Recent Press Articles & Reviews

August 25, 2010

Arts & Entertainment Guide: More than a pretty picture

Bryce Hudson experiments with ‘Presentation’

Growing up, Bryce Hudson’s identity was questioned on a regular basis. The summer sun would flush his hair of any darkness while his skin took a golden brown tone. Even now in his adult life, he finds people attempt to place him in categories where he doesn’t belong.

The questions he’s faced in his lifetime, coupled with his own uncertainties of self-image, have inspired much of his work. His fascination to broaden his artistic scope, coupled with his raw talent, makes up his newest exhibit, “Presentation,” now showing at the Green Building Gallery.

“I am of a mixed-race background, and to the common, suburban, upper-middle class white kid, I looked different,” Hudson says. “Was I black? They didn’t know … it’s been like that my entire life.”

“Presentation” features art from three series, including the “Beauties” series where he explores an interest in images of the individual. He used the people featured in Jet magazine’s “Beauties of the Week” category and digitally imposed his face on the bodies.

His exploration into his own racial heritage inspired the works for the “Kentucky Gentleman” series. Working with a makeup artist at Actors Theatre, Hudson masterfully dissected his own identity through disguise. His transformation into nine different races fed commonly understood stereotypes while posing questions about perceptions of self and others.

“I wanted to be black, and I wanted to be white,” Hudson says. “I wanted to be Chinese, Japanese … whatever. I wanted to be Native American. I wanted to be a funny person of Latino dissent I called ‘Miami Bryce.’ I wanted to be that Mexican painter that would come in and do that painting job. I wanted to be Jewish.”

In his “Holding Pattern” series, he uses headshots of women in their mid 20s and 30s and superimposes decorative patterns on their faces, exposing the ideas of symmetry and femininity. Each pattern enhances the face in its own unique way, bringing the beauty of the women out in new ways.

Whereas other artists might manipulate such subject matter for shock value, Hudson doesn’t look for any specific reaction. An appreciation for diverse audience reactions fuels his fire.

“There’s not necessarily an emotion I’m seeking to evoke,” he says. “I just want someone to think about it. I don’t want it to just be a pretty picture.”

Hudson’s drive to create more than just a pretty picture led to the development of this exhibit. The “Equilibrium (Deco)” series began as paintings with no pattern on top. He retooled these paintings into screenprints and digital prints and placed the pattern on top in order to create an image with repetition and simplicity. With the “Holding Pattern” series, Hudson worked with people as subjects for the first time. His close relationships with women and his many travels helped him find inspiration.

Hudson’s philosophy is simple: Experimentation and evolution are essential to artistic development. As he continues to push himself in new directions, he stays true to this mantra.

“I’m really uncomfortable when I see an artist or meet an artist that picks up one thing and just sticks to it,” Hudson says. “Someone’s work that doesn’t change and isn’t fed by outside influences — that’s worked for a whole lot of people, but things start to look the same. You don’t want to become bored in life. It’s my philosophy — it’s what I appreciate in others, and it’s what works for me.”

It’s easy to assume Hudson would want to take some time to digest his newest show and the works he created, but he doesn’t seem to operate with a stop button. His next task is working with glass and ceramic pieces. Though he’s seen it done before, he’s never experimented with the techniques and is eager to try something new. It is important for him to continue to challenge the boundaries of art and test his limitations as an artist in a world that is constantly evolving.

While some people express themselves through words, Bryce Hudson does so through molding pieces that make viewers think. He doesn’t create art to please, but to present a thought, a feeling, a message.

“This is what I am presenting, and people can choose to look at them,” he says. “I really hope people choose to dive in a little bit further … you can always glance at something and take it at face value, but what I always hope is that people will get into it. It’s the same with music — you may really like a song and you can take it as ‘that’s my song,’ or you can take it because it connects with you on some level. So, I mean, it’s the viewer, it’s really their decision how much they want to take from it. They can take all they want.” 

A Stroke of Genius

Written by: Angie Fenton
Published: Wednesday, August 04 2010

The Voice Tribune

If you Google “contemporary art” and “Louisville,” in .20 seconds, you’ll see a list of 163,000 search results – with Bryce Hudson at the top of the lineup.

The 31-year-old artist’s work hangs in private and public collections around the world, including the “Kentucky Gentleman” series, which was purchased by Brown-Forman. The print collection is a fascinating exploration of Hudson’s personal struggles as a multiracial being. With the expert assistance of makeup and wardrobe professionals from Actors Theatre, he transformed his ethnicity over and over again – morphing from white to black, Hispanic to Asian – without the use of prosthetics.

Hudson was adopted by a black family as a baby and grew up in an all-white neighborhood.

“I never, ever fit in. I was kind of always going between everything,” he said.

The difficulty of feeling as though he belonged nowhere soon grew into the realization that he could go everywhere. Instead of slipping between groups of people, he became a connector and attracted a diverse, eclectic pool of friends.

“It was like a United Colors of Benetton ad every time I sat down,” he said with a laugh. “I wouldn’t have asked for any other way to grow up. I can live in the Highlands, but have a studio in Portland and be very comfortable with both.”

Hudson will display his newest work at The Green Building Gallery beginning Friday, Aug. 6. The exhibition features the three series The Beauties, The Equinoxes (Equilibrium Deco) and The Holding Pattern.

“When I started painting 10 years ago, I was just in my basement,” Hudson said.

Then, word got out, and things began to happen and quickly. His first show, at the age of 19, was at the Speed Art Museum. Since then he’s been exhibited in nearly two dozen museums and galleries, from here to Beijing, published two books and makes a living via his art.

Pragmatic about the success, Hudson admitted he’s been dedicated for the better part of “one-third of my life,” but he’s just as humbly awed by the response and accolades his art has evoked.

“All of this because I just kept painting, and it’s worked.”

“Presentation” by Bryce Hudson
Opening reception 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 6.
The Green Building Gallery, 732 East Market St.
Exhibit runs Aug. 6 through Sept. 22.

Q&A Bryce Hudson

Favorite music: Jazz or some sort of house music with jazz infusion. When I’m working, I like something not too fast-paced, not too slow. Jill Scott? Perfect.

Favorite Web sites: current.com, vimeo.com, ­stuffwhitepeoplelike.com.

Favorite book: Mostly, I just read art and architecture design books. I’m never the one to sit down with a novel. I don’t have to have pictures, but I love pictures. Everything is visual.

Last meal: It’s going to include a whole bunch of champagnes and finish off with a selection of sorbets and ice cream. I love ginger ice cream and green tea ice cream. It’ll involve lobster meat and pasta, probably cooked in a Moroccan tagine (a ceramic piece of cookware). Oh, and lots of blue cheese.

Four-legged friends: Blue-eyed Siamese named Felix, 10; “my heart” Falcor, 6, a mini schnauzer; and “my soul,” Fritz, 6, a mini schnauzer.

Obsession: Design.

Hotspots: I like to go Goss Avenue Antique Mall, Flame Run, Falls of the Ohio and Barbara’s Florist. She always has at least 100 orchids.

For the sake of art: Go to the Speed Art Museum and get your fill on gorgeous pieces. 21c Museum Hotel definitely. For glass art, Glassworks or Flame Run.

My friends would say: “There’s an element of crazy in there somewhere, but he’s the best friend you could ever have.” And I’m genuine.

Positively Kentuckiana: Iraqi artist living in Louisville blends cultures on canvas

View a photo slide show.

Louisville, Ky. (WHAS11) - Hers has been a life of two worlds coming together on canvas; her life in Louisville and her life in Iraq.
 

This artist has seen war and murder, so how is her story part of our Positively Kentuckiana?
 

As WHAS11's Rachel Platt found out, it's all about hope.
 

Every picture tells a story and there are so many stories being told by artist Vian Sora.
 

She is an Iraqi artist who now calls Louisville home.
 

Her life then and her life now come together on canvas.
 

One painting called ‘Between Two Worlds’ is the featured piece in an upcoming exhibition.
 

It is something of a self portrait; her inner and outer world with roots in both places, a blending of east and west.
 

She married a Louisville attorney who worked with Iraqi artists.  It is a marriage that would once again blend two worlds.
 

“I don't want to leave my identity…I talk English here but Arabic to my family,” she says.
 

It is a family that's endured torture and murder.
 

She showed WHAS11’s Rachel Platt articles and pictures of her uncle, the Deputy Health Minister who was kidnapped in 2006 and later murdered for exposing wrongdoing.
 

The work simply entitled ‘Kidnapped’ was inspired by him.
 

“Man with dagger represents the 16 men who attacked,” says Sora.
 

The painting pays homage to a man she loved and respected; a dark time and a dark painting.
 

But despite the ravages of war, her paintings also reflect beauty both in Iraq and Louisville.
 

Later this month you'll be able to see this artwork for yourself.
 

Vian's paintings have been shown throughout the world but this will be the first time in Kentuckiana.
 

It’s a new life in a new place with her artwork providing a bridge to her past.
 

“When you survive every day, life becomes more meaningful and beautiful and you enjoy the small things,” she says.
 

Vian Sora an artist who has seen the dark but prefers to paint hope.
 

“This is my way to contribute to beauty and color,” she says.
 

If you would like to see ‘Between Two Worlds,’ her work will be on display from April 2nd until May 14th.
 

The exhibit is at the Green Building at 731 east Market Street.
 

If you have someone who fits the bill for Positively Kentuckiana we want to hear from you.

Bristles with Energy
Part artist, part performer, painter Steve Keene is not one to linger over a blank canvas

Steve Keene

Steve Keene says his art is like a CD — and this has nothing to do with his designing cover art for some of the world's hippest indie rock bands. It's disposable and forgettable or pleasing and memorable, depending on who owns the wall where the piece hangs.

Keene, a Brooklynite, creates scores — and sometimes hundreds — of pieces at single settings, swiftly stroking vibrant paint onto 16-by-20-inch planks to create whimsical images of houses, the Beatles and American presidents. Keene sells the paintings for no more than $14, plus shipping — roughly the price of a CD — through stevekeene.com. Last month, Keene visited Louisville for 10 days to paint — as much performance as it is production — and show his work at the Green Building on East Market Street downtown. He's departed now to his Brooklyn studio, but the exhibition remains open until May 29. We caught up to chat about his time here.

How did your time in Louisville go?

I sent down about 1,200 paintings and I painted about 600 more when I was there last month. It's a performance, what I do. It's sort of like a stress test for me, because when you do art it's supposed to be really special and you're supposed to work on it really hard and you're not supposed to have that many interruptions and it's supposed to be really good. And when I do it, it's like I'm out on the street, practically. I paint in front of people; people come check out what I do. It's kind of a test to see if I can survive. The best part of it was they were opening up this restaurant (732 Social) in the front of the Green Building. I've always worked in restaurants, and I think of myself as making something for people to eat, for people to consume. It was fun to watch the restaurant workers breaking their backs doing the restaurant work, and I'm breaking my back doing my paintings. So I felt a complete kinship in the process of putting on a performance and making a product that few hundred people come and buy and they can buy.

Can you elaborate on your views about your art being like CDs?

That's about it. I don't really have any fancy ideas about it. I just think it's a thing that keeps people entertained for a few minutes. My paintings are cheap enough that if you don't like it, you can just stick it outside your apartment and let somebody else pick it up. It's cheap. It's entertainment. If you don't like it, you can get rid of it.

How did your art become entangled with indie rock? You've designed album covers for The Apples in Stereo, Silver Jews?

Pavement.

Right...

It's their love of me. (Laughs.) People see that what I do is unusual. To me it's just a wacked-out job that I invented for myself. When it's at its best, I think it's refreshing and inspiring to see somebody work so hard at something. I take it very seriously, what I do, but I treat it as if it's a game.

Tell me about your painting process.

I'll do 50 or 100. It just depends. I might do 20 different ones, 20 apiece. Or I might do 100 of the same thing. It doesn't really matter. I don't really see them as paintings; I see them like doing Sudoku or whatever that number game is called.

You must struggle to think of ideas for paintings, doing so many different concepts each day.

I try not to think of it in terms of getting ideas. I'll just pick up on something, and I'll do it. The fewer ideas I have, the better it is, the more satisfying the whole process is. When you have too many ideas, it just throws up too many roadblocks to the process. It's really just about the process. It's about the activity of doing so much.

Many of your paintings feature musicians — there are several Beatles pieces, plus Daniel Johnston, Devo.

Music is accessible for people. It's a stepping-stone. I enjoy music, but I also enjoy things that most people who buy my art wouldn't care about. I've been doing this almost 20 years, so I'm aware of what people enjoy. I'm a popular artist, so I don't want to just do stuff that's all about my ideas and what's inside of me. I want it to be accessible to everybody. To me, it's not about whether it's a painting of the Beatles or something nobody else knows about, I want to make something that's supposed to go as quickly as possible into the world and then take on a part of somebody else's life.

How do you think art snobs look at your work?

I don't really have anything to say about that. It's like food. There are 4,000 different kinds of restaurants on the East Coast, and that's the way you have to think about it. It's nourishing to some smart people and it's repulsive to some smart people, it's fantastic to some dumb people and it's horrible to some dumb people.