Martin Beck and Brandon C. Smith: The Present of Things Past
Brandon C Smith's Statement
Beginning as direct observations from life, these works pay homage to the truth but only fleetingly and uneven. Between concrete images, unsettling transitions into visual chaos, the resulting effect is simultaneously beautiful and grotesque.
These drawings have something to do with Frankenstein. When the monster stirs to life for the first time, the book says there is a “convulsive motion” in the limbs. Invoking something like a newborn animal scrambling clumsily and desperately to stand. Or arms reaching after long sleep with tingling weak fingers to pull one’s weight forward.
The limbs hang and dangle. Lines describe what is there and what isn’t. The carved dark shape of the back of the hand is solidly described against a field of smoky neutral pale light. The lines arc toward the lurching bodies to lift or impede the weight. Figures are composed of mismatched proportions, hewn at the joints with fragile red lines. Identity is obscured in thickets of opaque dark masses. In the vague expressive dust of soot and pigment emerge forms uneasy in their shape, ungainly and uncomfortable. They are dark and emotional,
sentimental even and sometimes wretched in their form.
These drawings have something to do with Frankenstein. When the monster stirs to life for the first time, the book says there is a “convulsive motion” in the limbs. Invoking something like a newborn animal scrambling clumsily and desperately to stand. Or arms reaching after long sleep with tingling weak fingers to pull one’s weight forward.
The limbs hang and dangle. Lines describe what is there and what isn’t. The carved dark shape of the back of the hand is solidly described against a field of smoky neutral pale light. The lines arc toward the lurching bodies to lift or impede the weight. Figures are composed of mismatched proportions, hewn at the joints with fragile red lines. Identity is obscured in thickets of opaque dark masses. In the vague expressive dust of soot and pigment emerge forms uneasy in their shape, ungainly and uncomfortable. They are dark and emotional,
sentimental even and sometimes wretched in their form.
Martin Beck's Statement
These mixed media works on paper are each the result of several life drawing sessions creating layers that contain palimpsets, ghost figures from previous drawings, that evoke half-forgotten dreams or alternate realities. Or, as the 4th-century philosopher, Augustine of Hippo wrote: “There are three times; a present of things past, a present of things present and a present of things
future.”
Capturing the immediacy of the model’s presence maintains a connection to an empirical reality at a time when media intrusion can be overwhelming. In this way, life drawing and painting is about the artist preserving an episode of human interaction. In presenting themselves to the world, the model collaborates in this process. The collaboration between model and artist now occurs at a troubling and turbulent time when fact, if not truth itself, is under siege.
By working from life, the model and artist reveal the truth of a specific time, place, and act. This cannot be faked; the finished work is a direct artifact of past activity. Rather than think of these as pictures of people, for me, these are authentic depictions of selective experiences. They stand for something real, timeless, and human.
The nude expresses the human condition because our bodies are road maps of our individual experience. To study another’s face and form is to understand their essential humanity, their frailty, and imperfection. When regarding anyone with the level of intensity, my kind of figurative work requires, you see their beauty and strength as well.
My art engages the viewer to confront the immediacy of the human condition. It reminds them of their humanity at a time when digital life threatens to consume us. My work has been described as having a quality of urgency. I appreciate that word as there is an urgent need to know and understand each other as technology creates more distance between us.
future.”
Capturing the immediacy of the model’s presence maintains a connection to an empirical reality at a time when media intrusion can be overwhelming. In this way, life drawing and painting is about the artist preserving an episode of human interaction. In presenting themselves to the world, the model collaborates in this process. The collaboration between model and artist now occurs at a troubling and turbulent time when fact, if not truth itself, is under siege.
By working from life, the model and artist reveal the truth of a specific time, place, and act. This cannot be faked; the finished work is a direct artifact of past activity. Rather than think of these as pictures of people, for me, these are authentic depictions of selective experiences. They stand for something real, timeless, and human.
The nude expresses the human condition because our bodies are road maps of our individual experience. To study another’s face and form is to understand their essential humanity, their frailty, and imperfection. When regarding anyone with the level of intensity, my kind of figurative work requires, you see their beauty and strength as well.
My art engages the viewer to confront the immediacy of the human condition. It reminds them of their humanity at a time when digital life threatens to consume us. My work has been described as having a quality of urgency. I appreciate that word as there is an urgent need to know and understand each other as technology creates more distance between us.
Gallery of Images
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All Lexington Art League programs are made possible through the generous support of LexArts. LexArts allocation of $50,000 represents the largest single donation to the operations of the Lexington Art League.
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The Kentucky Arts Council, a state arts agency, provides operating support to the Lexington Art League with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support provided by Lexington Parks & Recreation.
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