by donald dusinberre imartsyfartsy@gmail.com
WHAT: Brittni Woods solo art show
WHERE: Jane Gray Gallery
WHEN: Now - December 3rd
Picture this: It’s 1975 and the veteran salesman at a small appliance store, wearing his best hound’s-tooth sport coat, tells a new employee that “good products sell themselves.” It’s a cheesy and overblown example, but its lesson is an appropriate (and rather awkward) parallel to Brittni Wood’s artwork. My point does not refer to the sale of her artwork as a product, but to its obvious quality.
Cross PolliNATION is the title of Brittni’s first solo show, featuring approximately sixty of her newest mixed media paintings. The most fascinating aspect of Wood’s art is undoubtedly her honesty. Each of her works oozes it, and it’s clear she has the ability to project her opinion of the present and the future without denying the past. Her work is flush with earnest expression, allowing the viewer to relax, knowing that the artist isn’t trying- and doesn’t need to- pitch her ideas.
Many artists, be they visual artists, musicians, or writers, fervently attempt to portray a constructed reality as opposed to the one they’ve naturally accumulated. Doing so creates two critical flaws in their body of work. First, this tactic enhances a strong sense of inauthenticity to the discerning eye, while the casual viewer is usually left wanting. These artists believe they can simply nullify the impact of undesirable influences through denial.
Secondly, these artists feel an undue need to prophesy, whether it’s to enlighten the commoners or just to inflate their own ego. Either way, the artistic result is a sickly example. By denying the influence of the past and present, an artist undercuts his/her impetus for creating art in the first place. It is akin to randomly banging on a piano and claiming to have discovered a new form of musical pleasure.
Brittni Wood lays bare her influences and uses them to describe her outlook. There is no artistic process more complete. That’s not to say she’s the only artist to employ such an airtight process, but she does have a unique way of using discernable symbols and words with abstract expressionism.
On her website, brittniwood.com, Wood describes her work: “Heavily influenced by social issues of today, with an emphasis on ideas of religion, sexuality, and gender roles, my work is forced into a slue of contradictions. This battle of introspection and outward directness defines my most recent body of work.”
Most of her paintings have a signal, a key element that sets the tone and leads the rest of the elements. For example, she utilizes old swatches of cloth given to her by her grandmother. As a result, those paintings seem to exude confidence and security. She inserts phrases into some paintings that pique the viewer’s curiosity and launch the imagination into action, trying to link the words with the shapes and processes displayed on the canvas.
My favorite key images are the horseshoe shapes present in many of her works. At first, I thought they were a symbol of unluckiness, as they are all oriented with the open end down. As I eventually discovered, the shapes are actually halos culled from early Christian art, and I immediately wondered if I was drawn to the halo or the fact that it lacked a figure to fill itself. Acknowledging religious influence is sooooo uncool to those artists I just mentioned.
Visit the Jane Gray Gallery from now until December 3rd to experience the delightful paintings of Brittni Wood. To learn more about Brittni and her work, check out brittniwood.com. To find out more about the Jane Gray Gallery, visit their website at janegraygallery.com.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
