Brett Davis
Region: Northeast
Mine is an aesthetic of desperation. There is only a steady and unyielding state of contradiction in my working mindset; an emphatic grace. I feel a need to paint in such a way as to invoke the unease with which we live.
Painting is a device pregnant with contradiction. To paint is to partake in the perfectly systematic realization of the absurd. A painting is a relentless study with no promises, no ideals, and no answers. It is a religion for skeptics and critics.
And so I set out to create an earned, complicated ruthless aesthetic that prizes earnestness over intellectuality. In every moment everywhere there is a pitch-perfect ache. I want something seductive and demanding which approximates this condition. When I think of a meaningful piece of artwork I think of a blanket. A blanket is a sail. A blanket is a noose. A blanket is a burial shroud.
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