Deredemiux

2007 - Painting (Painting)

24 x 20 inches

Kadar Brock

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Kadar Brock creates dynamic abstract paintings that are born from a process of painting, scraping, priming, sanding, and painting again. Retaining a commitment to his established process, Brock layers paintings about personal memory, family history, and iconographies of New Age religion, alongside representations of masculinities found in the characters of American and Japanese comic books and film. The physical and emotional process of creation, often taking place over many years, enables a reverse archaeology of the self and renders a delicate balance between body, memory, and psychology. In Deredemiux each layer of the work is rendered completely, paying homage to the imagery it considers before it is deconstructed. The original image functions as a symbolic entity, only at times peeking through the final surface of the work by way of colour, shape, or shadow. In this sense, each painting is a memorial, full of ghostly referents. Yet, this assemblage is also an act of release, fusing multiple signifiers into one renewed object. The physical and emotional process of creation, often taking place over many years, enables a reverse archaeology of the self and renders a delicate balance between body, memory, and psychology. The titles of the work name the layers underneath, encouraging the viewer to take a slower, closer look.

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Kadar Brock makes large-scale abstract paintings via a rigorous process of layering, erasing, and reworking his surfaces; his highly textured canvases are variously discordant, exuberant, and topographical in nature. Brock’s process often involves painting, scraping, priming, sanding, and painting again. His finished compositions reward extended viewing: They become suggestive records of their own creation, evoking ideas of memory, ghosts, and artistic labor. Brock’s materials have included oil, acrylic, Flashe, spray paint, and house paint, and he reworks elements of graffiti and Abstract Expressionism in a distinctly contemporary way. He has also incorporated figurative components into his work, drawing on New Age religion and Eastern and Western characters found in comic books and films.

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Colors:

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• painting.n.01
• materiality.n.02
• body.n.01
• memory.n.01
• psychology.n.01
• american contemporary artists