JULY 2019
Anna Elise Brabant | Artist Exhibition
Jun. 16 - Aug. 10
Reception on Thurs., Aug. 1
6pm-8pm
Ferndale Library
222 E. Nine Mile Rd
248-546-2504
Visual Artist Explores Impact of Natural vs. Manmade Compositions at Ferndale Library
Reception for Anna Elise Brabant’s New Exhibition on Thu., Aug. 1 | 6 pm
FERNDALE, Mich. (May 31, 2019)-- Audiences for the new exhibition at the Ferndale Library may feel as though they’re encountering unique elegance among pieces that were excavated for caustic laboratory research. Visual artist Anna Elise Brabant orbits both the industrial and the organic in her colorful and imaginative renderings, pivoting from the natural and the manmade, the florid and the geometric, the molecular and the mechanical. The library’s Art & Exhibition Committee hosts a reception, with refreshments and music, and a chance to meet the artist, on Thu., Aug. 1 at 6 pm. Brabant’s work will be on display from Jun. 16 through Aug. 10.
Brabant is a painter and visual artist based in Detroit. She earned a BFA in Painting from Western Michigan University in 2013 and has been working out of her studio in Corktown ever since. Her first solo show was nine years ago at the Gwen Frostic School of Art Foundation in Kalamazoo. Since then, she’s shown works at the UFO Factory in Corktown, the Junction Hall Gallery in Southwest Detroit, and the DeVries Gallery in Kalamazoo. When she’s not working on her art, she’s amid a hotbed of creativity and inspiration, with a day job in the Cass Corridor at Jack White’s Third Man Records store/vinyl pressing plant.
Brabant approaches a canvas almost like a lucid dreamer, mixing the element of chance with intention; the synthesis, arrangement, and improvisation are the crux of the way her work is conceived and produced--arriving at a vision rather than determinedly searching. Brabant uses multiple mediums from oils and acrylic, ink and graphite, producing minimal, abstract paintings and prints that wind up accentuating line and form. She finds new and provocative forms within both organic shapes and curls and purposeful, planned renderings.
As you can see with certain pieces, Brabant draws inspiration from science and microscopy, data graphs, topography and old maps, computer glitches, and natural decay. She uses varied applications to mix a palette of muted, chromatic hues, soft blues, and pinks with stark beige. Brabant intentionally circumvents any overly-conscious awareness of what comes next for each piece, amid creation. She also thrives when she gets her hands on uncommon materials and tools, experimenting with printing, rolling, burning, and collaging.
Contact: Jeff Milo, Ferndale Library Marketing
jeffmilo@ferndalepubliclibrary.org