"Transcendence" David Briand @HCC Dale Mabry

Work by David Briand

David Briand calls his abstract-looking paintings "conceptual landscapes". There are organic forms and allusions to nature in this work. Briand uses mixed media such as wood, blueprint and paper to create the complex textures in these paintings. I saw no tags near the paintings, so I assume they are untitled.

Work by David Briand

Work by David Briand

The colors are dangerously decorative. Briand says he has been influenced by Van Gogh (and other impressionists) as well as William Turner. In the work on the left as in the one above, one finds arboreal forms, vine-like strands and other textures that emphasize a sense of organic connectedness, tangles commonly found in nature and conceptually in living things. These works vary in size. The one on the left is about 1.3 - 1.5 m. In this work as in many others in the show, there is a horizontal "ground" at the bottom, below the dramatic fields of texture above.

Throughout, Turner's influence, in terms of luminosity, exuberance and Romanticism can be seen. The reddish work on the left embodies these Turneresque qualities, with the rising forms in the center, passionate colors and lower band. It looks like a slide of muscle tissue.









Here are two close-ups from different works showing the detail of the textures and intensely rich colors. These close-ups also show the fractal nature of these abstractions.

In a few larger works, about two meters tall in this case, there are departures from the others, in the sense of the five panels at the top, and the subframe in the lower center of the picture. Note there's no textures in that frame. 
As someone who hikes regularly in the West coast of Florida, these forms have analogs to our physical landscapes as well as those in our minds.


Congratulations to artist David Briand, Gallery 221 Director Kathy Gibson, and HCC Dale Mabry for a good show.


Through July 26, 2012 on the HCC Dale Mabry Campus, on the 2nd floor of the library. 4001 West Tampa Bay Blvd. Summer hours are Monday through Thursday, 8 AM - 8 PM. Closed Fri and Sat.

--- Luis