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B EN B ROU G H Hours of Forever
bruno david gallery
BEN BROUGH Hours of Forever
January 20 - March 4, 2023 Bruno David Gallery 7513 Forsyth Boulevard Saint Louis, Missouri 63105, U.S.A. info@brunodavidgallery.com www.brunodavidgallery.com Founder/Director: Bruno L. David This catalogue was published in conjunction with the online exhibition “Sea Lover” at Bruno David Gallery. Editor: Bruno L. David Catalogue Designer: Hazel Tao Designer Assistant: Claudia R. David Printed in USA All works courtesy of Ben Brough and Bruno David Gallery Photographs by Bruno David Gallery Cover image: Lone Rider 1, (detail) 2021 Acrylic on canvas 18 x 24 inches (45.7 x 61 cm.) First Edition Copyright ©2023 Ben Brough and Bruno David Gallery All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without the written permission of Bruno David Gallery
CONTENTS
QUOTE BY BEN BROUGH AFTERWORD BY BRUNO L. DAVID CHECKLIST AND IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION BIOGRAPHY
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“The image and language of a song can relieve an era.” Ben Brough
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AFTERWORD BY BRUNO L. DAVID 8
I am pleased to present, Hours of Forever an exhibition by Ben Brough. This is Brough’s second exhibition with the gallery. Hours of Forever is a collection of paintings and works on paper made during a turbulent moment in time illustrating calamity capsized during rough seas catapulted to an old found beauty inspired by a wide range of guidance from the voice and lyrics of songs, the over spray of paint resembling the dust from the long, lonely road and imagery borrowed from the great American west. Featuring a sweeping cast of musicians, pin up beauties, Mexican maidens and the ghosts of muses whose voice and stature give a sense of comfort, pleasure and a dash of toughness to carry themselves to gaze back at the viewer and force to see the person within. In his text about this series, Ben said “The image and language of a song can relieve an era.” Ben Brough, b.1978 is an American artist who works in painting, drawing and print making. He lives and works in Southern California. Support for the creation of significant new works of art has been the core to the mission and program of the Bruno David Gallery since its founding in 2005. I am deeply grateful to Hazel Tao, who gave much time, talent, and expertise to the production of this catalogue. Invaluable gallery staff support for the exhibition was provided by Taylor Anderson, Jacob Hughes, Beth McDonald, Jada Ivy, Benjamin Levine, David Luo, and Sammy Wood.
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CHECKLIST & IMAGES OF THE EXHIBITION
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(Detail) 12
Patsy 2022 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 18 inches (61 × 45.7 cm)
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Please Don’t Touch 2022 Acrylic on paper 27 1/2 x 21 1/2 inches (69.9 × 54.6 cm)
Weepin Willow 2022 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 18 inches (61 × 45.7 cm)
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Gambler of Tequila 2022 Acrylic on paper 24 x 18 inches (61 × 45.7 cm)
Untitled 2022 Acrylic on paper 12 x 18 inches (30.5 x 45.7 cm)
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Wandering Skull 2021 Acrylic on canvas 30 x 24 inches (76.2 × 61 cm)
Sangria 2022 Acrylic on paper 24 x 18 inches (61 × 45.7 cm)
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(Detail) 20
Walking After Midnight 2022 Acrylic on canvas 20 x 20 inches (50.8 × 50.8 cm)
Untitled 2022 Acrylic on paper 18 x 12 inches (45.7 x 30.5 cm)
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(Detail) 22
Island girl pin up 2022 Acrylic on paper 24 x 18 inches (61 × 45.7 cm)
Untitled 2022 Acrylic on paper 18 x 12 inches (45.7 x 30.5 cm)
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Lone Rider 2 2022 Acrylic on canvas 18 x 24 inches (45.7 × 61 cm)
Palm Springs pinup 2022 Acrylic on paper 24 x 18 inches (61 × 45.7 cm)
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(Detail) 26
Honkey Tonk Angel 2022 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 20 inches (61 × 50.8 cm)
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Grab the Bull by the Horns 3 2022 Acrylic on paper 18 x 12 inches (45.7 × 30.5 cm)
Sharp Shootin Shot of Whiskey 2022 Acrylic on paper 24 x 18 inches (61 × 45.7 cm)
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Lone Rider 1 2021 Acrylic on canvas 18 x 24 inches (45.7 × 61 cm)
Tropical pin up 2022 Acrylic on paper 24 x 18 inches (61 × 45.7 cm)
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(Detail) 32
Give ’em Enough Rope 2022 Acrylic on canvas 18 x 24 inches (45.7 × 61 cm)
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Untitled 2022 Acrylic on paper 18 x 12 inches (45.7 x 30.5 cm)
Grab the Bull by the Horns 1 2022 Acrylic on paper 18 x 12 inches (45.7 × 30.5 cm)
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Cowgirl 3 2022 Acrylic on paper 24 x 18 inches (61 × 45.7 cm)
El Paso 2022 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 24 inches (61 × 61 cm)
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Grab the Bull by the Horns 2 2021 Acrylic on paper 18 x 12 inches (45.7 × 30.5 cm)
Swift Wrist of Firewater 2022 Acrylic on paper 24 x 18 inches (61 × 45.7 cm)
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Wanderin Skull 2022 Acrylic on paper 24 x 18 inches (61 × 45.7 cm)
Cowgirl 1 2022 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 18 inches (61 × 45.7 cm)
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Untitled 2022 Acrylic on paper 18 x 12 inches (45.7 x 30.5 cm)
The Masters Call 2022 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 24 inches (61 × 61 cm)
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Grab the Bull by the Horns 4 2022 Acrylic on paper 18 x 12 inches (45.7 × 30.5 cm)
Exhale ‘em 2022 Acrylic on canvas 24 x 20 inches (61 × 50.8 cm)
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Sundawn 2022 Acrylic on canvas 40 x 16 inches (101.6 × 40.6 cm)
Tijuana 2022 Acrylic on canvas 28 x 22 inches (71.1 × 55.9 cm)
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BEN BROUGH b. 1978, Huntington Beach, California lives and works in Costa Mesa, CA
Selected Solo Exhibitions 2023 2018 2015 2012 2010 2009
Bruno David Gallery, St. Louis, MO. “Hours of Forever” (catalog) Bruno David Gallery, St. Louis, MO. “Ben Brough: Femmes Fatales” (catalog) Huntington Beach Surfing Museum “Children of the Wave” AR4T Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA “Lights out Beach City” May AR4T Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA “A Million Charming Creatures” July Curbside Gallery, Santa Ana, CA “Sudden Sense of Liberty”
Curbside Gallery, Santa Ana, CA “No Offense God but you Made Me Wrong”
Selected Group Exhibitions 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Bruno David Gallery, St. Louis, MO “OVERVIEW_2023” Bruno David Gallery, St. Louis, MO “OVERVIEW_2022” Bruno David Gallery, St. Louis, MO “Bilingual: Abstract & Figurative” (catalogue) Bruno David Gallery, St. Louis, MO “OVERVIEW_2020” Bruno David Gallery, St. Louis, MO “OVERVIEW_2019” Bruno David Gallery, St. Louis, MO “OVERVIEW_2018” The Underground Gallery, London, England “Human Nature 4” Bruno David Gallery, St. Louis, MO “Los Angeles Painting: Formalism to Street Art” Curated by Andi Campognone (catalogue)
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2016 2015
2014 2013 2010
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2006 2002 2001 2000 1999
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AR4T gallery, Laguna Beach, CA “TEN: PT. 2” Curbside gallery, Santa Ana, CA “Wanderlust or Bust” The Underground Gallery, London, England “Human Nature 3” Bruno David Gallery, St. Louis, MO “AND / OR” (catalogue) Pirahna Gallery, Seattle, Washington “Human Nature 3” Villa Di Donato, Naples, Italy “MANA in Naples” ART Hotel Gran Paradiso, Sorrento, Italy “Art in rooms” AR4T gallery, Laguna Beach, CA “TEN artists working in SOCAL” Museum of Art and History, Lancaster, CA “MOAH Spirit of Summer-Artists of MANA” Curated by Andi Campognone New Image art Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca “Dark Beach” The Happening ART festival, Sydney Australia Metro Pictures, New York, NY, ‘SWELL” NYEHAUS, New York, NY ‘SWELL” Korean Art and Music festival, South Korea Cannible Flower Gallery, Los Angeles, CA “Group Show” The Surf Gallery, Laguna Beach, CA ”Works on Paper”, The Light Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA “Board Art” Montanaro Gallery, Newport, RI “Surf Art Nouveau” Limbo Fine Arts, San Diego, CA “Love Without Boarders” LAB101 Gallery, Culver City, CA “Stache for Cash” LAB101 Gallery, Culver City, CA “That Little blinking Light of Security” (curated) Project Gallery, Los Angeles, Ca “The Love Movement” Subject Matter Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA “Phoney Roosters” FBOLKO Gallery, Guadalajara, Mexico “Arte del Trabajo” Gollestani Gallery, Kailua-Kona, HI “Scoop Da loop” King Kamehameha Gallery, Kailua-Kona, HI “Vintage Canoe Show” Seven Degrees Gallery, Laguna Beach, Ca “Volcom Ten Year Retrospective” MODART, San Diego, CA “MODart 2000” Stimbert Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA “ARTTROUT Black and White Show” Stimbert Gallery, Costa Mesa, CA “ARTTROUT”
Selected Bibliography “Hours of Forever,” (Catalog), Bruno David Gallery Publications, October 2023 Eric Minh Swenson, “Ben Brough”. EMS Films, February 2023 “Ben Brough: Femmes Fatales,” (Catalog), Bruno David Gallery Publications, May 2018 HEC-TV, “The Bruno David Gallery’s Continues to Promote Contemporary Art” Interview by Kerry Marks, February 26, 2018 HEC-TV, “Bruno David Brings a Taste of the Los Angeles Art Scene to St. Louis” Interview by Kerry Marks, September 18, 2017 Eric Minh Swenson, “Ben Brough: Carnival”, Produced by AC Projects, Music by Black Bananas. January 22, 2015 Eric Minh Swenson, “Ben Brough: Bad Bitches”, Music by The Stiches. August 12, 2015 MANA: The Film, directed by Eric Minh Swenson, produced by Andi Campognone + Alex Couwenberg, 2013
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ARTISTS Antonio Ainscough Sara Ghazi Asadollahi Barry Anderson Laura Beard Heather Bennett Lisa K. Blatt Michael Byron Ben Brough Quinn A. Briceno Bunny Burson Lisa Bulawsky Judy Child Carmon Colangelo William Conger Alex Couwenberg
Terry James Conrad Jill Downen Damon Freed Yvette Drury Dubinsky Douglass Freed Adrian Gonzalez Richard Hull Mee Jey Kelley Johnson Chris Kahler Leslie Laskey Justin Henry Miller James Austin Murray William Morris Arny Nadler
Yvonne Osei Patricia Olynyk Charles P. Reay Daniel Raedeke Tom Reed Frank Schwaiger Eric Minh Swenson Char Schwall Christina Shmigel Thomas Sleet Buzz Spector Andrea Stanilav Cindy Tower Mario Trejo
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