George Brandon

George Brandon
South Orange, New Jersey, USA

STATEMENT

When I started out in collage, the materials I used were mainly found imagery from magazines and commercial advertisements, but over the course of time I have shifted to creating my own imagery directly, although found imagery still enters into my work from time. Now I often combine collage with gelatin printing (both to create backgrounds and for handmade collage paper) along with drawing and writing. I use a variety of papers: rice paper, photo and copy paper, tissue paper, drawing and watercolor paper and paper bags. An inkjet printer is an important tool in my practice but mostly I work by hand. The main themes in my work are Black history and culture, social commentary, music, childhood fantasy (especially imaginary landscapes), religion, spirituality and humor. I am influenced by jazz, surrealism, Afrofuturism, Dada, modern and traditional African art, pop, folk and street art.

BIO

George Brandon (1947 – ) is a transdisciplinary artist working in the realms of music, poetry and visual art. His first exposure to art and music was from his father, a steelworker and amateur painter and sculptor. This was followed by attending weekend arts programs in Newark, New Jersey’s public school system and later study of calligraphy at Reed College, from which graduated with a bachelors degree in literature and anthropology. Upon retiring from academia, he resumed art study at the South Orange Adult School taking classes with collage artist Barbra Minch and drawing classes with Sarah Canfield. His first exhibiton as a collage artist was “Points of View” in September 2023 in the Newark Arts Festival in Newark, New Jersey.

ARTIST CONTACT

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reverbnation.com/georgebrandon

IMAGES