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Andrew Brandou is trying to con us. When he refers to his art, inspired by the Golden Books of childhood, as “visual forgery,” he implies that his creativity may be counterfeit. I, for one, don’t buy it. Sure, he may appropriate the iconic imagery of our youth to entrance our emotions, but the stories he tells with these cuddly characters are totally original.
Who is Andrew Brandou?
Andrew Brandou is a fine artist and illustrator living in Los Angeles, CA. Ha ha. I came out to Los Angeles to go to school at Otis Parsons in 1986. After graduating i supported myself in animation and the record industry, and have been focusing on fine art for the last 6 years or so. I live in the Griffith Park area of L.A, and my fondness for nature and southern California is reflected in my work.
Why do you create?
I create because my heroes are creators, and i want to be a part of a long thread of creativity. I tend to create works in series, and to create works about things i want to explore and articulate. If i do a good job, i am a gateway drug, opening people up to new ideas, and compelling them to look further than my own work. That way, people might be compelled to create work that i enjoy, that drives me to discover something.
Jungle Cruise
I am proud of my creativity, but I know that in terms of both quality and quantity, I have only just begun to discover my artistic voice. You are both remarkably gifted and notably prolific. What’s it like to succeed creatively on a regular basis?
Thats a very generous assessment of my work.. My biggest success is that given the children’s book references, and the types of visual forgery i do, people still feel something when they look at the paintings. There is no reason to be afraid of a Golden Book bunny, and yet, i have grown adults tell me that they couldn’t hang one of my pieces because it was too disturbing. That means there was an emotional response of some kind, and it is gratifying.
Morning
Your imagery is presented in so many different artistic styles, and yet it is all clearly Andrew Brandou. How would you describe your personal style, and how did it become yours?
To be honest, i feel like an art director more often than an artist. That is, i have figured out a number of techniques, and ways to cheat them, and i apply them as well as i can to get an idea across. Most of what i do when i paint is research. Given 3 months to do a show, 1/2 will be spent on research. Researching the subject im painting, the techniques i want to use, and the tangents im taken on. Creating finished pieces is sort of wrist-work after that. The thing that i think is making the pieces my own is the ideas, and my narrative voice.
Night Gardener
I was reading your blog, and you just sound gleeful about how your life is going. How would you describe where you’re at right now?
Right now, im behind on my blog. But far as that goes, im pretty happy, pretty excited about what ive got going on. I’m finishing a commission right now, which feels great. Honestly, i think you’d be hard-pressed to be in my position in southern California and not be pretty happy.
My thanks to Andrew for sharing his work. Please be sure to visit howdypardner.com to see more of his art.
If you would like to share your creativity, or you’d like to suggest someone for Show Us Yours, please send an e-mail to share@yorkrules.com.
1 Comment
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Support Barack Obama
Thanks for sharing Andrew. I first saw your art at the Charity by Numbers show and have been a fan since.