Shows & Awards

My work has received recognition from American Illustration, 3x3 Magazine, the Society of Illustrators (NYC), the Society of Publication Designers, Print, Art-Competition.net, the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles, Artavita and Applied Arts. My paintings have been displayed in many galleries including the Museum of American Illustration (NYC), Gallery-Henoch (NYC), the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum (Washington D.C.), Gallery 110 (Seattle WA), The Studio Door (San Diego CA), David Anthony Fine Art (Taos NM), Arte Ponte Gallery (NYC), Whatcom Museum (Bellingham WA), Gallery 25N (Online gallery), POP Gallery (Santa Fe NM), Greg Moon Art (Taos NM), Contreras Gallery (Tucson AZ), Tubac Center of the Arts (Tubac AZ), Meadows Gallery (University of Texas at Tyler), Axis Gallery (Sacramento CA), The Center for Contemporary Political Art (Washington DC), Blackboard Gallery (Camarillo CA) and was part of the Museum of American Illustration 2000-2001 Traveling Exhibition (40 selected works).

Upcoming, Current & Recent Shows

  • "64 ARTS 2019" (national juried show)

    Buchanan Center for the Arts
    64 Public Square
    Monmouth IL 61462
    Oct. 22 - Dec. 13, 2019, Tue - Fri, 10am - 5pm & Sat, 10am - 2pm
    Opening: Oct. 25th, 5 - 7pm                                         
     
     

  • "White Rabbit" (national juried show)

    Dab Art @ H Gallery
    1793 E. Main St.
    Ventura CA 93001
    Oct. 19 - Dec. 8, 2019, Wed - Sat, 1 - 5pm                                                        
    Opening: Oct. 19th, 6 - 8pm
     

  • "Thirtieth International Juried Exhibition, Part 2"

    Viridian Artists, Inc.
    548 West 28th St.
    New York, NY 10001
    Nov. 12 - Dec. 7, 2019, Tue - Sat, 12 - 6pm                                                        
    Opening: Nov. 14th, 8pm
     

  • "Just the FACs, Ma'am: Fitzsimmons Aagaard Carlson"

    Contreras Gallery
    110 East 6th St.
    Tucson AZ 85705
    Sept. 7 - 28, 2019, Wed - Sat, 10am - 3:30pm                                                        
    Opening: Sept. 7th, 6 - 9pm
     

  • "View Point 51, 2019" (national juried show)

    Cincinnati Art Club/Art Design Consultants Gallery
    310 Culvert St., 5th floor
    Cincinnati OH 45202
    Aug. 30 - Sept. 20, 2019, Mon - Fri, 9am - 5pm                                                        
    Opening: Aug. 30th, 6 - 9pm
     

  • "The Next Big Thing 2019" (national juried show)

    Blackboard Gallery/Studio Channel Islands
    2222 E. Ventura Blvd.
    Camarillo, CA 93010
    Jun. 1 - Jul. 20, 2019
    Tue - Fri, 11am - 5pm & Sat, 11am - 3pm
    Opening: June 1st, 4 - 7pm                      

  • "Bellingham National 2019 Juried Art Exhibition & Awards"

    Whatcom Museum (Lightcatcher Bldg.)
    250 Flora St.
    Bellingham WA
    Feb. 2 - May 19, 2019
    Wed - Sun, 12 - 5pm

  • "Brownsville Museum of Art 47th International Art Show"

    Brownsville Museum of Art
    660 E. Ringgold Street
    Brownsville, TX 78520
    Mar. 27 - Apr. 27, 2019
    Tue, Thu, Fri: 10am - 4pm, Wed: 10am - 8pm, Sat: 9am - 4pm                       

  • "Defining the Art of Change in the Age of Trump" (national juried show)

    Center for Contemporary Political Art - Mather Studio
    916 G Street NW, 2nd floor
    Washington DC 20001
    Sept. 30 - Nov. 14, 2018
    Wed - Sun, 12 - 6pm

Recent Awards

This is a 47 percenters' view of the turmoil and unrelenting spin coming from the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.

  • “Spin Cycle” along with "Giant On Holiday", "God According to Voltaire" & "Blinded by Delight Redux" received the following recognition:

    3rd Prize Winner (Premium Artist 4 Page Presentation in "International Contemporary Masters" Vol. 13, Oct. 2019) - "Artavita 32nd Contest" @ www.artavita.com (selected 3rd from 4,185 entries)

This painting warns of the dangers of blind love. Whether it manifests itself via unprotected sex, obsession, infidelity, etc., there is often an unhappy ending.

  • “Blinded by Delight Redux” received the following recognition:

    1) 1st Place Award - "The Next Big Thing 2019" at the Blackboard Gallery/Studio Channel Islands (Camarillo CA)..... juried by Mat Gleason

    2) American Illustration "AI38 Selected Winner" (selected to appear in the 2019 American Illustration 38 Annual - 386 images selected from over 7,000 submissions)

    3) 2nd Place Winner of  "Mind Spirit Emotion 2018" international fine art online juried competition - "Art-Competiton.net" @ www.art-competition.net

Gary Aagaard

  • “She's a Concept, More or Less” received the following recognition:

     1st Place Award (Oil painting category) - The Lincoln Gallery 2019 National Fine Arts Show (Loveland CO)

Swamp Shell Game - Original & giclee available

  • “Swamp Shell Game” received the following recognition:

     Honorable Mention (Gallery) - 3x3 Pro Show No. 16 Competition

This painting is an update of my 20 year old painting, Ma Nature: This Time It’s Personal. This revisited version examines Mother Nature's reaction to years of environmental neglect and in particular, the probable results of the current Pruitt-led EPA's oversight, or lack thereof. Remnants of Trump donors lie in the rubble.

  • “Ma Nature Revisited” received the following recognition:

    1) 1st Prize Winner (front cover of "Current Masters" Vol. 4, 2019) - "Artavita 30th Contest" @ www.artavita.com (selected 1st from 3,764 entries)

    2) Merit Award (Gallery) -  3x3 Pro Show No. 15 Competition                                      

    3) Winner (Gallery) - Applied Arts 2018 Photography & Illustration Awards         

    4) Certificate of Merit (Unpublished) - Illustrators 60 (Society of Illustrators)    

    5) Silver Award (Gallery) - Illustration West 56 (Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles)

In the classic movie Being There, many of the pundits, talk show hosts, advisors, etc. thought the sheltered Chauncey Gardiner was a financial genius based on his gardening tips. This painting addresses the belief of many pundits (think FOX), talk show hosts (Limbaugh, Ingraham, Hannity, etc.), advisors (don't get me started) and Trumpites that Jared Kushner’s limited real estate experience makes Jared qualified to bring peace to the Middle East, solve the opioid crisis, initiate criminal justice reform and tackle a litany of other problems. With respect to expectations versus actual ability, I think Jared Kushner is our present-day Chauncey Gardiner minus the innocence (with apologies to Chauncey, of course).

  • “Being Jare (w/apologies to Chauncey Gardiner)” received the following recognition:

    1) Merit Award (Unpublished) - 3x3 Pro Show No.15 competition

    2) Winner (Unpublished) - Applied Arts 2018 Photography & Illustration Awards

    3) Shortlist (Unpublished) - Communication Arts 2018 Illustration Competition

Gary Aagaard

  • “Trumpcula: Old Habits Die Hard” received the following recognition:

    "The Christopher E. Burke Fine Art Grant" winner of "RED 2018" international fine art online juried competition - Gallery 25N online gallery @ www.gallery25n.com