Elevate: Body & Mind
Brandon Dean | Nick Lee | Davon Brantley
August 10 - October 13
Located in FAVA’s Main Gallery
Elevate: Body & Mind features three NE Ohio Artists of Color with unique stylistic approaches to portraiture. Exploring identity through themes of cultural heritage, psychological landscapes, and personal mythologies. Join us for a closing reception Saturday, October 12th, time and additional details coming soon.
* Exhibition preview images will be available online after the first week of public exhibition.*
Brandon Dean
Artist Statement:
My work uses whiteness itself as an “exotic” subject, condensing painting history and tropes of science fiction to expose the inherent strangeness of desire and the canonical drive. The work utilizes the tools of academic painting to reflect a vision of identity that is bound more to mythos than life. I challenge myself to explore the complicated and often problematic ways art and visual culture shape our relationship to representation, and use the power dynamics of that relationship to bring about uncomfortable realizations on what truly shapes our sense of self.
Biography:
Born in Montgomery, Alabama, Brandon Dean lives and works in Cleveland, OH. He received a BFA from Auburn University in 2008, and received a MFA in Painting from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University. Brandon Dean's photography, new media, and paintings have been featured in many regional and national exhibitions including a solo exhibition at the Alabama Contemporary Art Center and exhibitions in Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Chicago, and the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art.
Nick Lee
Artist Statement:
This body of work explores the presentation of traditionally unrepresented people throughout the history of Western art production as its subject. Through small to large-scale figurative oil and acrylic paintings, specifically portraiture, these paintings seek to better represent Japanese Americans, a culture that has been diminished in the traditional history of western art. The lack of education about Asian American history, and Asian people in our institutions has created tension among other Americans. We have witnessed a rise of hate crimes against Asians since the start of the pandemic in 2020, most in relation to misinformation from our own government. One has to wonder if this “American Dream” we are sold to as children is not meant for everyone. When we have discussions about racial disparities and empathy for people, then we can better prepare the future generations for a more equal and safer environment to live in. These works are not to necessarily change one’s viewpoint, but rather open oneself to another.
Biography:
Nick Lee (b. 1996) is a painter and 2021 Kent State University graduate. Lee lives and works in Akron, Ohio. Lee’s work is inspired by the diversity of human experience. As a Japanese-American, Lee’s visual art strives to better represent minorities like himself in American portraiture and western art. Another motivation for Lee is self discovery. Lee uses symbolic Japanese objects in his paintings to connect with a culture that was never taught to him growing up. Lee is the 2023 recipient of the Distinguished Citizen for Art Education for the Northeast Ohio region by the OAEA. Lee is also the recipient of the 2024 Arts Alive Emerging Artist award by Summit Artspace.
Davon Brantley
Artist Statement:
I utilize self-portraiture and psychology within my work. I am inspired by the dissociative behaviors that happen as a result of certain experiences and the repetition involved with those experiences. Through Drawings, Paintings and other media; My work focuses on how these experiences can cause inner conflicts and a deeper investigation of self. These inner conflicts can influence your relationships with family, friends, loves, and meditations on sexuality, masculinity, race and etc,. I lead the audience through my mind as if they were watching a play , utilizing dramatic compositions, absurd realism and characters that act out certain emotions and themes in which I play all of the roles. Through larger than life-sized scaled pieces , I present a glimpse inside of my mental landscape and inhabitants ; finding a ground for what is invisible that bleeds into my waking world.
Biography:
Brantley implements self-portraiture and psychology within his work and is inspired by the dissociative behaviors that happen because of trauma and the repetition involved with these experiences. “I guide the audience through my own narratives involving experiences of colorism, racial stereotyping, and meditations on death, life, sexuality and masculinity,” says the artist. “Through the use of my own image, the viewer is presented with images of someone who is not themselves, who may or may not share the same experiences as them and someone who is actively disrupting expectations based on identity.” In 2018 Davon received his B.F.A from the Cleveland Institute of Art in Drawing. Davon has gone on to exhibiting/curating in spaces such as: SPACESCle, The Museum of Contemporary Art (Cleveland), CAN Triennial, The Morgan Conservatory, Indianapolis Arts Center, The Artists Archives of the Western Reserve, The Museum of Creative Human Art and many more. Davon has also been able to work with community organizations in Cleveland such as The Museum of Creative Human Art , Graffiti HeArt and has also furthered his investigations in Printmaking with DeepDive Art projects and the Cleveland Institute of Art. He has also participated in mural activities and being an advocate for getting the arts into younger artists' vision.