Scott

Great writeup written by Brandon Smith  in Modern Luxury Magazine. Here’s a link to the online version.

Surreal Sensation: Painter Scott G. Brooks

September 20, 2010

 

THE FOURTH DIMENSION: Painter Scott G. Brooks is a master of fantastic suggestion. From left: Rekindling conjures a dream world. We the People presents the comical inversion of a dream—part nightmare, part absurd hallucination.

Are you hallucinating, or is one DC artist’s work appearing in three lightning rod exhibitions right now?

After struggling to find an audience early in his career, 49-year-old Scott G. Brooks has been painting at a feverish pitch to prepare for three shows that will take him from his home in DC to Los Angeles and New York this October. “I just feel busy right now,” he says. “I’m having a good time.” Though one might not be so sure looking at the bizarre cast of characters in Brooks’ paintings, all coalescing like a snapshot from a strange dream.

The psychological dramas that play out in Brooks’ work are partly rooted in his childhood spent in the suburbs of Flint, Michigan, where he drew on sketch pads, paper bags—anything. He hunted and fished with his father who worked as a barber, while studying the detailed anatomy books his mother used in her job as a nurse.

“We grew up in a Catholic household so we went to church every Sunday. I think that was all pretty surreal,” he says. “My childhood was idyllic and all-American in one way, but I always was on the outside. That said, the underlying drama or narrative of my paintings is not necessarily about me.”

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the University of Michigan, Brooks moved to the DC area in 1990. He worked as an illustrator for children’s books and commercial projects while developing his own style. An early boost came from Artomatic, the giant volunteer-driven arts extravaganza that annually takes over an empty building in an up-and-coming neighborhood.

For his part, the artist recently moved into a new condo on Florida Ave., NW, where he takes photos of burlesque performers and friends to use as models for his paintings. Their kitsch costumes and improvised poses inspire his painterly figures of voluptuous women and sculpted men who resemble classical Greek ideals. But he tweaks their realistic images with eyes cast too far apart or slung below massive foreheads. The surreal result is both fascinating and unsettling.

Brooks’ DC solo show, We the People, opens at Long View Gallery on October 28 with paintings that explore political and religious themes including a comment on the dangers of blind faith. The show’s star features a nude messianic snake handler bathed in a cosmic glow surrounded by freakish admirers. “It’s about distortion,” Brooks says. “It’s about what is preventing us from seeing what is really going on.”

For his inaugural opening in L.A., Brooks painted his interpretation of the Judgment tarot card for the Lowbrow Tarot Project, which opens October 1 at the La Luz de Jesus Gallery. He also will be in a group show called The 13th Hour opening over the Halloween weekend at the edgy surrealist gallery Last Rites in New York. “I want my work to be challenging,” he says. “I don’t want to just create pretty pictures. There are enough people doing that.”

Big thanks to the guys at Metro Weekly for featuring “We the People” in their Fall Arts Preview this past week. You can get the full listing here.

Fantastic lineup of artists for a great cause…

Grand Central Arts Forum, the support group for Grand Central Art Center (GCAC) revitalizes the hit exhibition, ‘100 Artists See Satan’, a survey of contemporary artists and their interpretation of the supreme demon. Unlike the original exhibition, this iteration of the collection will be presented as a fundraiser, with works available for sale to the public. All proceeds will benefit future GCAC programs and exhibitions.

Public Reception July 3rd, 7-10pm.

Exhibit open through June 26th through August 15, 2010.

http://www.gcacfundraiser.com

“Who’s Next”
oil on canvas
12″ x 16″

Countdown to Yuri’s Night is this Saturday, April 10th. They sold out last year, and tickets are selling quick. Go to outofthisworldparty.com for tickets and more information!

From the press release (download PDF)

Countdown to Yuri’s Night, an out of this world art extravaganza that combines visual art, performance, and music to commemorate the first human space flight, is back for a third year.
Saturday, April 10,
8 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Capitol Skyline Hotel (10 “i” Street, SW)
Tickets are $30 in advance ($35 at the door).
Visit www.outofthisworldparty.com for tickets, artist links, and event announcements.
Returning this year are Trixie Little and The Evil Hate Monkey, an award‐winning acrobatic superduo who dance, flip, fight, and strip for the opposing forces of good and evil. Their adventures have taken them all across the United States, and now they are charting a course to conquer the galaxy. Miss Saturn, a New York‐based staple of vaudeville and comedy with her 40 orbit rings (hula hoops), is also making an encore appearance. Hosted by Southern Hemisphere, the show’s emcee best known for her work as Card Girl in The Lobsterboy Revue, the Cosmonaughty Variety Show also includes:
• L’il Dutch, DC’s salty sweet burlesque star and host of The Dutch Oven;
• Eva Brontosaurus, a musical comedy trio that’s one part drag queen and two parts real women who like to do drag;
• Dr. Swami YoMahmi, Ph.D., a regular traveler in the D.C. sideshow universe, ably assisted by his lab assistant Booger; and Demivolt, a Washington‐based post‐punk/rock/surf band that will provide the musical backdrop for the show.

In an “Astro‐Pop” art exhibition organized by artists Scott G. Brooks and Jared Davis, approximately 20 visual artists will exhibit work that celebrates, reflects, and imagines space, from hard‐core science to the lowbrow culture.

Confirmed artists include: Chris Bishop, Stephen Blickenstaff, Scott G Brooks, Chris Chen, Jared Davis, Alan Defibaugh, Dana Ellyn, Elstabo, Gregory Ferrand, Todd Gardner, Linas Garsys, Sherill Anne Gross, Jeannette L. Herrera, Emily Greene Liddle, Bill Remington, Dave Savage, Matt Sesow, Steve Strawn, and Andrew Wodzianski. The exhibition is online now at www.outofthisworldparty.com

The night’s festivities also include a lunar dance party with Chief Boogie Officer DJ P.Vo and special guest DJs, Stoli‐sponsored drink specials, a reduced‐gravity chamber (moonbounce), celestial costume contests, and a final frontier photo booth. Countdown to Yuri’s Night is an artistic spin on a high‐science holiday. On April 12, 1961, Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin embarked on the historic first manned space flight. Every year around April 12, Yuri’s Night parties are held all around the world; it’s like St. Patrick’s Day or Cinco de Mayo for space. For art, please contact Deb Fiscella / Center Stage Marketing at
DFMPR@aol.com.

Countdown to Yuri’s Night  – on YouTube…

Countdown to Yuri’s Night in Wired! Wired ran a great writeup and featured many of the artists showing this year. They wrote:

…The show brings together Pop-Surrealism, Post-Pop and Lowbrow stylists who “frequently and freely embrace the imagery of science fiction and mid-century tropes,” according to Countdown lead organizer Jared Davis. “Countdown to Yuri’s Night is an excellent excuse to feature their more sci-fi inspired work.

“Whether it’s Scott Brooks’ nightmare vision of a future where Cupie-doll robots battle for Thorazine, Steve Strawn’s photo journalism from the great robot wars or Sherill Anne Gross’ green pinup girls, they all create a vision of the future of humankind in space. Whether it’s an accurate prediction is beside the point — what matters is that they are having the conversation and leaving room for any one of a million possible futures.”

I’ll be exhibiting “Battle for Thorazine.” Go here to see the rest of the art. Get in touch with me or DFMPR@aol.com if you’re interested in purchasing any of the art.

Finally, here’s the postcard designed by Alan Defibaugh!