Gordon Massman (b. 1949) is a painter and poet. 

Massman works on impractically large canvases to capture equally large emotions, honing paint’s ability to communicate broader, vaguer ideas than language alone. Massman is inspired by Abstract Expressionism, confessional poetry and Beat Generation literature; all movements rooted in real-life experiences and characterized by spontaneous expression, candor, and immediacy. Many of his works are abstractions without identifiable subjects, while others depict religious histories, political situations, or mythologies ranging from Oedipus to modern-day superheroes.

Massman’s subjects, while usually psychologically distressed, are offset by a subtle sense of humor, either on the canvas itself or in witty titles. Parodying his own angst and that of the human race with poetic sincerity, Massman approaches his paintings as shameless confessions of the human psyche, unfolded in graphic, chaotic detail. “I paint like a Kodiak bear attacking fresh carrion,” he says. “I yell at the painting. I often talk to it, in a lewd and loud fashion. I curse at it. Occasionally, I throw a brush at it.” 

Massman studied literature and creative writing at the University of Texas-Austin and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. He taught writing and literature at The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams, MA, and is the published author of five poetry volumes, having composed thousands of poems in a span of forty-five years.

Massman has exhibited in the United States, and his work is in the collection of the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. He currently lives and works in Rockport, MA.