Be prepared to be surprised by Brooks Anderson’s latest series of paintings, which is a marked departure from the varied styles of landscapes he has produced thus far. But talk to Anderson for a few minutes and this kind of “shake up” is not out of the ordinary for the artist—it’s the lifeblood of his creative practice. Look at his oeuvre, which ranges from loose, atmospheric works reminiscent of the Hudson River School painters, to precise renderings with elements of the surreal—and you’ll see he’s been experimenting and exploring all along.
Annunciation, oil on panel, 40 x 30"
For his current show, appropriately hung in Palm Desert, California, at Skidmore Contemporary Art, Anderson has made architecture his central subject—specifically the mid-century modern designs that have become synonymous with the Palm Springs area.
“The death of painting is stagnancy,” says Anderson. “New work has to spring out of discovery. One must keep it fresh and, by going into the uncomfortable and exploring, you’re visiting new realms…I had a hunger years ago to get into a portal and a different place with landscape painting. It’s coursing through all of my work right now. This isn’t Thomas Cole anymore…”
Aurora: Mid-Century Modern, oil on canvas, 36 x 72"
Still, the foundation of Anderson’s work is deeply informed by historic American art, especially the luminists of the mid-19th century, whose style was defined by their handling of the effects of light in the landscape. Anderson considers himself a contemporary luminist who carries on the tradition in a modern context.
He says, “It is the responsibility of the artist to push out the borders of the American art narrative, and this is what I am doing with this exhibition. Luminism, therefore, can’t be tied to a particular period, place, definition or style.”
And while the mid-century modern architecture in these new paintings is front and center, the splendor of the desert landscape is aglow with a crystal clear luminosity.
Morning Becomes Electra, oil on canvas, 36 x 48"
“The effect of light and clarity in the Coachella Valley is dramatically different from any other region,” he says. “With the ubiquitous backdrop of snow-capped, pine-ridged mountains, arid salmon-colored rocky hills and deep blue skies, one cannot help but be moved by this magical quality of light. Juxtapose with one of the greatest collections of an American architectural movement from the mid-1900s, and you have a marriage of shapes, geometry and clarity, and a rugged, sublime, magnificent landscape.”
In Annunciation, an agave cactus looms large in front of an angular home with a red door, and a palm tree towers over the house against a fading cerulean sky and craggy mountain ridge. Despite the pink Cadillac under the car port, the mountains in Morning Becomes Electra are the main attraction, lit up in the impossible purple and orange hues of a desert sunrise. Anderson’s mastery of light is on full display in Auroro-Mid-Century, in the play of shadows on the low-slung ranch whose double front doors do indeed beckon like a portal into another realm where the natural world reigns supreme.
Daybreak: Mid-Century Modern, oil on canvas, 36 x 48"
“Even landscape painters can address modern issues,” says Anderson. “There’s a lot of strife going on…In these chaotic times, I think I’m offering people a sense of place and the spirit of nature—but not like Bierstadt’s nature. You can still make fresh, new statements with landscape painting that might affect people in a stirring way. Stirring is what art is about, it always has been. You’ve got to stir the viewer and most importantly, stir yourself.”
Mid-Century Modern Luminism is on view through April 20. —
Skidmore Contemporary Art 73130 El Paseo, Suite K • Palm Desert, CA 92260 • (310) 922-5070 www.skidmorecontemporaryart.com
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