NAME: Gordon Fraser
BIRTH PLACE: Boston, MA
BIRTH DATE: 12.2.75
BIOGRAPHY
Gordon Fraser was born in Boston, MA in December 1975. Shortly after, his family moved to Stamford, CT and then later to Princeton, NJ. Early on he wanted to be an architect and studied mechanical drawing and architectural drafting. Gordon went on to attend Kenyon College in Ohio where he studied comparative religion and Asian Languages and Cultures.
In 1996 Gordon traveled to India, Nepal, and Tibet, living in the Tibetan exile communities in Dharamsala, Katmandu, and Sikkhim. In India he was introduced to the Tibetan traditions of Thangka and mural painting, visiting many temples and monasteries throughout the region, photographing the historic wall paintings, learning the iconography, documenting the ongoing restoration work, and meeting many artists practicing the traditional Tibetan painting techniques. Eventually Gordon studied Thangka painting with Tibetan artist Tashi Palden.
In 2000, Gordon moved to New York City where he engaged in a rigorous study of artistic anatomy with William Weltman and figure drawing with Minerva Durham. He attended the Pratt Institute drawing, painting and printmaking. Gordon is a member of the Art Students League New York and has studied with abstract painter Frank O'Cain, learning many of the 14th and 15th century techniques of egg tempera and egg oil emulsions. He has also studied with Paul Ching-Bor, focusing on contemporary approaches to water-based media. In addition, Gordon has studied Japanese calligraphy with Kaz Tanahashi.
Currently, Gordon lives and works in Jersey City, New Jersey. His works are exhibited in galleries in New York and New Jersey. He is part of an emerging group of international artists whose abstract works draw upon the global roots of painting, merging and fusing a diverse range of sources and traditions into an exciting contemporary abstract idiom.
