John Brosio: Tornadoes, Twisters, And A Jerk In A Road

You have to like John Brosio: a guy who appreciates a bottle of Chateau Yquem, but is equally happy with a can of Budweiser.Brosio, who paints Texas twisters with the aplomb and sensitivity of Corot, is an artist who can make you smile and scare you at thesame time. His canvases fuse dark humor and a dose of awe into memorable images that get you in the gut. I recently interviewedBrosio about his work and ideas. His responses, like his paintings, are emphatic and engagingly quirky.

John Brosio, "Texas Road," 60 x 36 inches, Oil on canvasScroll down for more images of John Brosio's tornadoes.JS: You are showing tornado and twister paintings at Sue Greenwood

Fine Art. Can you tell me what originally attracted you to tornadoes assubject matter?

JB: This question has come up before of course but I never took enough

time to really think about it. It has always surprised me. I've spent all kindsof time on wording in the past to chase down some kind of justification forwhat seems like a "weird" or off-center choice of mine and that might havebeen a mistake. To tell you the truth it seemed obvious.

I was at the time even racing with the imagery, thinking that someone elsewould beat me to it. What would truly interest me is to interview one ofmany given artists and ask them why they paint people sitting in chairs,

dogs, or what have you. We have a TON of paintings like that and no oneever asks about it because our programing -- yours, mine, everyone'sprograming -- is to instantly consider legitimate that kind of subject matteras all but part/ parcel to the definition of modern representational"Painting." And to be honest I am bored with a lot of that.

The really truly good ones I enjoy to no end, the works that articulate space,but there are so many paintings these days of figures intended to lookquirky and contemplative but end up as overly expressionless andcomfortable as if painted while listening to a lesser episode of PrairieHome Companion. I want to ask someone, "what attracted you to paintingpeople in rooms?" and see what happens.

Back to the tornadoes though: they did not originally start out as beingexclusively about weather. I had a series of paintings where people werehanging out with a variety of larger-than-life subjects. In the beginning I hadfolks looking at tornadoes, a B2 bomber, dinosaur skulls on display, a giantdead shark on a pier, etc. The series went that way but the twisters took offwith the crowd. And that was fine with me because I loved all of it but ran

with my reception.

JS: Is it fair to call you a "Romantic" in the sense that your work transmits a sense of awe about the force of nature?

JB: Ha! I would call myself a "Romantic" in that sense but a lot of people don't see it in my every day life. There is not much of a

chance to explore certain things in every day life. No context for it.

But I always thought that what sense of awe I feel and 'transmit' in my work was common to all of our appetites. I used to think that atleast. My take on it now is that we are all naturally dazzled by those things but most of us end up crowding them out of worry andwonder by way of our daily considerations such that they get relegated to oddity. And that's dicey I think.

Curiosity has been crowded out. It sometimes even goes uncultivated, even in children, and that's just wrong. I've even had people,more than one, ask me why I was looking at the sky when all the stars are out and the more pressing question is, "Why are younot?!" Those natural forces are right next to us and all the time. They are gorgeous, incredible, and dangerous. Living as thoughthey don't affect you is even more dangerous because it is irresponsible. Tornadoes though are probably the most pictoriallyaccessible thing for me to use in representing these forces but I am speaking to the whole dynamic.

John Brosio, "Unleashed," 50 x 68 inches, Oil on canvas

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Posted: 12/16/2012 7:07 am

JS: Your work seems to blend realism

and invention, science and mythology.Tell me about the mix of theseelements.

JB: This may be hard to answer

because I don't see much of adifference among these elements. Theyat the very least breed one another. By"realism and invention" I will take you tomean "representational vs.manipulated." Let me know if that is inerror and I would be happy to answer asubsequent question. But I think I endup, even if incidentally, in the seeminglanguage of surrealism.

The thing with surrealism though is thatit often invites us to seriouslycontemplate the absurd and non-sensical per se whereas I employ it withleanings toward narrative. There arethings in the works though here that willbe a little more unhinged so stay tuned.

Science though in some ways is nothing more than defined mythology but I think that folks are making a mistake there too if itcauses any of the wonder to diminish.

I mean, shoot -- we're being told now that there is another whole universe just a tiny bit to the side of every given point in the one weperceive -- right next to you in fact. There are also many more dimensions involved than the ones we know. There's this thing calledthe holographic principle that not only fits into all of the best math and physics being worked up but that means there is a duplicateof you, right now, 13.7 billion light years away, reading this sentence. Current science. Myself, I might have very much enjoyedpursuing cosmology but I very much do so in my own way.

John Brosio, "Nocturne #3," 60 x 40 inches, Oil on canvasJS: How does your sense of humor shape your work?

JB: It shapes it more and more! I spoke above about a disconnectbetween folks and the forces of nature and, the wider that gap gets,the funnier everything seems to be. Pointlessness is a rich source ofhumor to me. I love it. Making up things to do is great too. Heck, I tellmy students that there is no reason not to take drugs and watch t.v.None at all.

But the flip side of that is that there is no reason not to attempt some ofthe greatest things that have ever been done. That is just as crazy if notmore so. What is tragically comedic to me too is the middle ground:students turning in B to B+ work in order to race through schooling and

not demand more of the process. Question it!

Come to me in class with ideas from Mars if you're reading this! Therest is a gorgeous "whatever." I love that "whatever" and I can be verycelebratory and simultaneously dismissive of it; I think this duality isvery much at the core of my "Edge of Town" tornado series. Mychicken painting is not far behind.

John Brosio, "Edge of Town," 35 x 40 inches, Oil on canvasJS: What kinds of skills and techniques do you employ?

JB: While I could always draw I had originally been drawn to makingmovie monsters - sculpting, mold making, etc. I'm probably just asproficient at sculpting those things as I am at painting. But I ended upvery deliberately choosing to confine myself to the format of traditionalpainting. It is a confining thing in some sense but challenging too inthat I should be able to speak with the use of a known language withouthaving to be "louder."

I mean, were I to travel outside of painting I might need to rent anairship hanger and that's just not practical when I can tackle the same concerns where I stand. I still very much use the palette ofWayne Thiebaud, who was a teacher of mine. I added a few colors here and there, removed two...it's still an extrapolation of hispalette. Beyond that I execute my paintings with the eventual use of a delineated wash. Many painters use this traditional approach.

Thiebaud demonstrated that for hisstudents on many occasions andsomeone like Sargent did the samething. I sometimes model thingsunderneath my imagery using white butnot always. I sometimes sand,sometimes glaze, and have stoppedusing varnish.

John Brosio, "Tornado and Moon," 36 x29 inches, Oil on canvas

JS: Outside of painting, what interestsyou?

JB: Oh, dang - I like film making. I lovestop motion animation. I enjoy baseball,chess, and Beethoven. I love planetaryscience and cannot wait for the Webbtelescope to enter orbit. I lovecosmology, black holes, and quantummechanics. I love modern classicalmusic composers from Schoenberg toLigeti. I love the works of Ray Bradbury,Philip K. Dick, and Carl Sagan. MarkTwain. I enjoy writing too but am notfinished with my book. I had wantedthrough most of my youth to be aherpetologist and work with snakes but

my favorite snakes are black mambas and Indiancobras.

I also enjoy very high end culinary experiences but eatvery simple things most of the time. I enjoy connectingwith people over the edges of life, the needed surrenderas part of coping. A bottle of 2001 Chateau d'yquem andfoie gras helps. So does a case of Budweiser andhoney bbq corn chips. I almost bought a cast of atyrannosaur skull at one point but have settled on anoriginal Darth Vader mask. There are a lot of greatmasks out there. My favorite movie is currently ClintEastwood's Unforgiven but the French Connection isgrowing on me.

I know how to use a bullwhip and am dazzled by the workof Cecil Henderson. I enjoy bats, wolves, and dusk in theforest. I love sequoia trees. I enjoy the rain and travelingby train through the desert Southwest. Planes arespectacular but I prefer ocean liners. I wish someonewould build a transatlantic dirigible again too but theywould have to serve cheeseburgers.

John Brosio, "Jerk in a Road," 35 x 35 inches, Oil oncanvas

JS: Does this show include "Jerk in a Road?" Somehowthat painting of a determined jerk blocking our pathseems just right for the political era were are living in...

JB: It does!! I love that piece: and it is a little different for

sure. It is more of an intuitive piece about how peopletake a stance and start posturing over nothing. I don't

know if the twister is something that makes our jerk meaningless or if it is his backup man.

John Brosio's work is on view in a group exhibition at Sue Greenwood Fine Art through December 31st.

Sue Greenwood Fine Art, 330 North Coast Highway Laguna Beach, CA 92651John Brosio

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