KELSEY BROOKES
CAPED CREATURES
November 19, 2010 to January 12, 2011
Kelsey Brookes is a former biochemist who lives by the beach of San Diego, California. He attributes his raw art style to an education system “that refuses to teach scientists to draw.” He abandoned biochemistry and science’s loss became art’s gain. The works potency arguably lies in the way its clash of ancient and ultra-modern references downplay sex and death, which are featured heavily in the work. Brookes describes his art as “an unrefined and, some would say, unskilled mix of sex, comedy and animals which is derived from a true passion for all three, except not necessarily all at the same time.”
Kelsey Brookes´ new works are loud, colorful and abstract. They are a psychedelic Noah’s Arc of half human, half animal chimeras he calls “Caped Creatures“. They remind us that we have not evolved as far from animals as we would like to think, as Brookes states: “We humans often like to think of ourselves as outside the animal kingdom, a step removed from all that fur and fury. By presenting the subjects as half human/half animal, they put us back in our rightful place amongst the animals, where we belong.“
The creatures become a framework from which the figures anatomy is experimented with. Parts of these chimeras are missing, exaggerated or abstracted beyond functional reality in an effort to relate to the viewer their intense character or predicaments. The “loosening” of the figure as well as the strong and unique interplay with abstract forms and text, increases the sense of awe and wonder found in Brookes´ signature style.
Brookes has been featured in numerous pop culture and design publications such as GQ, Modern Painters, Paper, Juxtapoz, Beautiful Decay, Dazed and Confused, Re:up and HUCK. The artist who is embraced by the California surf-scene has also teamed up with the likes of RVCA, VANS, and Insight 51 and furthermore worked for the band “Grand Ole Party”