ArtPrize September 19 - October 7, 2012 | Grand Rapids, MI
Have an account?
Sign In
ArtPrize
Avatar
Artist information
James Brown
Rockford, MI
Education
Other
YouTubeFlickrFacebookTumblrTwitterUstreamSCVNGR
In Reflection
In Reflection
Click image to view a larger version

James Brown

Artist bio

As a visual artist James has worked with a variety of mediums including oil on canvas, pastel on paper and wood, metal sculpture, and metal and canvas sculpture. As a profession he is a college professor, a blues/rockabilly musician (bass), and a violinist in the Kent Philharmonia Orchestra.

He has displayed his work at Mercury Head Gallery in Grand Rapids, the Faculty Art Exibitions at Montcalm Community College, and was a participating artist in in ArtPrize 2009 with the work "Blues in the nite (my momma done tole me)". This work is currently privately owned and is installed in Los Angeles. He displayed the piece "Man with Kufiyah" at the Waters Building in the 2010 ArtPrize competition.
About the work
Title: In Reflection

Art form: 2-D

Medium: Resined Oil on canvas

Year created: 2010

Description of work: This piece seeks to reveal the mystery of our own reflections. How we can lose ourselves in blind devotion even with our eyes wide open. Yet we find at the same time the beauty and vulnerability of simply being human. From a distance it appears beautiful. From an angle and when approached closely the many imperfections are revealed. As we begin to know another person we may either accept who they really are with their imperfections or choose to pretend they are the false image we project at a distance.

The piece is oil on canvas and has different layers of resin. The final effect is an imperfect landscape created by adjusting the canvas as the resin cures and also using a propane torch to create additional textures. Human characteristics such as small freckles when observed very closely are found to be tiny elements of nature attracted by a small light in the early evening at the surface and between resin layers.

Height: 3 feet
Width: 4 feet
James Brown is showing at:

Waters Building Waters Building
161 Ottawa Ave. NW
Suite 104
Grand Rapids, MI 49503

Venue location

Click to view larger map