N O T H I N G G O L D C A N S T A Y
Acrylic on Canvas 5′ x 4′
The Eastern Star Gallery at Archer exhibited the work of Brad Spence in an exhibition “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” featuring a selection of work from his series: “Of Age.”
“Brad Spence’s last exhibition at Shoshona Wayne Gallery, part of which is featured in the Eastern Star Gallery, really appealed to a younger generation of art enthusiasts. The subject matter is specific to the 1980s and 1990s, to adolescent aspirations and youthful attempts of navigating the world,” says Shoshona Blank: owner of the Shoshona Wayne Gallery.
The series explores a young man’s coming of age, using a visual vocabulary sampled rom the photography of glossy lifestyle magazines, burlesque, album covers and the electronic palette of MTV music videos.
These cultural sources defied entertainers for their glamour, status, wealth, power and personal freedom, creating a sense of distance and yearning in the viewer. Using these iconic graphic and design references, Spence explores the mystery he finds intrinsic in women, gazing upon them from a distance.
In “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” Spence’s technique has evolved from creating sterile, seamless perfection through airbrushing to a more tactile surface. Smudges and finger-painting techniques suggest the application of makeup to the skin and give this current collection an aura of more intimate contact.
“Brad’s paintings induce feelings that are reflective of our generation as well as the generation of our parents,” comments Ciel Torres, student Director of Media at the Eastern Star Gallery. “His work is provocative, adolescent and abstruse, and collectively, we thought very fitting to exhibit at our school’s gallery.”
Spence’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay” opened on December 5, 2013 and closed January 16, 2014.
To read about Spence’s numerous previous exhibitions and many accomplishments, click this link.
“Brad Spence’s last exhibition at Shoshona Wayne Gallery, part of which is featured in the Eastern Star Gallery, really appealed to a younger generation of art enthusiasts. The subject matter is specific to the 1980s and 1990s, to adolescent aspirations and youthful attempts of navigating the world,” says Shoshona Blank: owner of the Shoshona Wayne Gallery.
The series explores a young man’s coming of age, using a visual vocabulary sampled rom the photography of glossy lifestyle magazines, burlesque, album covers and the electronic palette of MTV music videos.
These cultural sources defied entertainers for their glamour, status, wealth, power and personal freedom, creating a sense of distance and yearning in the viewer. Using these iconic graphic and design references, Spence explores the mystery he finds intrinsic in women, gazing upon them from a distance.
In “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” Spence’s technique has evolved from creating sterile, seamless perfection through airbrushing to a more tactile surface. Smudges and finger-painting techniques suggest the application of makeup to the skin and give this current collection an aura of more intimate contact.
“Brad’s paintings induce feelings that are reflective of our generation as well as the generation of our parents,” comments Ciel Torres, student Director of Media at the Eastern Star Gallery. “His work is provocative, adolescent and abstruse, and collectively, we thought very fitting to exhibit at our school’s gallery.”
Spence’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay” opened on December 5, 2013 and closed January 16, 2014.
To read about Spence’s numerous previous exhibitions and many accomplishments, click this link.
