Roark Gourley

Roark Gourley is an American painter, sculptor, and mixed media artist in Laguna Beach, California noted for wall sculptures that depict humorous subject matter.

In 1992, the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History commissioned Spaghetti Meets Tomato in the Collision of the Continental Plates, a high relief map of the world with depictions of various foods making up the topography and borders of countries.

[2] Roark specializes in 2.5 dimensional wall sculptures made from wood, resin, and acrylic, often depicting humorous scenarios: pets that match sofas, an out of control executive with 4 arms, chefs cooking up a storm and other whimsical subject matter including, hearts, martinis, shoes, and coffee cups.

In the 1980s Roark created several 2.5 dimensional pieces for Warner Bros. depicting their characters in humorous scenarios, including his Daffy Executive and Golfer Taz.

He told Dawn Pettit of Orange Coast Magazine that his most favorite pieces are the two portraits of his wife that are displayed in his Laguna Beach home.

The exhibit is named for five "seeds": corn, potatoes, sugar, diseases and horses that through their roles in initiating changes 500 years ago shaped the course of human history in the Americas and altered the lives of people around the world.

[4] Spaghetti Meets Tomato was commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution to capture the biological and cultural impacts of the encounter between Old and New Worlds.

The result was a 10'x10'x5' high relief map of the world with depictions of various foods making up the topography and borders of countries.