A symphony of colourful fragmented shapes converges in Jason Brinkerhoff’s two-part Untitled (2011). The work celebrates the defining motif of his oeuvre: the female nude. Taking on one of art history’s most time-honoured subjects, Brinkerhoff engages with the work of his forebears. In particular, the masklike features and provocativeposes of his figures recall the foreboding women of Pablo Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d’Avignon. The nudes, simultaneously figurative and abstract, are given an ageless vibrancythrough Brinkerhoff’s exploration of media ranging from paper collage to pastel, graphite, and pencil. Fittingly, this work was included in the Saatchi Gallery’s 2013 exhibition Paper, which was unified by a reflection on the role of paper in an increasingly virtual world. Brinkerhoff’s methodology encapsulates this spirit: as he describes it, his use of magazine remnants ‘is something like a dance with the drawings. I can pluck from any of the hundreds at a moment’s notice.’ Through his investigation into materiality and engagement with enduring art historical themes, Brinkerhoff creates an evocative work that is at once timeless and contemporary.
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