Exhibition Review: Salt Lake City
Light Reflected
Brandon Cook's metal work at Finch Lane Gallery
by Shawn Rossiter
Take a closer look. These paintings aren’t on canvas. Or linen, panels or boards. These luminous, poetically evocative works by Brandon Cook, which fill Finch Lane Gallery with a sense of hushed wonder, have been painted on sheets of metal.
With his exhibit Aeonic, a term that suggests an immeasurable or indefinitely long period of time, Cook premieres his newest body of work executed, oils on aluminum. The Ogden artist says these works are part of his continued experimentation with the painting process, something that has been so important to his work it at times eclipses the subject matter. It’s also a result of the tonalist masters that inspire his contemporary landscapes. “Nineteenth-century photography has always indirectly influenced my artwork," he says. "The idea of the ferrotype (tintype) began to work its way into my creative thought process—an emulsion over iron.” What, he thought, about the transparencies of oil paint on a similarly reflective surface? “Painting on copper has been used by artists for centuries but its color would undermine what it is I wanted to achieve—light being reflected through transparent/semi-transparent paint layers.”
So Cook tried painting on aluminum, beginning with small sheets, feeling his way through the process and the new surface. “I stuck with what was familiar to me as I began to experiment with the metal,” he says. “Some subjects were revisited to gain an understanding of how painting on the metal differed from traditional processes and effects. As I increase in this knowledge I am finding that I am using it as a springboard into different realms of painting and I am excited to see how already my way of looking at my subject is changing.”
On a surface level, Cook’s works are landscapes — trees, fields, moody skies. But they are not windows to be gazed into, not majestic tourist scenes or charming snapshots from travels. The compositions are minimal: a single tree, or a line of trees, might stand in the middle of the canvas, above a reflective pool of water. Rather than pulling the gaze in, the works emanate outwards, making them spiritual or meditative experiences rather than traditional landscapes, celebrations of nature or scientific attempts to capture the look of changing weather.
Cook’s effects are subtle, the accumulation of numerous strokes, scrapes and smears. “Physically, working on the metal is more difficult as it takes more 'elbow grease' to build textures in order to soften and warm what is otherwise a very cold-looking material. The benefit, though, is that every mark is felt, seen and recorded. It would be easy for something of this nature to appear like a gimmick and so it has always been my intention for the end result to appear as any other traditional oil painting. I think this forces me into becoming an even better painter and I feel like I have just seen the tip of the iceberg as to where this may lead.”
Brandon Cook's Aeonic is on exhibit at Finch Lane Gallery through November 21. Cook will give gallery talks at 7 pm during the October 17th and November 21 Gallery Strolls.
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15 Bytes: About Us
Our editorial contributors
The content you see in this magazine is provided by a fluid group of volunteers whose ability with the pen or camera is matched by their curiosity and enthusiasm for Utah's art world. 15 Bytes is an open community forum. If you are interested in writing an article, or providing images for our magazine contact editor Shawn Rossiter at editor@artistsofutah.org
Krystal K. Baker, B.A., M.Ed., is a Language Arts teacher at Payson High School, and freelance writer. Her work has appeared in The Salt Lake Tribune, The Ogden Standard Examiner, The Daily Herald, City Weekly, BYU Magazine, Seeing the Everyday, and the Kolob Canyon Review. |
Jared Christensen grew up in North Ogden, Utah and finally moved to Salt Lake at the age of 18 to go to school. He graduated from Westminster College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in photography. He continues to explore his art and exhibit locally, and currently works for 15 Bytes and for Tanner Frames in Salt Lake City. |
Ehren Clark studied art history at both the University of Utah and the
University of Reading in the UK. He is now a professional writer. |
Samuel Hanson's formative dance training was with Hilary Carrier and at Tanner Dance. His recent work has been seen at the New Media Wing, the Rose Wagner Center, the Mudson Performance series, in Montana, California, Tennessee, Florida, Mexico and New York. He’s recently performed in the work of Yvonne Meier. |
Larry Menlove is a graduate of the University of Utah. His fiction has appeared in many venues including Weber Studies, Dialogue, Irreantum and Sunstone. He lives with his wife, children and an old cat in Spring Lake. |
Lynn K. Kilpatrick first collection of short stories, In the House, was published by FC2. Her fiction has recently appeared in Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, and Hotel Amerika. Her essays have been published in Creative Nonfiction, Ninth Letter, and Brevity. She earned her PhD in Fiction from the University of Utah and an MA in Poetry from Western Washington University. She teaches at Salt Lake Community College. |
Ann Poore is a freelance writer and editor who spent most of her career at The Salt Lake Tribune. She also worked for Salt Lake City Weekly and has written for such publications as Utah Business Magazine and Salt Lake Magazine. |
Shawn Rossiter, a native of Boston, was raised on the East Coast. He has degrees in English, French and Italian Literature. A professional artist and writer, he founded Artists of Utah in 2001 and is editor of its magazine, 15 Bytes. |
Michael Sowder writes poetry and essays that explore themes of wilderness, fatherhood, Buddhism, and spirituality. His poetry books include House Under the Moon and The Empty Boat, both from Truman. His nonfiction appears frequently in the Buddhist magazine, Shambhala Sun. A professor of English at Utah State University, in Logan, he lives at the foot of the Bear River Mountains with his wife, the writer Jennifer Sinor, and their two sons. |
Geoff Wichert has degrees in critical writing and creative nonfiction. He writes about art to settle the arguments going on in his head. |
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