Josh Brand

Evincing an aesthetic of performative immediacy and tabletop dexterity, this trajectory of Brand's output is multifarious, allusive, and playful: A modernist grid is conjured by a red-on-ecru pattern, yet any rigidity is canceled by a translucent glow; a contour of light ripples through perfora...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Artforum international 2009-06, Vol.47 (10), p.316-319
Main Author: Meade, Fionn
Format: Magazinearticle
Language:English
Subjects:
Brand, Josh
Brands
Criticism and interpretation
Digital photography
Optical illusions
Photography
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Evincing an aesthetic of performative immediacy and tabletop dexterity, this trajectory of Brand's output is multifarious, allusive, and playful: A modernist grid is conjured by a red-on-ecru pattern, yet any rigidity is canceled by a translucent glow; a contour of light ripples through perforated paper in blind mimicry of an aleatorie Hans Arp collage; a simple two-step exposure outlines a pastel purple and blue pattern of the kind of architectonic shape one might find in a Josef Albers color test; four slash marks cleave the monochromatic black of an exposed sheet of photo paper in apparent homage to Lucio Fontana, avowing the gestural mark-making at the foundation of Brand's practice; and a dumb pear shape wryly invokes figure and ground with economy and ease. Ultimately implying a sequence of motion like that of a flicker film, the two images are separated by the blind spot of a black print to form a triptych, thus inserting the structural pause of an overexposed mistake or "distraction" from the printing process - recalling the interval between film frames and offering an abstract sequence that amplifies the direct-animation techniques of Hans Richter, Viking Eggeling, and Harry Smith.
ISSN:1086-7058