Girón’s Art On Display At CHI Health Good Samaritan

CHI Health Good Samaritan welcomes Mike Girón to its Walkway Gallery. His abstract art with geometric interventions will be on display through July. 

Girón, who lives in Omaha, is a painter, graphic artist and educator who likes to find a balance between chaos and order, randomness and structure, uncontrolled process and design.  

“I like the idea of images that are “almost there” where subject matter is obscured or incidental, like cloud-form manageries. It comes out in the process, where I drag paint with tools, such as wedges, palette knives, rollers; lead the ink to water; cut paper with curiosity.  Something shows up in a wave and it’s either a keeper or a layer,” says Girón.

For more information or to purchase a piece, visit www.mikegiron.com.

The gallery at Good Samaritan has provided a respite to those walking the hospital’s halls since 2008.

More about the CHI Health Good Samaritan Walkway Gallery

The Walkway Gallery is a dedicated corridor connecting the main hospital to the West Tower at Good Samaritan. This gallery gives regional artists more than 200 feet of display space with lighting and security systems to professionally highlight their artistic works. It was developed as part of Good Samaritan's Planetree philosophy of patient-centered healing. The Art Steering Committee follows a competitive selection process using documented research criteria for art that supports healing in a hospital environment to choose the artists featured in the gallery. A new artist will display his or her works every four months. To submit art for consideration, please contact the Foundation at (308) 865-2700.

Artist Biography by Mike Girón

I was born in New Orleans, in 1970. My parents landed there from Cuba in '62.  I grew up with one foot in and one foot out of the local culture.  While I was a BFA student at the University of New Orleans  ('93), I was given the opportunity to paint Mardi Gras parade floats.  This, ultimately, led me to mural painting and Public Art, which has become a major portion of my production as an artist.  My studio work has undergone many changes since graduate school at the University of Colorado, Boulder (MFA '97). It has been featured in solo and many group exhibitions, especially here in Omaha, to where we moved in 2000. I have had the pleasure of contributing to the growth of many artists as a college professor, as well as in mentoring programs, screen-printing workshops and mural projects. As a gallery director, I had curated socially-conscious art exhibits. In the studio, my chosen media include acrylic and oil painting, ink on paper, traditional and digital printmaking, and design.

Artist Philosophy by Mike Girón

I like to find a balance between chaos and order, randomness and structure, uncontrolled process and design.  So, you could see a naturalistic painting of the painter painting in a red landscape littered with debris.  You might be looking at a literally burnt surface with geometric interventions in relief. You may find somewhat random, crude shapes and gridded lines joining in unrelated layers in silkscreen, ink drawing or paint.  That's mostly where I've been since 2013, working by open-ended process and revealing an incredible variety within basic parameters.  8x10 inches or 8x8 feet, it is a great joy to explore a universe without identifying a thing.

And, I like the idea of images that are "almost there", where subject matter is obscured or incidental, like cloud-form manageries.  It comes out in the process, where I drag paint with tools, such as wedges, palette knives, rollers; lead the ink to water; cut paper with curiosity.  Something shows up in a wave and it's either a keeper or a layer.  Some happen quickly and some revolve for months.

Meanwhile, I also paint murals and community projects, teach college art courses, do workshops... Each is its own world, and it's all Art in practice.   I feel fortunate to live as an artist and to have opportunities to share. 

I have been making Art since 1989.  I have painted for countless time, have mastered a great deal and there is always more to master. That, is Painting.  That is Art.

Aritst Statement by Mike Girón

I feel fortunate to live as an artist and have opportunities to share. I like the idea of images that are “almost there” where subject matter is obscured or incidental, like cloud-form manageries. It comes out in the process, where I drag paint with tools, such as wedges, palette knives, rollers; lead the ink to water; cut paper with curiosity.  Something shows up in a wave and it’s either a keeper or a layer. Some happen quickly and some revolve for months. 

I have been making Art since 1989. I have painted for countless time, have mastered a great deal and there is always more to master. That is painting. That is art.