Brandon Grace

Artist Statement

There is an undeniable feeling that I cannot shake, and so I create paintings to explain this overwhelming malaise of existential dread. My work explores the trope of the Femme Fatale image to present themes that plague humanity in the twenty-first century, and I also hope to express the fatalistic feelings that many people of my generation share about climate change, the enviable technocracy, consumerism, and the arrogance and excess of society. I want to present a narrative allegory, while also calling attention to the surface of paint; a surface both rich and superficial, translucent and opaque, filled with color, and void of color. In doing so I hope to create paintings that are visually seductive, using irresistible, alluring images that kiss and bite causing wounds that scar as reminders of our collective folly.

Biography

I am contemporary figure painter, I primarily work in the medium of oil paint. I was born and raised in Western New York, and currently reside in the rust belt city of Buffalo, New York. I discovered my passion for painting, at the age of seven. I was fascinated with the sunflowers of Van Gogh, those paintings planted the seed of a blooming passion. I would eventually begin my education of the tradition of oil, from a local artist named Joan Saba in my adolescence years. In my early adulthood, I set off to acquire a BFA in painting. I started that journey at Pratt MWP, I spent a full year at that university learning the fundamentals of the visual language. Dissatisfied and filled with naivety, I would then attend a semester at SUNY Fredonia learning old master techniques of grisaille, chiaroscuro, human anatomy and controlling the limited pallet. A man with a troubled mind, I left to do what John Muir did, I headed out west. I spent several months collecting myself in Yellowstone National Park. In my return to Buffalo, I decided to return to my education of painting at SUNY Buffalo State College to complete my BFA in painting. Where I learned the nuances of color, composition and the use of narrative from Professor Joseph A. Miller and Professor Lin Xi Jiang. I am published artist and have been in several regional group shows. I am an emerging artist with a world of ambition.

Exhibition History (CV)