Essential shapes of Brutalism.
Exploring a common visual language
Dan Broughton’s painting practice has long been inspired by the aesthetics of Brutalist architecture, but this collection of works is primarily concerned with the distillation of the movement’s visual language. Focusing on a few key shapes, the works are deceptively simple in construction; feelings of space and light come and go throughout the collection, with colour and paint application sometimes taking a more prominent role.
Dan Broughton - ‘Over the past few years of painting, I couldn’t help but notice the frequency at which certain shapes would reoccur in my compositions. I began to think about the paintings and the aesthetic of brutalist buildings as sharing a visual language. These common shapes are not just the physical form of the buildings, but how light hits certain planes and the shadows this interplay casts. I began to think less about the buildings’ fabric and more about the architect’s design process, how they might use the play of light as a tool to create interest and drama in the finished building. I began to distill this “language” and tried to make the paintings with an architectural design approach in mind. It became clear that though the shapes were important, proportion was also vital, as was the space around and between these shapes.
Through making these paintings I attempt to understand the architect’s process by intertwining my own. I also try to both create a dialogue which demonstrates the relationship between the two art forms, and to define the common ground.
I describe my paintings as “architectural abstraction” but during the making of this collection I’ve come to see that this phrase could also be applied to brutalism. I guess it’s no coincidence that abstract expressionism and brutalism emerged as significant and groundbreaking movements at around the same time. I hope that the resulting body of work sheds new light on this particular area of the age old conversation between art and architecture.’
Essential Shapes of Brutalism
12 February – 12 March
Opening 11th February 7:30pm
Dan Broughton graduated from Fine Art degree at the University of Humberside in 1996. His paintings were selected for that year’s Northern Graduates’ Exhibition and all sold on the opening night at the Royal College of Art.
After graduating he moved to London and worked as Head Technician at the Francis Kyle Gallery in London’s West End before moving to look after the works going through Christie’s Auctioneers Contemporary Arts Dept. Dan has work in public collections nationally and private collections internationally. In 2002 Dan and his partner moved back to his hometown of Otley.