American-Noir creator and artist, Gina Higgins, is a graduate of the University of Southern California Roski School of Fine Art. A native of New Orleans, she grew up off Mulholland Drive in the Hollywood Hills above Los Angeles. The daughter of a concert pianist/recording artist and award-winning photographer, her childhood was an eclectic blend of all-night recording sessions and unlimited access to artistic inspiration. At 17 she gratefully accepted an opportunity to travel abroad to study classical drawing and painting in Italy and France and credits the experience as having left an indelible mark on her style. Her avant-garde illustrations were soon sought after by such clients as Liz Claiborne, Etienne Aigner, Alexander McQueen, MGM and CBS Studios and Sunset Tower Hotel, among others.
In recent years, Gina has emerged as an accomplished figurative painter. In 2011, she created “American-Noir,” an homage to her life-long passion for Film Noir and French New Wave Film, capturing on canvas the more provocative elements of the filmmakers and photographers she admires. Her large scale “Lynchian” paintings are beguiling and emotionally charged, drawing the observer in, but infusing just enough mystery to leave the interpretations ambiguous.
Each piece is uniquely different, with the exception of the portrayal of strong female archetypes and the mysterious male shadows that appear in nearly all of her works. As a Chicago Tribune reviewer commented, “You will leave her exhibits no closer to figuring out the artist, who almost certainly will have changed course by her next exhibit, but perhaps that is the allure?”
