(New Orleans, LA) JONATHAN FERRARA GALLERY is pleased to present Back and forth, coming from behind, the third solo exhibition of Miami-based, Venezuelan artist Starsky Brines. Unveiling six new canvases and five works on paper, the artist’s compositions reflect a discernible shift as the narratives within appear more complex. The artist continues to employ his characteristic, anthropomorphized figures positioned within whimsical scenery – however, the viewer will now discover more interaction and entanglement between the figures, as well as the interplay with the landscape.

Brines expounds on the purpose of the exhibition . . .

During the making of this body of pieces, I rediscovered a need of harmonizing two aspects of the composition: the background and scene. These works show a new facet of my pictorial growth. I came up with works that depict fresher backgrounds thanks to a brighter palette of colors that I necessarily applied to common atmospheres and scenes that make it clearer for the spectator to understand the pictorial coherence. Experimentally speaking, I navigated in almost new waters, being seduced by the desire of painting a character first before setting it into an atmosphere that had to be as fresh as possible to challenge myself to keep it as simple as possible. It helped me appreciate the challenge of the simplicity, pictorially speaking. 

Starsky Brines’ paintings and drawings captivate audiences with their distinctive style and recurring theme, the search for the nature of humanity. In his bold works, the artist focuses on characters that are built from a combination of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic features, as well as the appropriation of elements from comics and toys from his childhood.

On the one hand, these characters distort reality to venture into an environment of subcultures and urbanism created by the spontaneous intuition of his strokes and the appropriation of the contemporary iconography. On the other hand, they move within the realm of fantasy. In particular, the animals paired with their human characters evoke associations with fairy tales or comics. They are reminiscent of the world of theatre, in which fantasy and poetry but also comedy often serve as catalysts for the creation of critical meaning.

With his works, Brines often questions the interplay of good and evil against the background of the worldwide socio-political climate. Yet Brines does not interpret his themes as ‘black and white.’ They are complex and nonlinear, with charming disruptions, quite serious and yet full of humor.

Brines is personally influenced by his mother and art historically influenced by Latin American figurative art, the German Neoexpressionism, the Italian Transavantgarde, and the COBRA group. His works oscillate between figuration and abstraction. Brines holds a degree in Fine Art from the Instituto Universitario de Estudios Superiores de Artes Plásticas Armando Reverón in Caracas.

His work has received international attention in exhibitions and has been incorporated into important collections in cities such as Basel, Buenos Aires, Bogota, Caracas, Miami, Madrid, New York, Santander, and Seoul.

The exhibition will be on view from 1 June through 15 July 2023 with an opening reception on Saturday 3 June coinciding with the Arts District of New Orleans’ (ADNO) monthly First Saturday Gallery Openings from 5 – 9 PM.

For more information, press or sales inquiries please contact Gallery Director Matthew Weldon Showman at 504.343.6827 or matthew@jonathanferraragallery.com. Please join the conversation with JFG on Facebook (@JonathanFerraraGallery), Twitter (@JFerraraGallery), and Instagram (@JonathanFerraraGallery) via the hashtags: #StarskyBrines, #JonathanFerraraGallery, and #ArtsDistrictNewOrleans.