mural Woman in Cafe (in a Los Gatos, California,
cafe) is an homage to the Manet painting Le Bar aux Folies-Bergere.
"I tweaked [the painting] by superimposing a contemporary woman
in front of the woman who is normally in the painting," says Pugh,
"so it's shifting time within the piece and playing off a classic
piece," a technique artists have used for centuries.
Different aspects of a mural's location, including architectural
style, elements, and period, play an important part in Pugh's approach.
He also responds to the surrounding culture and heritage. In Merced,
California, Pugh is creating a mural that illustrates the city's
rich and colorful history through the use of symbols and architectural
shapes. The Merced River meanders through the mural, flowing from
the Yosemite Valley, past the foothills, through an old mill, and
finally, past proud field workers in the orchards and crops of the
Central Valley.
Valley of the Heart's Delight at the Berryessa Community
Center in San Jose is another of Pugh's works-in-progress. This
project includes tile mosaics -- illusions of tile mosaics, of course
-- of sweeping agricultural scenes, as well as subtle, almost hidden
images of the area's first food gatherers, the Ohlone. This fall,
Pugh begins a large project at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation
in Palo Alto, California. He will also paint a mural at a health
center in Sarasota, Florida, this year, and is beginning research
for a mural he will paint in a school in Anchorage, Alaska.
While he says he "might be able to squeeze in a little mural,"
Pugh is booked until 2004, proof that his trompe l'oeil masterpieces
speak a language we know and love.
Pugh lives near San Jose with his wife, Wendy, a physical therapist.
He has a studio in the Santa Cruz mountains where several apprentices
and associates work with him. To see more of Pugh's art, log on
to his Web site at artofjohnpugh.com.
About the author
Lisa Kirk (B.A., English, '86) works in the Public Affairs and
Publications Office at CSU, Chico.
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