BROOKE GOLIGHTLY VAGARIES OF FANCY AND CONVENIENT FICTIONS
Solo Exhibition November 2017
118 Southwest Blvd Kansas City, MO 64108 816.527.0823 BlueGalleryOnline.com
Brooke Golightly and Brody
BROOKE GOLIGHTLY VAGARIES OF FANCY AND CONVENIENT FICTIONS Artist Talk and Opening Reception Thursday, November 2, 6–9 pm Artist’s talk begins at 7:00 pm First Friday November 3, 6–9 pm Exhibition runs through November 26, 2017
Vagaries of Fancy and Convenient Fictions There is a murmur of emotional discourse that carries throughout my work. I photograph myself (usually) in pastoral surroundings in order to create a narrative with my relationship to native ancestory, particularly in juxtaposition to life as a contemporary, independent woman. Through process, I seek to create a dreamlike atmosphere that is reminiscent of a lingering memory. Often the associations are more allegorical than literal, borrowing themes from art history, nursery rhymes, personal relationships, and fables. Brooke Golightly
About Blue Gallery In business for over 17 years, Blue Gallery is a popular and respected fixture of Kansas City’s vibrant art scene. Its underlying philosophy reminds visitors of the owners Kelly and David Kuhn’s genuine commitment to the arts: they treat art and beauty as fundamental elements of life, and instill this mood into their gallery. But what has set Blue Gallery apart is the way Kelly and David conduct their business behind the art. “We work with our artists with the same tenants as our collectors: integrity, passion, and obsession with quality in every decision we make,” says Kelly. “Our philosophy is the result of over 25 years working with professional artists and collectors. Over all, David and I are committed to providing an inspired and profound experience that is inclusive and transformative.” Established in 2000 at the center of Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District, Blue Gallery represents 40+ emerging to established local, regional and nationally known artists, with works placed in private and public collections worldwide. Blue Gallery holds several exhibitions a year, as well as participates in First Fridays, held exclusively in the Crossroads Arts District monthly. Blue Gallery is considered one of the premier galleries in Kansas City having won numerous awards including KC Magazine’s Best Private Art Gallery in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007, and Ingram’s Magazine Bronze for Best Museum or Art Gallery in 2004, 2005, 2007, and 2017. And 435 Magazine’s Best Local Art Gallery in 2015 and 2017.
There were a few things that went into the idea/making of this photo. First, I think any creative person fights a constant battle to stay inspired and it can be scary at times, at least for me. So my mind kept returning to one of my very favorite pieces of literature, “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” The paragraph that kept spinning in a loop in my mind specifically was “You can get so confused/that you’ll start in to race/down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace/and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,/headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.” That so closely describes how I feel displaced when I’m not motivated to create something. I love the way that poem takes you on a slow and continuous wave through many highs and lows. Second, this is also inspired by a documentary I saw recently called “Magical Universe,” about an artist named Al Carbee. I have thought about this film nearly every day since watching it. It is such a poignant and beautiful film about an artists need to create, no matter if no one understands or even sees what you do as long as it gives you joy. In one of his last letters to Jeremy Workman, the documentarian who had grown close to Carbee in the making and years since the film, Carbee writes “This is my life as it flows from one surprise to another. What will happen next... The wonders of the world never stop. It is the magic, the Magical Universe.” I was so touched by the story of this infectiously sweet and kind man and the delight that came from his art, not just to him but to everyone fortunate enough to share it with him. We all should be so charmed.
With Puzzle Pieces Large Enough 1/4 limited edition photograph and resin on panel 36” x 36” $2050
Additional Sizes and Editions Available 20” x 20”, edition of 7, $950 30” x 30”, edition of 4, $1650 36” x 36”, edition of 4, $2050
I got to thinking one day about all my life experiences and how, even the really bad experiences I could find something vital that came from them. As painful and as horrible as some of them were, I still managed to find that nugget of necessity which happened only because that particular thing had occurred. It’s always helped me to weather storms when I can do that. Shutting myself off from experiences that scare me would never be a way I want to live. I know people who let pain inflicted upon them by others change them, make them less open or able ... make them bitter. Life is too sweet and too precious to make it taste bitter. It doesn’t always yield the results I want, but I’ll be damned if I’ll stop trying to get them.
Brave It All Til You Find a Way 1/4 limited edition photograph and resin on panel 36” x 36” $2050
Additional Sizes and Editions Available 20” x 20”, edition of 7, $950 30” x 30”, edition of 4, $1650 36” x 36”, edition of 4, $2050
Seems like now, more than any other time in as long as I can remember, so many people are searching harder for something beautiful and meaningful. It feels sort of encouraging to see those whom we are not used to expressing themselves go outside of their comfort zone seeking purposeful and intentional communications. And I notice that when there is social unease, people tend to be kinder on a person-to-person basis, as if they are all too aware that in order to evoke a change it must begin with the most obvious choice.
In Search of Something Beautiful 1/4 limited edition photograph and resin on panel 36” x 36” $2050
Additional Sizes and Editions Available 20” x 20”, edition of 7, $950 30” x 30”, edition of 4, $1650 36” x 36”, edition of 4, $2050
For many people, winter is a time to regroup, for snuggling in, catching up on reading or movie watching, and dreaming of the days when the sun is warmer and temperatures are more comfortable. Dormice head underground to curl up tight, colonies of bats retreat to attics or caves, bears slumber in their dens, bumblebees burrow into soil and hedgehogs hunker down in their nests. For humans, it’s a time for quietude and laying plans for warmer months, or vacations spent on sun speckled beaches far away from the icy roads and gray, chilly days. For me, those blustery days are like a suspended animation while I pour over books, scrawl ideas and dream about ideas to tackle once weather allows.
My Dreaming was Deep 1/4 limited edition photograph and resin on panel 36” x 36” $2050
Additional Sizes and Editions Available 20” x 20”, edition of 7, $950 30” x 30”, edition of 4, $1650 36” x 36”, edition of 4, $2050
When I thought about the concept for this photo, I thought about strength. The kind you get from pushing through hardships and enduring obstacles in your life you never would have imagined. Sometimes in order to cope with conflict, one has to wear a sort of armor and those can be so many different kinds. I imagine that after extended years of wear, those might become indistinguishable from ones true self... even to the person wearing the armor. This image was also inspired by a drawing I saw by Annie Owens not too long ago, and I’m so pleased with how it turned out. I’m trying to get more comfortable with other people modeling for me, so I was grateful that my friend was completely nonplussed when I described the shot I wanted.
More Than Enough to Keep Me Whole 1/4 limited edition photograph and resin on panel 36” x 36” $2050
Additional Sizes and Editions Available 20” x 20”, edition of 7, $950 30” x 30”, edition of 4, $1650 36” x 36”, edition of 4, $2050
This picture is about finding hope in all places. Too often when we grow up we lose our sense of infinite possibilities that we have when we’re kids, before people start telling us we have limitations. It’s about those times we all remember when rules of play only existed to keep us from hurting each other. Ever since I started actively pursuing conceptual photography, so many wonderful things have happened because of it. The connections to people I’ve met and the opportunities that have come from it have been amazing and I’m eternally grateful. Not a day goes by that I’m not mindful of this and am still blown away by the good fortune that came when someone was interested enough to include me in a show, and then another. So, this is also my way of showing my gratitude for that.
All of Your Grace and Thunder 2/4 limited edition photograph and resin on panel 30” x 30” $1650
Additional Sizes and Editions Available 20” x 20”, edition of 7, $950 30” x 30”, edition of 4, $1650 36” x 36”, edition of 4, $2050
I think most anyone can relate to a desire to talk to someone we no longer can. For whatever reason, whether it be for estrangement or death, there are some people we wish we could talk to but can’t. These are conversations unfinished, ties untethered, connections lost. Sometimes those manifest into conversations we have with ourselves, because that is the only cathartic closure or resolution there is. The morning at dawn when I shot this, I thought of how connected I feel to my grandfather when I’m out alone in nature. How I feel I am sort of with him when I’m surrounded by trees, as if his memory is tied somehow to the tall oaks, redbuds, and pines of our Oklahoma landscape. In Native American lore, they believe that when a loved one dies a red fern grows in its place as a symbol of eternity, and the kind of love that transcends time.
If I Could Find the Words to Say 1/4 limited edition photograph and resin on panel 30” x 30” $1650
Additional Sizes and Editions Available 20” x 20”, edition of 7, $950 30” x 30”, edition of 4, $1650 36” x 36”, edition of 4, $2050
Someone asked me recently if I always knew exactly the picture I was going to shoot before I went, or if I was ever directly influenced by the location. This is definitely the latter. I had another clear idea in my head, but I’d been thinking of these flowers quite a lot. I don’t remember in the past years this particular wildflower that has cropped up (along with TONS of wild blackberry bushes that I can’t keep away from), and ever since I saw them I knew I wanted to use them. The day I shot this, I started thinking how great it would be if they just led up and up, and you could climb them just like Jack did. As fascinated as I am with the sky, I love that idea.
Leave It All Behind 3/4 limited edition photograph and resin on panel 30” x 30” $1650
Additional Sizes and Editions Available 20” x 20”, edition of 7, $950 30” x 30”, edition of 4, $1650 36” x 36”, edition of 4, $2050
Being away from someone you love for extended periods is a hardship many people know. There’s an ache that goes with it that never seems to dull. Every year for Valentine’s Day I do a special photo. I thought this year might be an exception if I wanted to shoot outside, and I prefer shooting outside. Just in time, the temperatures got a little more tolerable and I ran home and packed a few things and headed out to wait for sunset. There are a few things I don’t like about this photo, things I couldn’t fix in post because it was errors during the shoot... and I hesitated to even upload it. But indeed, I worked hard on it. Not everything will be perfect, and I guess I need to remember that more. Still, this is what I’ve had in my mind and hopefully everything comes with a lesson.
Love’s Victorious Return 1/4 limited edition photograph and resin on panel 30” x 30” $1650
Additional Sizes and Editions Available 20” x 20”, edition of 7, $950 30” x 30”, edition of 4, $1650 36” x 36”, edition of 4, $2050
It’s certainly a scary ol’ world out there these days. On an almost daily basis, one is assailed with stories of wrongdoing the world over. People everywhere seem to have taken leave of their senses. It almost feels like you’re either “sleeping” or swimming with sharks. I say sleeping, but what I’m really talking about is moral complacency. Most of us here in the United States are extremely fortunate in that we live in a largely risk free area of the world - a luxury many have never known. In that respect we are so very fortuitous and it’s incredibly easy for many to live in a bubble. The truth is that there are countless moments in our lives when we are faced with the choice to either stand up and speak for the greater good, to protect those who cannot protect themselves or embolden them to use their own strength - and while it may sometimes be the scariest thing we’ve ever done, we owe it to those less fortunate to use that voice and step up for what is right.
No One Could Save Me but You 1/4 limited edition photograph and resin on panel 30” x 30” $1650
Additional Sizes and Editions Available 20” x 20”, edition of 7, $950 30” x 30”, edition of 4, $1650 36” x 36”, edition of 4, $2050
I guess you could say this is my own personal version of Where the Wild Things Are. This concept has been in my head for months, waiting for the perfect time to execute. Then, the day came. The cold temperatures had warmed a little - but just for the day, the sky was beautifully opaque and heavy with coming snow and rain clouds. I started driving to the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve high on hope that the weather would cooperate and the buffalo would be roaming. I felt a little like I was channeling my Native roots as I listened to the beautiful music of Samantha Crain, who is herself a Native American from Shawnee, Oklahoma. I love that her lyrics remind me so much of growing up in Oklahoma around grasslands, small towns, railroads and tornadoes. Just as I was nearing the Wildlife Preserve, it started sprinkling and my heart sank. Here I had come almost 2 hours in the hopes of creating something that I had been holding in my mind and heart for months, and now it looked like the sleet and snow we were waiting for had come hours early. Nearly heartbroken, I pushed back the idea that it was a wasted day, a wasted drive, and kept going, telling myself it would stop. And it did. I love the fact that I am a Native American, even though I am far from a significant amount all told. In grade school, they sent us who were on Native Rolls into special classes, although I never really understood if it was so that we knew who we were descended from or for integration. Until recently it was something I’d almost forgotten about. Over the years it’s been an interesting thing to have in my heritage, and I’m honored by it even though I had nothing to do with it. Sometimes I think that is the part of me that is closest to the earth, what makes me feel a kinship with crows and horses, what grounds me.
Taking Heart of All that We Are 2/4 limited edition photograph and resin on panel 30” x 30” $1650
Additional Sizes and Editions Available 20” x 20”, edition of 7, $950 30” x 30”, edition of 4, $1650 36” x 36”, edition of 4, $2050
In one of my favorite books there is a character who always has bees buzzing about her head when she is in a frenzy. I pictured that in my head so many times and as much as I love that analogy and visual, to me those worries and angers always feel like wasps. Wasps are so much more menacing and can be kind of dangerous, and that’s how I see anger or bad feelings. Once you have awoken or disturbed them, those feelings will often show no mercy in their pursuit. There are times when my mind just can’t or won’t back away from a subject, and it can be especially excruciating because I know letting go of it is the only way I can peacefully exist. Yet, it’ll pursue my thoughts and keep me awake until I have looked it straight into the face and dealt with it in one way or another. Everyone has their own personal demons and baggage they carry with them. Just because a person behaves as if their world is calm, that could mean they have either looked those demons in the eye and slayed them or have mastered the art of covering it up. It seems like I see everywhere that people want to degrade each other, reacting on what they only see on the outside. Our outer shells, the one we show the world every day, have never been accurate representation of what is being dealt with inside under the skin.
Who I am in Secret 1/4 limited edition photograph and resin on panel 30” x 30” $1650
Additional Sizes and Editions Available 20” x 20”, edition of 7, $950 30” x 30”, edition of 4, $1650 36” x 36”, edition of 4, $2050
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017 2015 2013 2013 2012
Brooke Golightly Curriculum Vitae
Blue Gallery, Kansas City, MO Chrysalis, Tulsa, OK SELF Gallery, Tulsa, OK Chrysalis, Tulsa, OK Lot No. 6, Tulsa, OK
GROUP/JOINT EXHIBITIONS
2017 2017 2017 2016 2016 2016 2016 2015 2015 2014 2014 2014 2014 2014 2013 2013 2013 2013 2012 2010 2010
Oh, Tulsa!, Living Arts, Tulsa, OK National Contemporary Realism Show, MA Doran, Tulsa, OK Valentine Group Show, MA Doran, Tulsa, OK Champagne and Chocolate, Living Arts, Tulsa, OK Exposed, Joseph Gierek Gallery, Tulsa, OK Mayfest Invitational, Tulsa, OK Resident Show, Blue Gallery, Kansas City, MO Champagne and Chocolate, Living Arts, Tulsa, OK Tulsa Artist Coalition Member Show, Tulsa, OK Champagne and Chocolate, Living Arts, Tulsa, OK STUDIO, AHHA Hardesty Arts Center, Tulsa, OK Tulsa Artist Coalition Member Show, Tulsa, OK MOREcolor, Oklahomans for Equality, Tulsa, OK Dreams/Reality (Joint Show), Tulsa Artist Coalition, Tulsa, OK Champagne and Chocolate, Living Arts, Tulsa, OK Tulsa Artist Coalition Member Show, Tulsa, OK Hypnogogia, Oddfab Design Lab, Oklahoma City, OK Tulsa Progressive, Savage Gallery, Tulsa, OK Tulsa Artist Coalition Member Show, Tulsa, OK Off the Wall, Savage Gallery, Tulsa, OK Spring Show, Pearl Gallery, Tulsa, OK
BIBLIOGRAPHY
THIS LAND, Cover, Issue 101, July 2015 “A Room With A View,” Art Focus Oklahoma, vol. 30, March/April 2015 “Seven Artists You Need To Know,” Tulsa World Weekend, vol. 5, July 2014 Nimrod Journal, Cover, vol. 57, June 2014 “Artist in Residence,” Tulsa People Magazine, vol. 28, June 2014 Greenwood, Britt: Tulsa ArtSpot, Featured Artist, April 2013 TEACHING
2015, Guest Speaker, CHiTCHaT 2013, Guest Lecturer, OSUIT AWARDS/GRANTS
2014, TAC Member’s Show Juror’s Choice Award COLLECTIONS
2016, Iowa State Children’s Hospital, Iowa City, IA RESIDENCIES
2013-2015, Studio Residency, AHHA Hardesty Arts Center, Tulsa, OK
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