Brian Alfred
브라이언 알프레드
Information
The American artist Brian Alfred (b. 1974) is best known for paintings, collages and animations which examine the ways in which perception of our surroundings and culture is mediated by technology. His works present a flattened, depopulated and predominantly urban world derived from found images. His thematic concerns - including the signifiers of Modernist idealism and technological progress, conspiracy theories and the growing prevalence of surveillance in the post-9/11 world - have led him to focus on images featuring architecture, machinery, interiors and urban landscapes. However, he has also explored ways in which to recalibrate the cliched tropes of romanticism - a sunset, cherry blossom or a shooting star - for the twenty-first century. The world as depicted by Alfred is distanced, banal yet highly charged with possible meanings.
As Aaron Betsky has suggested: ‘In a world dominated by images that promise a great deal, delight the senses and scare the hell out of us. All art can do is to show the flatness of that promise, of those compositions, and of the world around us. And this is what Brian Alfred does. His world is flat. His surfaces are impenetrable.’ The mass media enacts the first flattening of both our perceived world and lived experience. Working from photographs, Alfred defines the essential forms present in an image with the aid of a computer - a process of reduction and abstraction as well as, perversely, focussing - before rendering the forms as carefully calibrated colour fields in animation or acrylic (it is worth noting that despite their formally precise sources Alfred’s collages and paintings have a very handmade and crafted tactility to them). Thus in the finished works the artist’s hand is at more than one remove. Presenting non-judgemental renderings of surface, of flatness, and of shape, Alfred leaves conclusions concerning paranoia or politics, the manifold meanings of his images, to the beholder. ‘His task,’ suggests Betsky, ‘as somebody who has dedicated himself to making and not just consuming images, is to use the logic by which our visual culture works, which is seduction mixed with blandness that allows the information to reach as wide an audience as possible, against the flatness itself.’
Alfred’s latest project represents a significant departure from his previous practice by placing the creative individual within society as the focus. Millions Now Living Will Never Die!!! maps the many and diverse creative influences that act upon the artist in the form of 333 portraits of musicians, artists, actors, writers and politicians. The project proposes that personal creativity can be understood as a potentially open and affective process, as the chain of influence extends from artist to artist, from generation to generation. The project thus provides a map or index of Alfred’s creative development, and could also be understood as a form of expanded self-portraiture.
Brian Alfred lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. He has exhibited widely internationally. Recent solo exhibitions include Studio La Citta, Verona (2009), Haunch of Venison, Berlin (2008), SCAI The Bathhouse, Tokyo (2007), Haunch of Venison, Zurich (2006), Haunch of Venison, London (2005) and Phoenix Art Museum (2004). He was recently included in group exhibitions at the Contemporary Art Centre Museum, Cincinnati, the Shizuoka Prefecture Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan (both 2008) the Guggenheim Museum, New York and the Palazzo delle Papesse, Sienna (both 2007). Alfred's work is included in many collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Guggenheim Museum, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Denver Art Museum, National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
브라이언 알프레드는 미국 메인주 쇼웨켄 웍샵 (미국 젊은 작가들의 주요한 등용문) 출신으로 뉴욕 브룩클린에 현재 거주 중이다. 그는 2003년 폴록 크레즈너 재단, 2006년 조안 미첼 재단 상(기금)을 수여 받았으며 뉴욕의 유수한 막스 프로테크, 메리 분 등의 화랑에서,그리고 영국의 하운치 오브 베니슨 갤러리(크리스티 소속)에서 개인전을 가진 바 있다. 알프레드는 다양한 매체에 걸쳐서 작업하고 있으며, 그는 우리가 일상적으로 접하는 인물상, 실내 풍경들을 그대로 재현하는 듯 하지만, 간략화하고 단면만 상적으로 접하는 인물상, 실내 풍경들을 그대로 재현하는 듯 하지만, 간략화하고 단면만을 제시하여 새롭게 보도록 유도한다. 이번 전시회에서 선보인 초상화들은 2008년 3월 독일의 베를린에서 열린 개인전에서 처음 소개된 것들이다. 현재 알프레드의 작품들은 뉴욕의 구겐하임 미술관, 휘트니 미술관, 샌프란시스코의 현대미술 미술관 등에서 소장 중 이다.
Profile
EDUCATION
1999 MFA, Yale University
Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
1997 BFA, Pennsylvania State University
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2011 ‘Rise Above’ Haunch of Venison, London
2010 ‘It’s Already The End Of The World’ Haunch of Venison, New York (catalog)
2009 ‘Majic Window’ Studio La Citta, Verona
2008 ‘Millions Now Living Will Never Die!!!’ Haunch of Venison, Berlin (catalog)
2007 ‘Global Warning,’ SCAI the Bathhouse, Tokyo, Japan
2006 ‘Surveillance,’ Haunch of Venison, Zurich (catalog)
‘Space is the Place!’, Mary Boone Gallery, New York
2005 ‘Paper and Pixels,’ Mary Boone Gallery, New York
‘Conspiracy?,’ Haunch of Venison, London (enhanced CD ROM catalog)
2004 ‘The Future is Now!,’ Phoenix Art Museum, Phoenix, AZ (enhanced CD
ROM catalog)
‘Overload,’ Max Protetch Gallery, New York
‘Fallout,’ Samek Art Gallery, Bucknell University, Lewisberg, PA
2003 Sandroni Rey Gallery, Los Angeles (enhanced CD ROM catalog)
2002 Max Protetch Gallery, New York (enhanced CD ROM catalog)
2000 Max Protetch Gallery, New York
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2011 ‘Videosphere: A New Generation”, Albright Knox Gallery, NY
‘Beyond’ SCAI the Bathhouse, Tokyo, Japan
‘Animations’ Big Screen Project, Big Screen Plaza, NY, NY
‘Printer’s Proof’, Bertrand Delacroix Gallery, NY, NY
2010 ‘12th International Cairo Bienniale’ Cairo, Egypt
‘Me, Undoubtedly. 1309 Faces’ Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany
‘Aichi Triennale’ Aichi Prefectural Museum of Art, Nagoya, Japan
‘The Big Screen Project’ Eventi Plaza HD Screen, NY, NY
‘Surface Tension’ South Bend Museum of Art, South Bend, IN
‘OneDotZero’ EMPAC Digital Art Center, Troy, NY
“New Art For A New Century: Contemporary Acquisitions 2000-2010″ Orange County Museum Of Art
2009 ‘Mercury Retrograde: Animated Realities’ Big Medium Gallery, Austin, Texas
2008 ‘Uncoordinated: Mapping Cartography in Contemporary Art.’ Contemporary Art, Center Museum, Cincinnati, Ohio
‘Ru Ru Ru Landscape: How I see the World Around Me’ Shizuoka Prefecture Museum of Art, Shizuoka, Japan
‘Teaching An Old Dog New Tricks’ @ Den Frie Udstillingsbygning, Copenhagen, Denmark
2007 ‘The Shapes of Space,’ Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
‘System Error: War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning,’ Palazzo delle Papesse, Sienna, Italy
‘Art Fair Tokyo.’ Tokyo, Japan
‘Art Film.’ Art Basel, Switzerland
2006 ‘The 59th Minute’, Times Square Panasonic Astrovision Screen, Creative Time, NYC
‘American Academy of Arts and Letters Invitational Exhibition,’ American
Academy of Arts and Letters, NYC
‘Radar : Selections from the Kent and Vicki Logan Collection’, Denver Art Museum
‘New Code’, Studio La Citta, Verona, Italy
‘Signal Channel : Contemporary Video Art’, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Omaha, NE
2005 ‘Produced at Eyebeam’, Eyebeam, NYC
‘Surface’, Lucas Schoormans Gallery, NYC
‘Art/+>2004 ‘Metropolis,’ The National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
‘Art and Architecture 1900-2000,’ Palazzo Ducale, Genoa, Italy
Sandroni Rey Gallery, Los Angeles
‘Trouble in Paradise,’ Van Brunt Gallery, New York
‘Happy Ending,’ Kingfisher Projects, Queens, NY
2003 ‘Toxic,’ Max Protetch Gallery, New York
‘Digital Showcase,’ Austin Museum of Digital Art
1999 ‘Group Show,’ Max Protetch Gallery, New York
‘MFA Thesis Exhibition,’ Yale School of Art Gallery, New Haven, CT
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2010 ‘Brian Alfred’ Michael Wilson, ARTFORUM, April 2010
Flavorwire, Daily Art Pick, Paul Laster, Feb 3, 2010
‘Brian Alfred:The End of the World’ Nowness, Jan 19, 2010
2008 Stephenson, Sarah ‘Brian Alfred: Millions Now Living Will Never Die!!!’
ArtKrush, Issue 80, March 19, 2008
‘Brian Alfred.’ ArtNews Magazine, June 2008.
2007 Cash, Stephanie ‘Report from Colorado.’ Art in America, Feb 2007.
Goto, Shigeo ‘Brian Alfred.’ Esquire Magazine Japan, June 2007.
Satterthwaite, Julian ‘Flat But Expressive.’ The Daily Yomiuru, April 7, 2007.
2006 Boucher, Brian ‘Brian Alfred at Mary Boone.’ Art in America, June/July 2006.
Vogel, Carol ‘Big and Bold.’ The New York Times, March 3, 2006.
2005 The New Yorker. ‘Brian Alfred.’ Goings On About Town, September 19, 2005.
Zinman, Greg. ‘Brian Alfred: Paper and Pixels.’ ArtKrush, Issue 15, September, 2005
Johnson, Ken. ‘Surface.’ The New York Times, June 24, 2005.
2004 The New Yorker. ‘Trouble in Paradise.’ June 28, 2004.
Johnson, Ken. ‘Brian Alfred.’ The New York Times, March 26, 2004, E37.
The New Yorker. ‘Brian Alfred.’ Goings On About Town, April 5, 2004.
The Village Voice. ‘Brian Alfred.’ Voice Choices, April 5, 2004.
Time Out New York. ‘Brian Alfred.’ Critic’s Picks, Time Out New York, April 5, 2004.
Alfred, Darrin. ’The Garden in the Machine: The Paintings of Brian Alfred.’ Loud Paper 4, no. 3 (2004).
Nilsen, Richard. ‘Artist Dissects Life.’ The Arizona Republic, November 21, 2004
Schepper, Ron. ‘Sounding Board: Brian Alfred.’ Grooves Magazine, July 2004.
2003 Tema Celeste. ‘Brian Alfred,’ September/October 2003.
Worman, Alex. ‘LA Confidential,’ Artnet Magazine, 2003.
Dwell Magazine. ‘The Art of Architecture,’ September 2003.
2002 Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting, New York: Phaidon Press, 2002.
ZingMagazine. ‘Why I Don’t Leave the House,’ Fall 2002.
XLR8R Magazine. ‘Surreal Sounds,’ 2002.
Casa Brutus (Japan). ‘NY Art,’ November 2002.
2001 Robinson, Walter. ‘Weekend Update.’ Artnet Magazine, 2001.
Afterhours (Tokyo). ‘Brian Alfred.’ 15 (2001): 50–55.
Harris, Jane. ‘Brian Alfred at Max Protetch.’ Art in America, December, 2001.
Humphrey, David. ‘New York E-Mail.’ Art Issues, Spring 2001.
Johnson, Ken. ‘Brian Alfred.’ The New York Times, March 9, 2001, E37.
AWARDS
2008 Penn State Alumni Achievement Award
2006 Joan Mitchell Foundation Award
American Academy of Arts and Letters Purchase Award
Penn State Alumni Award
2005 New York Foundation of the Arts Inspiration Award
2003 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant
1999 Phelps Berdan Memorial Award
Skowhegan Match Scholarship
1997 Edwin Zoller Scholarship
COLLECTIONS
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York
Whitney Museum of American Art, New York
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California
Denver Art Museum, Colorado
Albright-Knox Art Gallery, New York
Phoenix Museum of Art, Arizona
National Gallery of Victoria, Australia
Montclair Art Museum, New Jersey
Orange County Museum of Art, California