Gill was born in Tahoka, Texas about 160 miles northwest of San Angelo, in 1934. After a tour of duty with the Marines, where he worked as an architectural draftsman, designing posters and building plans, he returned to San Angelo. At this time he took painting courses at what was then San Angelo College and went on to work for an architectural firm in Midland.

In 1959 Gill moved to Austin to study at The University of Texas before taking a position as an architectural designer in Odessa, where he started to paint seriously.

Gill moved to Los Angeles in the early ‘60s. Here he experienced a rapid ascent in the art world, getting his work into major collections such as New York’s museum of Modern Art and receiving commissions such as the cover of Time magazine in 1968.

Gill also was featured in the “Environment USA: 1957-67” exhibit in Sao Paulo, Brazil, alongside acclaimed artists such as Edward Hopper and Andy Warhol. Gill’s renown began to flourish during a time when artists were incorporating popular culture imagery in their work. His work is included in the realm of Pop Art, however, Gill’s art is said to “reflect qualities of a contemporary consciousness and a classical tradition”. 


Why a legendary Pop Art Icon disappeared for over 30 years!
It was winter, 1972. The sixties seemed like a distant memory. An incredible period of inspiration and exploration had given way to the decade of disco.

Rather than succumb to the onset of the “me” generation, a small, idealistic group of artists, poets and writers decided to take refuge in a commune (more of an artists’ colony, really).

After a considerable search, they settled in the tiny town of Whale Gulch, near a remote area on the California/Oregon border. 

Here they believed they could continue their various forms of expression without material trappings. The group included the Pop Art icon, James Gill.

“POP ART” Emerges
Throughout the fifties and sixties, a new school of artists emerged on the scene. They made “Pop Art” a household name. This group included Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist, Robert Rauschenberg, Claes Oldenburg and James Gill. 

Gill came to Los Angeles in the early ‘60s, where he kept company with beat generation writers such as Ken Kesey and Allen Ginsberg. Gill experienced a rapid ascent in the art world. Major museums such as New York’s Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum and the Smithsonian Institute all added works by James Gill to their collections.

In 1968 he was even commissioned to paint the cover of Time Magazine. Gill’s work was routinely exhibited alongside acclaimed artists such as Edward Hopper, Lichtenstein and Warhol. 

It was widely conceded among his contemporaries that Gill’s art reflected both qualities of a contemporary consciousness and a classical tradition. Then, at the peak of his popularity, James Gill went into a self-imposed exile!

Some say it was the drugs that were so rampant in the sixties. Others say it was a certain creative anguish that many artists endure. Whatever the case, James Gill, without word or warning, began living the life of a recluse in Whale Gulch.

In his absence…
The Pop Art movement flourished and grew. Over the decades that followed, James Gill became a legend - an icon - in the Pop Art world. His work is in the following collections:

• Museum of Modern Art, NY
• Whitney Museum of American Art, NY
• Berkley Art Museum, University of California, Berkley
• Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
• National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.
• Stanford University Center for Visual Arts, San Angelo Museum of Fine Arts, San Angelo, TX
• Santa Barbara Museum of Fine Art, Santa Barbara, CA
• The Art Institute of Chicago