Gus Van Sant

Gus Van Sant (born 1952 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an artist and filmmaker revered for his films including Mala Noche (1986), Drugstore Cowboy (1989), My Own Private Idaho (1991), Good Will Hunting (1997), Elephant (2003), Milk (2008), Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot (2018), Dead Man's Wire (2025).
Creative from a young age, Gus Van Sant moved to the East Coast after high school, where he received his BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 1975. Throughout his career as a filmmaker, Van Sant maintained a painting practice. His early group exhibitions include Unfinished at Gagosian, Los Angeles (2011) and Not Sure at Le Case d'Arte, Milan (2017). Further major exhibitions include the retrospective Icône at the Cinémathèque Française in 2016 and solo shows, Recent Paintings (Hollywood Boulevard) (2019) and Mona Lisa (2021), with Vito Schnabel Gallery in New York and St. Moritz, respectively.