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"Tarmac" by Brody Parker Burroughs
"I saw his work in one of my clients' houses, and I thought it was just great," says the owner of Borelli-Edwards Galleries in Lawrenceville. "What he does that's different from just being a fine painter is he depicts movement and narrative."
That show opened in mid-September. But the paintings were so well received -- she sold almost half of the two dozen works in the show -- that she decided to keep it on display till the end of January.
Stopping by the gallery recently, it was easy to see what all the fuss is about. Burrough's figurative oil paintings tell emotive narratives and pack in as much action as 2-D works allow. They ask viewers to consider what might occur next between strangers who come together only by chance.
For example: "Death on a Pale Horse," which is reminiscent of J.M.W. Turner's similarly titled work (1825-30), depicts a man moving through a subway, back exposed and transposed with a skeletal schematic. But more than that, the picture evokes a dramatic tension -- not only between the subjects depicted, as they seemingly move about the space the artist created, but between the painting and the viewer. You almost feel as though something is about to happen.
Burroughs creates paintings on a large scale so that the viewer can relate directly to the spaces created in the painting. Thus, the paintings feel heavy on the wall. Their solid stretchers are enclosed in white box frames, protruding from the wall just enough to breech the viewer's space with an imposing physical presence.
The most imposing is "Tarmac," which is notable not only for the fact that it is near life-size in its depiction of a young girl and her mother at New York's JFK Airport, but also that, different from any other work in the show, it is painted on a shaped canvas that calls to mind the distorted perspective of a camera lens. The image is portrayed as though tied, or pulled at the edges, for the purpose of including as much information as possible.
Here, again, Burroughs sets up dramatic tension -- this time by placing the figure of a man on the outside of the window, in shadow, as if walking onto the tarmac, yet oddly close to the window.
The surfaces are heavily worked and strokes are evident, but the viewer is quickly pulled into the painting's third dimension, through perspective, scale and atmosphere. Here, in the parallel world Burroughs has created, familiar gestures and environments engage the viewer. A subway station, a tarmac -- all are places we are familiar with, yet by suggesting a narrative, the artist draws in the imagination of the viewer.
"I paint images from life, my memory and my imagination," Burroughs writes in his statement, "composing not just an illusion, but the union of vision -- how I see -- with my sense and understanding of space, form, movement and even thought."
In his early 30s, Burroughs lives in Ithaca, N.Y., but travels frequently. A self-described "people watcher," he says watching strangers is very similar to looking at figurative painting; one must invent a context, construct a greater narrative from the few clues available.
"I want people to look into my work and engage their imagination, to examine and reflect upon the moments, relationships and worlds therein. If I can connect with the viewer in this way, perhaps there will be a few less strangers sharing the planet with me."
Lately, the people in Burroughs' paintings have been strangers in public settings. The situations depicted are sometimes mundane, at other times fantastic.
By far, the most fantastic is "After the Bout (Antman)." Here, Burroughs depicts an unusual boxer at the intersection of a busy city. What's unusual is not the circumstance but that the boxer's head is that of an ant, large and in relative proportion to the figure's body.
The painting functions on the level of a good fantasy film in that it allows the viewer to suspend belief, just for a moment, and be carried away in the world the artist created. This reviewer suggests starting with this work when visiting this wonderful, worthwhile exhibition.
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© Copyright 2008, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio
