Angelo Brewer draws heavily from a background in comic art. He has coined his style as Neo-Post-Modern VolksArt. His pieces are generally digitally enhanced ink drawings.
The subject of this week's critique is one of Angelo's newer works entitled "The Green Fairy". It currently hangs as part of a private collection on the walls of the Manfort in South Minneapolis. What makes me love this piece is not only the clean lines and comic style colors combined with the expressive faces and posture of the figures; but the symbolism of the Green Fairy standing over the weeping street bum. Is the fairy tempting him to travel even further into the depths of degradation and alcoholism? Is she consoling him as his life hits bottom in a dark, wet back alley? The matching trash stains on the man's sleeves and shirt make a suggestive metaphor for the bum's life. The drooping, dribbling patterns of the trash is carried onto the alley walls, continuing and strengthening the dingy setting of the scene. The only light source is coming from the Absinthe bottle in the lower left corner of the picture. Is the glowing bottle a source of hope in a desperate man's life? Is it a metaphor for the trouble of the world and the current state of humanity in it's continual slide toward addiction and excess? Is it a trumpet call to drink away the dark alleys and trash that occupy our daily lives? Is the whole thing just an artist's representation of his hangover and mental state after a night of drinking forbidden liquor? I don't know, and I don't care. Not only is the piece visually appealing, but the fact that it can be taken in so many different ways and show so many different levels of metaphor and ambiguity in a comic style drawing makes this one the most sublime and pleasing works of art that I have had the pleasure of viewing. For more information on Angelo and to see more of his magnificent art go to angelobrewer.com.
Photo taken by Adam Fuchs
Also something you may or may not know (perhaps you know this so well you did't mention it, I don't know), is that Absinthe is often referred to as "The Green Fairy", due to its color and high alcoholic content. Perhaps the scene is Absinthe continuing to taunt and soothe him, even as the damage it has done is so clearly visual?
ReplyDeleteI'm really glad you posed this piece, it really is visually stunning.
To be honest man, I didn't even read your description of the painting, as I was too intrigued by the painting itself. Initially I was like, "The Green Fairy! Whoo! Absinthe!" and then I went back and read your writing and was like, "YES! I got it right!"
ReplyDeleteGood pick man. Very eye catching.
As owner of this (and many other equally stunning Brewer works), my draw is the beauty of the fairy drawn to the bum despite his filth. Also, I like the use of the artist's "chop", or signature, as the back alley wall.
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