M+B is pleased to present Aretha, an exhibition of new paintings by Brandon Landers, the artist’s first solo show with the gallery. The exhibition runs from June 21 through August 30, 2019, with an opening reception on Friday, June 21 from 6 to 8 pm.
Brandon Landers makes paintings that are raw, intense and intimate. Drawn from memories of everyday life in South Central Los Angeles, his works depict family and friends as well as imagined scenes that reflect an intuitive, sensitive handling of both material and subject matter. Aretha debuts candid new portraits by Landers, in addition to larger scale paintings.
Painting in a deft, purposely naive manner, Landers builds up the surface with thick layers of oil paint, pushing each work to its most expressive potential. Using only a palette knife rather than brush, the choppy impasto marks activate the canvas, giving it an irregularly-textured surface that vibrates with energy. Placing these uncannily familiar figures against
simple backgrounds or in domestic settings, Landers renders them with smiling, roughly-drawn faces. Rather than conjuring specific people and events, they are meant as an evocation of the artist’s experiences and memories. A young boy with his mouth ajar, holds a Burger King bag; a young man is confronted by police officers in front of a crowd. Domestic elements such as stovetops, light bulbs and outlets recur, often haphazardly, in the paintings, as visual markers that continue the narrative from one work to the next.
Brandon Landers (b. 1985, Los Angeles) received his BFA from California State University, Bakersfield. He has exhibited at Club Pro, Los Angeles; The Younger Gallery, Bakersfield; BBQLA, Los Angeles and Todd Madigan Gallery, Bakersfield. His paintings are in the collections of the Pérez Art Museum, Miami and the Beth Rudin DeWoody Collection. Brandon Landers lives and works in Bakersfield, CA.