Classic Art Gallery - Gesso Cocteau

Born in Los Angeles, California Gesso Cocteau was surrounded, from an early age, by writers, painters, sculptors and musicians. Gesso grew up in a sleepy beach town next to Venice California and was intrigued by artist and the creative life. At the age of twelve Gesso won a Rotary Scholarship for writing and illustrating a book of poetry, from that point on her mind was made up to become an artist. She always saw the poetics in everyday life and decided instead of conventional schooling she would hit the road with her best friend and go on a six year road trip, picking fruit, living in orchards and perfecting her drawing skills with hours of portrait and landscape sketching. The road was a perfect place to capture real people and honest landscapes.

Gesso then decided in her mid twenties to apply to a studio on the Big Island of Hawaii. The man who owned the studio had been a primary special effects technician and sculptor at Disney for many years and now ran an art studio designing high-end signs and sculptural designs. After being accepted to apprentice under Bill Hilbert Gesso began a seven-day a week regiment of learning design and sculpture elements. It was here that Gesso created her first sculpture.

Gesso moved back to Los Angeles in the early eighties and began showing in galleries in Los Angeles. Here she continued her studies of sculpture and painting at private studios where she worked as assistant sculptor on many projects around the Los Angeles area.

In her early thirties she moved to the desert of California to begin sculpting full time. During this time she was commissioned to do a monumental sculpture of a cast bronze dragon, which was commissioned by Don Brownstein for a castle, he was building in Los Angeles. To accompany the sculpture she also drew sixteen life size drawings of dragons and castle related themes.

Gesso was included in the prestigious Sculpture Garden at the Westin Mission Hills Resort and also invited to show in the First and Second Annual Sculpture Exhibit at the College of the Desert in Palm Desert California.

Her sculpting career catapulted her into a new realm when she was commissioned by Kemper Freeman Jr. to do the monumental fifty-two foot cast bronze sculpture, which was completed and installed in 2005 in Bellevue Washington.

Gesso was also commissioned by the Hard Rock Corporation to do numerous sculptures to be placed around the world in various Hard Rock Cafes. The most recent were three life size sculptured depicting musicians placed in Rome at the Hard Rock Café. Her work can be seen in Sweden, Berlin, Boston, and at the Headquarters for the Hard Rock in Orlando Florida. In 2009 Gesso was selected to do the prestigious international award for Hard Rock Corp. to give out to the Best Performing Hotels and Cafes around the world.

Gesso has worked on many life size sculptures, which can be seen on Hospital Grounds, Hotel Grounds, Private Homes and Gardens, Public Arts, Restaurants, and Galleries.

Gesso has had many solo and group shows and her work can now be seen throughout the world. She lives and works full time in Indian Wells California.