Tim Cantor Gallery

This is a truly special gallery worth visiting that appeals to new art followers with its thematic accessibility and to more seasoned critics for the beauty and meticulous detail of Tim Cantor’s work.
The art here makes you feel more like you’re in a museum versus a gallery because the oil paintings are surreal, existential and disturbing with many portraying painful images of human growth and psychology. Not the usual pleasant scenes of sailboats, beaches and other bourgeois topics you find in too many San Diego galleries. Tim’s work here is uncomfortable and challenging at times, but that is what good art does. Take a look at the massive painting «Nostalgia» here which portrays a woman reflecting on her dark past.
After first being exposed to Tim’s art in the Pacific SD Magazine cover feature earlier this year (timed for the release of the new imagine dragons album for which he did all the illustrations), I’ve been meaning to check out Tim’s gallery. I finally made it this weekend on my trip down from LA and although I only had time for a 15-​minute walkthrough I enjoyed it enough to want to return later to fully take my time to absorb the art and read Tim’s accompanying poetic writings presented adjacent to the paintings.
Loreen, who was staffing the gallery this Sunday, was incredibly friendly and helpful– not what I’m used to when I go to a gallery. She offered to have me set down my backpack and bags which I was carrying because I was traveling and about to hop on a train. Because I look 10 years younger than my age (and like a college kid when I’ve got a backpack strapped on) gallery managers usually don’t give me the time of day but that was not the case with her. She was welcoming to let me view the art, and I would recommend it to my friends as a result. I may not be able to afford a $ 3,000 painting at the moment but I’m sure some of my friends can. Plus many of the images are available in exhibition books ($ 20) and coffee table books ($ 75+) and glossy notecards ($ 3.50).
Most of you probably heard about Tim because you are an imagine dragons fan, so I’m happy to report that you can buy an exclusive 2015 Smoke and Mirrors CD set here that has the art Tim did for each of the songs. It’s not framed or in original painting form but it would make a great collectible. Loreen also told me that the gallery plans to hold a special event next year for his Smoke and Mirrors album work. I would love to see those original paintings.
San Diego is lucky to have such an intelligent and thoughtful art gallery, unexpectedly located in the vape of the tourist-​centric Gaslamp District.

Simply enchanting. We could have spent hours walking around in awe of his work. We were lucky enough to meet his delightful wife, Amy. So kind, so personable, a beautiful human being inside and out. She made our visit most enjoyable. We really appreciated the beauty of the art and the stories they spun in our minds. The way Tim paints colors makes the canvas seem to illuminate. If the paintings weren’t enough — lovely poems accompanied most of them giving you a double dose of art through picture and text. A true treat we experienced today. I’m very happy we stopped in. We took home the limited edition book and I can’t wait to savor every page.

One of my favorite places. I fell in love the first time I walked by and was hooked! A must see if you are in San Diego or date night. I feel blessed & honored to own The Hollows & and an original. Not one day goes by that I don’t look at these master pieces in my home, and they take my breath away every time.

Favorite art gallery in San Diego. Perfect location downtown as well. Very convenient to check out when going out. Tim and his wife Amy are wonderful people and the art is out of this world. Love the art gallery openings. So much fun!

There is a beautifully inspiring atmosphere in this gallery. .. the artwork is intriguing, sometimes whimsical and sometimes dark. The time, emotion and dedication that the talented artist puts into each of his paintings is amazing. The young lady who works there, Amy, is a sweetheart and will treat you like an old friend. Whenever I am down in San Diego, I try to stop by and see what’s new.

Tims work is amazing. The detail in these creations are absolutely phenominal. Each time you look at one of his pieces you will notice something different. Even if you do not think you are an art lover you will probably fall in love with one or more of his pieces of art. Definately worth a look while you visit San Diego.

The prices kinda made my head spin — $ 35,000?! — but it is really cool to go look at his pieces. And he named the gallery space after his wife — awe! :)

I am in LOVE with this place!!! It is heaven on earth. The magic of Tim Cantor’s art and warm and friendly atmosphere always make me come back. Every visit to the gallery gives me a genuine feeling of peace and happiness. It is a beautiful world out there!

I love this gallery. Tim Cantor is very talented. His subject matter is always interesting. His work is a bit on the darker side and I’m a big fan of how he incorporates birds and other animals into his paintings. My vocabulary and knowledge is very limited when it comes to art, but I would describe Tim Cantor’s work as pop surrealism. (I just googled it and apparently another term is «lowbrow»). Think Mark Ryden and Roq La Rue.

This is how I want to fall in love. One look you’re totally mesmerized and then another look you’re petrified, but you can’t turn away. You can’t look away. You just want more. It’s a dangerous love affair.
Tim Cantor’s paintings are beautiful, surreal, a little morbid, and vulnerable. His paintings tell a story, different and up for interpretation by those that admire them, but I guess only Mr. Cantor would know the real story behind it. I just love staring at his work. It makes me feel… ALIVE. I just might have to buy myself a Christmas gift this year. ;)

I love his art! I wish I could afford to buy it all. I did buy a card, though, so I have a small piece of him in my home now.
I appreciated that the lady working the desk did not pressure for a sale, but instead just let us enjoy the experience.

I was in town for a trade show walking the strip, and ventured in to this little nitch of a gallery. It has very cool art, some relatively strange and some one size fits all. The art style is unique and fun. Vibrant in color, and beautifully displayed. Framed well, and placed next to beautiful poems and stories behind the art.

Amazing artist

I love this gallery! Tim Cantor is so talented and his paintings are absolutely gorgeous. I would love to one day own one of his paintings, but until I can afford one, I will have to stick with the cards they sell there!
This is a small space, but it is definitely worth stopping in if you are out and about in Gaslamp. I have been in here twice and both times the people working have been very welcoming and informative.

Although I really enjoyed my humanities/​philosophy classes in college, I went to obtain an engineering degree — successfully so, thank God! I learned enough to get a very limited understanding of both.
Above all, I came to understand that an early evolutionary accomplishment of humans is the appreciation/​obsession of studying ideas and appreciation of the arts. This IMMEDIATELY followed the ability to master cultivation. Solve the ability to reliably eat and stay put, move on to art? Wow. How else do you interpret this behavior other than to see how it demonstrates that art is an ESSENTIAL component of what it means to be human.
Unfortunately, I have only pedestrian knowledge of it. Consequently, my enjoyment of art is limited to work that doesn’t require the viewer to «see» the artist interpretation without some help or background.
Fortunately, there is Tim Cantor. He treats you with a poem which flanks his picture. The poem is an inspiration for his artwork or vice-​versa. Either way, anyone can really enjoy this work.
I know he used to frequent the studio acting as though he was a curious prospective customer in the early 2000’s. Kinda cool that he still has reactions to how people respond to his work. Not sure if that is still happening.
I also suggest visiting sober (of course) but in varying states of lucidity/​coherence. WOW.
Id love to shell out for some of his work, but I cant justify that kind of scratch yet. Some day, Tim!
Peeps, if you are looking for an artist who is really too talented to have a studio in San Diego, look no further. BRILLIANT!

The Tim Cantor gallery is a fabulous place to enter, for this extraordinary artist’s vision takes you to another dimension via his imaginary works. The core of his art conjures Dali’s surrealist influence and deepens it into an idiosyncratic world of myths and metaphors. Do read each poem accompanying each piece; they are essentially meaningful and in perfect symbiosis with each art representation.