jeffrey equality brooks
Still Looking For Connection

Sauk Valley Community College Art Gallery
173 IL Route 2, Dixon, IL, United States
All lectures and exhibitions are open to the public. The gallery is located on the second floor.
September 11 - November 2
Artist reception will be held on Thursday, November 2 from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the art gallery.

contemporary figurative paintings working in stencils, sprayed automotive paints, broken glass, sand, resin, enamel, vinyl, metal flake, 3D elements, flocking, 24k gold, silver, and copper leaf and carved wood

I’m thrilled to bring my show to Sauk Valley Community College Art Gallery. This body of paintings includes pieces I’ve worked on for the last three years. Those who haven’t seen my paintings might be bewildered to hear that they are mostly built up from spraying automotive paints with mega-detailed cut one-time-use stencils. And in this artwork, you’ll also see paint mixed with silica, 24k gold and copper leaf, broken glass, cut and layered strips of transparent vinyl, brushed enamel, stacks of resin, and of course you’ll see my obvious love affair with hot rod paints with oodles of metal flakes and candied paints. You can click into any of these images to get more info about materials and sizes as well as more detailed photos. To purchase contact the gallery or I can put you in touch directly.

Before i show you this work i’d like to say, in short, my goal is to produce compulsively “lookable” paintings that make you say “shit i’ve felt like that.” My work at its core has this goal, and reminds us to beware of thoughts that are not your own, while we hunt for genuine connection.

These are two of the seven halos created for this series and are 40”x40”. This series is built off a pearlized and aluminum paint base that was hit with a metal flake. Subsequent layers (oh, which there are a ton of) are transparent or “candies”, this again affords the viewer a chance to peer into the paint to see the sparkle below. Halos are 24k gold and copper, then the pieces are finished off with an automotive clear coat, which I think looks awesome, but it’s pretty hard to photograph. Here (link ) is a super small video of how I make these paintings.

The topic of the paintings in my halo series focuses on the difficult necessity of active choice when moving from generational beliefs and traditions. All the while, completely acknowledging that I’m relying on arcane visual language to add gravitas.

let the bridges we burn light our way: this was the first in this series and set the tone for the following works.
if you choose to fail us now we will never forgive you: This one is the most recent i’ve done in the series and was one of those “i’m gonna get this painting right or die in this room trying.” I’m gonna suggest that you click on the image if you’d like to get a deeper read on the visual vocabulary being used here and see some details why this one was such a challenge to make.

LOST is one of two paintings in a mini-series both 40x40x1.5-inch paintings on stretched canvas. The other painting (now sold) is called “SAFE”. These words have a draw for me and I have liked them paired since I heard a CD of this title. These have a super subtle flake to them and are built on a ground coat of pearls. The “blacks” are a flat finish but have silica mixed into them that give a really exciting lifted texture to such a flat graphic part of the paintings.

This series of paintings is playing with two-color reductions, in this rule of simplification I was able to try some pretty fun and rich materials.

this is me since yesterday: this one is a true candy apple color that i’d call a dreamsicle or a burnt-orange depending on your angle of viewing.
Emily in blue: is perhaps the “quietest” painting i’m showing in this body. i feel it has a tranquil feeling in both palette and pose. (24”x24”)
I bet you will someday: Stencil, candied apple caramel automotive paints on oak-cradled aluminum. While the fun of many of these paintings lies in walking back and forth around the straight vertical lines and watching the paintings lift from the substrate. this one and “ this is me since yesterday” i chose to follow a more conventional contour line again like older works i’ve done to add a bit more gesture.

These two works follow the reduced palette idea but also explore some new mediums. This time the pieces are 30” x 30” x 3” and are carved out of walnut.

Summer Of Youth: “summer’s” foreground is a white pearl and metal flake with a show car urethane clear coat. The exposed walnut sections are oiled with walnut oil, while the “frame” of the piece is glossed up with tung oil.
and She Laughed Like She'd Never Been Scared: sometimes you have an idea and you spend months and a ton of money and there are many many times where you have no idea if your invention is gonna work. Laughed was one of those pieces. The foreground is a 24 karat gold leaf that is so bright it looks like a mirror made of gold. when your standing in front you see yourself looking back, then move to the side and the image become clear. I hope you click into this one and check out on the other views, as well as a short video to get a better idea of how this one reads in real life.

These two paintings are 40” x 40” on stretched canvas.

Some nights she is a pharmacist: Often the music I’m listening to finds its way into the paintings I’m planning. This is one such piece; I heard the line, I imagined the image, and went right to painting. (40”x40” on stretched canvas ).
Beware of Thoughts that are not your own: This painting is one that I plan to keep personally. I reflect back to it constantly. As children, we are filled with the “wisdom” of the past and we trust those that are in authority. As we mature we get put on the treadmill of academia then the pursuit of capital survival, leaving little time to revisit these baked in ideologies. If i could do one thing better in my life i would want to be aware of what i’m not even aware i’m not aware of so i could reevaluate these ideas in the cold light of rational thought. I keep this painting in the room where i sleep and i look at it to remind me to explore and search for ideas that are not my own. I weigh the ideas and ask myself, “are they serving me, my society and are they honest?”

Again these are reflecting on navigating life as an introspective human in perhaps the loudest moment in human history.

can we admit some lies we've told each other: This painting was shown at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum. Built off a silver base then layered with pearled, metal flake, transparent vinyl, and candied automotive paints. It’s topped with a flat black and silica-laden layer that gives textures that you want to touch so badly…but please don’t. ;)
never trust a man without a horror story: This one gets raised eyebrows from many, but when someone tells me their horror story, in that moment i often get a strong inkling if they are part of my tribe.
don’t talk sense to my sparkling heart: this one like “can we admit some lies we’ve told each other” has an almost asphalt quality on the black portions of the painting that i do sometimes; one reason is to make it exciting and visually tactile look to the work, but also very much because i have a push and pull love affair with the idea of finding out where that road ahead could take me. I say push and pull because i fully realize the excitement of the road feels like the freedom it also negates that personal connection to others that we can only get by putting down roots and joining a society
past the point of caring: we all have a pain threshold; sometimes it manifests as a thrown glass against a wall, or a hurtful word we desperately wish we could un-say, but sometimes it manifests in a moment of bravery where we become the slumbering version in us that we’ve always wanted to be.

Ok, guys, that is what I’m showing for “Still Looking for Connection” at the Sauk Valley Community College.
Every image is clickable for more detailed photos, material and size info and some even have short videos :) !

I hope you decide to come out and see the show in person. If you aren’t in the area and are looking to purchase one of these artworks please reach out to me or the gallery directly.