Gene Guynn was born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, and from a very young age was immersed in the world of art. With a painter for a mother and a musician for a father, his world was always one of creativity and expression. He began painting in college courses during high school, and in fall of 2004, began his BFA at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California. Gene takes inspiration from the thriving urban, outsider, and lowbrow art culture of SF, LA, and NYC, and combines it with a fine art sophistication.

See more of Gene’s artwork here..

“Las Cicatrices Viejas” or “The Old Scars” is a conceptual series whose defining singularity is the “scar” or “wound” that we all bear on our shoulders. This scar is not an actual physical wound at all, but a representational symbol, symbolizing our past experiences, memories, emotions, and in essence, our souls. They are not solely representational of traumatic memories, nor of pain, but of all things that make us who we are and define our existence.

All the figures in the series have a common anonymity, as their eyes are hidden, missing, or dark. Our eyes are the story of our lives and the window into our souls. Without them shown, we are defined by our scars alone, the only thing wresting us free of perpetual anonymity.