Last year, I met up with San Diego native Fredo Gillis at his first solo art show, “One Way Ticket.” Back then, he described his work as intimate, sexy and timeless. This year, he still resonates with the latter two, but the word “intimate” has changed to “electric. This is due to his residency in France, where his art took a new trajectory. In this interview, I caught up with him before his second show, titled “Under the Umbrellas.”
It’s been a year since I saw you last. Tell me what you’ve been up to.
Gillis: I completed an art residency in the south of France. It was an amazing chapter in my artistic career. I basically was living in a fairy tale in a tiny little town in the south of France.
What about your time there changed your approach to art?
Gillis: I really grew a lot closer to my practice, and it's becoming a lot more intentional, which I love so much, and the color scheme has changed entirely since that era. I'm really influenced by one of my favorite towns out there, called Aix-en-Provence. Every color of the buildings is like pastel colors.
So how do your influences from that time show up in your new exhibition, “Under the Umbrellas”?
Gillis: I feel like with this chapter, this latest exhibition. “Under the Umbrellas,” I feel like striped umbrellas are just a symbol of leisureliness. And I feel like they just represent quiet luxury. So, I really wanted to dive deeper into having a recurring (motif), like a lot of other artists do. So, it's been kind of fun to trademark striped umbrellas as my own, basically.
So how did it feel when you came back home to San Diego?
Gillis: I feel like I had peaked when I was in France, like, I very much was on cloud nine on my own, like, in a foreign country. It was a dream, so when I came back, it was like an adjustment, and I had to kind of adjust to my reality.
How did you get out of that rut?
Gillis: It wasn't until I started really going to different community events, different workshops and art shows in the community that I started to paint again, but for a while I was kind of just like stuck, you know, I wasn't creating anything. (It was) very unlike me because I'm someone who produces constantly.
I've also noticed your emphasis on people of color being in these spaces. What does that mean to you?
Gillis: I feel like these so-called ideal spaces have always represented a certain archetype, and it might not have been within the widest lens of humans. So, my whole goal with making this collection, and really with my art in general, is to reinterpret these so-called exclusive and beautiful spaces, just with a little bit of a wider lens, so people like myself can envision themselves.
I know outside of the residency you've also completed multiple art shows, and you are even working as an art dealer, which are some big milestones. What is something you are still struggling with?
Gillis: So, I would just say overcoming impostor syndrome, and I'm kind of in an era where I'm kind of just faking it until I make it, you know, like I wait for a gallery to pick up your art when you could just throw your own show or find your own collectors and everything. So, I would just say comparison has been something I've been fighting.
What are some misconceptions about being an artist that you've had to unlearn yourself?
Gillis: A lot of artists, I feel like, are afraid to put themselves out there and actually treat it as a business, but as an artist, you have to treat it as a business because you're an entrepreneur. And you have your family to feed, and you need to put food on the table. You can't really just treat it like a hobby.
Is there anything you are particularly excited about for this show?
Gillis: It's really gotten to a point where I have my own vision and a recipe for all of these works, and I'm completely original. Like, all of these are 100% original, which is what I love because I do admire recreations, and every artist kind of starts off recreating different things. But it's one thing to have something that is uniquely your own.
Is there anything you're looking forward to in this next year?
Gillis: I really want to get into my master’s program. I'm trying this body of work as a kind of ticket to getting my MFA, my master’s in fine arts. So I'm using all of these to kind of provide a different opportunity.
Do you have any advice for emerging artists like yourself?
Gillis: Keep creating. It doesn't matter where you're at in your career, just keep coming up with something, and the vision will fall into place as long as the repetition and consistency are there.
Gillis will showcase his new body of work in “Under the Umbrellas” this Sunday, Sept. 27, at San Diego Made Factory.
