Brian Fernandes-Halloran “NOT PAST: Old Toys and Lost Friends”
287 Spring Art Gallery & Performance Space
This event has ended.
Brian Fernandes-Halloran assembles and sculpts his memories from discarded objects and wax. He searches for materials, often passively, allowing them to catch his attention. In his studio they are transformed into objects carrying the markings and wear of expired purposes. The assemblages harness the collective memories and material qualities of these objects, diminishing the distinction between individuality and collectivity, happenstance and narrative, past and present.
The assemblages give tangible, current and workable form to the memories they contain. Fernandes-Halloran continually re-arranges and forms their comprising objects to foster elements of his memories that may have been dormant, subdued or not initially present during an experience. Broader narratives and personally significant occurrences, even those not experienced first-hand, can coexist in one memory. These relationships happen intuitively and often subconsciously throughout the object gathering and production of the works.
One of Brian’s strongest memories is seen from the back of a pick-up truck as it passes through a burning forest in Northern Mozambique. The experience, having taken place a decade ago, has been reconstructed as a full scale vehicle made from rusted metal, broken glass and weathered wood. In the memory, the artist sat face to face with a young boy in his mother’s lap. The mother and child now sit alone, fragile, facing outward. The piece relates more than a dramatic moment, shared in intimacy with strangers. Like all of Brian’s work, it carries the weight of a human connection that defies logic while commanding emotional investment, inviting the viewer to ponder over what feels both foreign and deeply familiar.
Like memories, the assemblages are never completed or static. Once they have left the studio, the intensive stage of their formation is complete but the artist will occasionally visit them to modify and contribute to their structure wherever they reside. Brian will relocate his studio to the 287 Spring Gallery for the duration of NOT PAST to contribute to his assemblages with objects found in the area surrounding the gallery. He will be in the space working on weekday evenings from 6 to 8 PM and visitors will be encouraged to engage with the artist and his process.
Brian Fernandes-Halloran is a Brooklyn-based artist, curator, and educator, who has previously worked in Boston, Sao Paolo (Brazil), Berlin (Germany), and Nhamatanda (Mozambique). For more information about the artist, please visit his website at www.brianfh.com.
Media
Schedule
from June 07, 2013 to June 29, 2013
Opening Reception on 2013-06-07 from 18:00 to 21:00