Josh Brooks

Under The Big Blue Sky

2021

Artist's Statement: "I typically paint abstractly, but this is part of a recent series of paintings that is figurative and symbolic. They harken back to 80s neo-Expressionism - my favorite contemporary art movement. I tend not to beat collectors over the head with fatuous "meanings" of my work, but this one does have a subtext, a rather personal one. But you are welcome to read whatever you want into it." Comes framed in a professional high-profile float frame. “Lyman’s work evolves restlessly, with the common elements generally being deft and unusual color choices that balance assonance and dissonance, and vestiges of the hand and facture purposely left in the paintings. The negative space is often so meticulously worked that it’s almost as if the objects – usually simple shapes – are there as much to complement the background as vice versa. Despite the often bold colors there is an elegance about his paintings that prevents them from being either loud or decorative. " Artbeit Zeitschrift “His paintings are a refreshing departure from the current abstract art world’s seemingly endless parade of fields of color with scribbles providing form, a style that is easily mimicked and has become a sort of “safe,” accessible go-to. There are confident decisions in these paintings appearing as commitments of strongly delineated forms and unexpected collisions of color that give the work a visceral, confident and playful soul, increasingly missing from contemporary expressionist abstraction. They are the paintings of a real painter rather than a decorative artist.” ArtSeen, 2018 (from a collector): "Love your work. We collect colorists like Wolf Kahn and Jennifer Bartlett, whom I commissioned a piece from that is in the entrance of Mayo Clinic. We are old fans...

Gaza, a Provocative and haunting figurative work painted with warm golden and burgundy red hues. ‘Gaza’ takes its inspiration from images of women in turmoil that the artist has seen...