Recovery: painting with the pandemic 2020-2022
July 22, 2022
CNN Interview London & Singapore
GB in Studio Interview with VSA
GB in Studio Interview with Foxesden
GB at Jade Buddha Temple Shanghai
The creative process of the Art of Mindfulness
PAINTINGS ON CANVAS
The Olympic Agora 2021: Synthesizing Sport and Art
“For half my life, I trained my body and competed in sports. The other half, I traveled and created paintings. Through sports, I stay strong. Through art, I unearth beauty. Sports and art help me to swim upstream. For the Tokyo 2020 Games, I am super pleased that 6 of my artworks found their place on the starting blocks in the center of Tokyo for all to share.”
-Gregory Burns
Gregory slipped into the fabric of Asia in 1984, concluding a cloistered life painting the beauty and banality of the California Dream. Setting sail towards Taiwan and a deeper sense of purpose, he carved name seals out of stone while studying Chinese brush painting and calligraphy with local masters. Wandering from mountain peaks and temple ruins to underwater canyons while swimming with manta rays, Gregory has painted in over 60 countries. Through traveling and casting a wide net, Gregory pulls in a diverse collection of colors, cultures and imagery with which he expresses the power of the human spirit. His paintings and colors remind us that, though often challenged by adversity, “everything is going to be okay”.
Besides capturing gold medals in swimming during three Paralympic Games, Gregory won the prestigious 2016 Sports Artist of the Year Award and was chosen by the Olympic Cultural Foundation to exhibit during the Tokyo Summer Olympics. He has had retrospectives in a dozen countries including the J.F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Today Museum in Beijing, China and the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial in Taipei, Taiwan. He holds a BA in Communication Studies and a Master of Fine Arts. Gregory has published three books in English and Mandarin and has been interviewed by CNN, BBC, CNBC, ESPN, CNA, CCTV and in the AWSJ, Time Magazine and The China Daily.
Collections: Japan Olympic Museum, Tokyo, Mingei International Museum, USA, Deutsche Bank, Hong Kong, BHP Billiton, Australia, Rias Museum of Art, Japan, Bill Clinton, USA, Mrs Mikaela Cojuangco Jaworski, member of the IOC.
Many of the original paintings in the Painting Gallery below are available for purchase while all paintings are available as fine art Giclee prints, lovingly hand embellished by the artist. All of this and Digital Portraits are available on request. Please get in touch.
“Gregory Burns splashes his paintings with magic-so generously- it doesn’t seem to cross his mind he might ever run out. No need to save the fairy dust for a rainy day.”
-Olga Ferreras-Anderson LC, MTCP
Painting GALLERY
DIGITAL PAINTINGS
Always reinventing himself, Gregory felt that experimenting with digital media would offer him a more contemporary approach to painting. Embracing a stylus and an IPad, he embarked on a new journey of discovery. Combining his old and current sketches, paintings, photos, fodder and prose he began collaging together imagery and messages with pixels instead of paint. Like the excitement that comes with discovering a new muse, he found a fresh dynamic energy flowing though his art. This new media seamlessly combines the past and present into imagery that excites and pleases him. Welcome to Gregory’s digital paintings.
Digital Print GALLERY
COMMISSIONED DIGITAL
PORTRAITS
Commission Gregory to create a meaningful and memorable artwork of your special people and life events. Combining his sketches and paintings with your photos and prose, Gregory collages together imagery and messages into a unique portrait.
COMMISSIONED
PAINTINGS
Numerous companies, hotels, institutions and individuals around the world have commissioned Gregory to create unique, site-specific mixed media paintings for offices, resorts and homes.
Maldives Residency
Featuring Gregory and Angie’s Artist in Residency at the One & Only Resort in the Maldives diving, painting and photographing the world above and below the sea. 
Tokyo Residency
Featuring Gregory and Angie’s Artist in Residency at the Tokyo Shangri-La Hotel with painting journeys around town and a CSR Art program making art with children displaced by the Fukushima earthquake.
Bali Residency
Featuring Gregory and Angie’s Artist in Residency at Alila Soori where the couple is immersed in the verdant landscape and rich culture of Bali.
Schoolhouse Residency
Featuring Gregory and Angie’s Artist in Residency at the legendary Schoolhouse Resort below the Great Wall of China, deep in the fabric of China.Artist in Residence
For centuries, Artist-in-residence programs have existed to invite artists, writers and other creative people for a time and space away from their usual environment and obligations. Residencies provide an environment of reflection, research, production and immersion into a new culture. Since 1999, Gregory has been the celebrated Artist-in-Residence at over 40 venues globally during which he has honed his art in exotic locations and connected with hundreds of people in local communities. Share in his journey.
