Andrew Bracey made a ReconFigure Painting on each page of the book, Art Treasures of the World over a period of nearly three years. ReconFigure feature parasitic, painted additions to the ‘host’ humans that exist within historical figurative paintings.
Art Treasures of the World involves painting over every figure in a history of art book. There are a plethora of different artworks represented, from ancient Persia, Africa and Asia, through Renaissance Europe and Modernism.
The choices of what Bracey uses to appropriate for his new paintings are taken out of his hands and instead he responds to the choices of the un-named author(s) of the 1961 book. This lack of choice by Bracey can be seen to extend beyond his own taste, but also highlights other choices made: an almost complete lack of female artists; a narrowing of a geographical spread as the book moves to the present; displaying a wide range of art – painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, costume, architecture; a conforming to the Western canon of art. This is set against Bracey’s decision to restrict his choice of parasitic marks to the triangular structures.
ReconFigure Paintings is an on-going series of work where Bracey primarily works on reproductions of oil paintings, each varying in style, period and type of figuration – that have been worked over with geometric/crystalline paintwork. The triangle is used as the simplest shape that can create a complex structure. The eye alternates between his contemporary addition and the background of the original, something that is usually sidelined by the dominant figure. Despite a consistency of rules adopted when painting, each work takes on its own unique character and has the potential to alter the viewers’ perception of the original source.
The artist’s intention is to strip the subject of the work back to painting itself; by appropriating masterpieces and some lesser-known from the medium’s past in order to create new works, he is simultaneously challenging, applauding and being daunted by them. The size of each original ReconFigure Painting correlates with different forms of reproductions sourced from gallery shops such as postcards, prints and pages from catalogues. Within his work Bracey questions the role of the original, the reproduction (in print, online or in a catalogue for example) and exhibition display.
Andrew Bracey made a ReconFigure Painting on each page of the book, Art Treasures of the World over a period of nearly three years. ReconFigure feature parasitic, painted additions to the ‘host’ humans that exist within historical figurative paintings.
Art Treasures of the World involves painting over every figure in a history of art book. There are a plethora of different artworks represented, from ancient Persia, Africa and Asia, through Renaissance Europe and Modernism. The choices of what Bracey uses to appropriate for his new paintings are taken out of his hands and instead he responds to the choices of the un-named author(s) of the 1961 book. This lack of choice by Bracey can be seen to extend beyond his own taste, but also highlights other choices made: an almost complete lack of female artists; a narrowing of a geographical spread as the book moves to the present; displaying a wide range of art – painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, costume, architecture; a conforming to the Western canon of art. This is set against Bracey’s decision to restrict his choice of parasitic marks to the triangular structures.
ReconFigure Paintings is an on-going series of work where Bracey primarily works on reproductions of oil paintings, each varying in style, period and type of figuration – that have been worked over with geometric/crystalline paintwork. The triangle is used as the simplest shape that can create a complex structure. The eye alternates between his contemporary addition and the background of the original, something that is usually sidelined by the dominant figure. Despite a consistency of rules adopted when painting, each work takes on its own unique character and has the potential to alter the viewers’ perception of the original source.
The artist’s intention is to strip the subject of the work back to painting itself; by appropriating masterpieces and some lesser-known from the medium’s past in order to create new works, he is simultaneously challenging, applauding and being daunted by them. The size of each original ReconFigure Painting correlates with different forms of reproductions sourced from gallery shops such as postcards, prints and pages from catalogues. Within his work Bracey questions the role of the original, the reproduction (in print, online or in a catalogue for example) and exhibition display.
Please wait for the images to self-curate, they load in a different order every time the page refreshes.
Andrew Bracey’s work questions the role of the original, the reproduction and exhibition display. His current PhD by Practice is exploring how contemporary artists use historical paintings to initiate a dialogue between the past and the contemporary, through the metaphor of the parasite and mutualism. Bracey is also currently working on solo projects, a research project ‘Bummock’ with Danica Maier, and with Steve Dutton on a Curatorial project, ‘Midpointness’. He is Programme Leader of MA Fine Art at The University of Lincoln, England.
Andrew Bracey is based in Waddington, Lincolnshire. He has exhibited extensively with solo exhibitions including: Project Space Plus, Lincoln; General Practice, Lincoln (2019); Isherwood gallery, Wigan (2017); Usher Gallery, Lincoln (2014); Nottingham Castle (2014); Manchester Art Gallery (2009); Transition Gallery, London (2007) and firstsite, Colchester (2006). He has also exhibited in over 150 national and international group shows. Curated exhibitions include ‘Enough is Definitely Enough’, General Practice, Lincoln and touring (2019-20); ‘Midpointness’, Airspace Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent (with Steve Dutton, 2016); ‘(detail)’, H-Project Space, Bangkok and touring (2014-15); ‘Misdirect Movies’, Royal Standard, Liverpool, and touring (with John Rimmer, 2013); and ‘Unspooling: Artists & Cinema’, Cornerhouse, Manchester (with Dave Griffiths, 2010).
Andrew Bracey made a ReconFigure Painting on each page of the book, Art Treasures of the World over a period of nearly three years. ReconFigure feature parasitic, painted additions to the ‘host’ humans that exist within historical figurative paintings.
Art Treasures of the World involves painting over every figure in a history of art book. There are a plethora of different artworks represented, from ancient Persia, Africa and Asia, through Renaissance Europe and Modernism. The choices of what Bracey uses to appropriate for his new paintings are taken out of his hands and instead he responds to the choices of the un-named author(s) of the 1961 book. This lack of choice by Bracey can be seen to extend beyond his own taste, but also highlights other choices made: an almost complete lack of female artists; a narrowing of a geographical spread as the book moves to the present; displaying a wide range of art – painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, costume, architecture; a conforming to the Western canon of art. This is set against Bracey’s decision to restrict his choice of parasitic marks to the triangular structures.
ReconFigure Paintings is an on-going series of work where Bracey primarily works on reproductions of oil paintings, each varying in style, period and type of figuration – that have been worked over with geometric/crystalline paintwork. The triangle is used as the simplest shape that can create a complex structure. The eye alternates between his contemporary addition and the background of the original, something that is usually sidelined by the dominant figure. Despite a consistency of rules adopted when painting, each work takes on its own unique character and has the potential to alter the viewers’ perception of the original source.
The artist’s intention is to strip the subject of the work back to painting itself; by appropriating masterpieces and some lesser-known from the medium’s past in order to create new works, he is simultaneously challenging, applauding and being daunted by them. The size of each original ReconFigure Painting correlates with different forms of reproductions sourced from gallery shops such as postcards, prints and pages from catalogues. Within his work Bracey questions the role of the original, the reproduction (in print, online or in a catalogue for example) and exhibition display.
Please wait for the images to self-curate, they load in a different order every time the page refreshes.
Andrew Bracey’s work questions the role of the original, the reproduction and exhibition display. His current PhD by Practice is exploring how contemporary artists use historical paintings to initiate a dialogue between the past and the contemporary, through the metaphor of the parasite and mutualism. Bracey is also currently working on solo projects, a research project ‘Bummock’ with Danica Maier, and with Steve Dutton on a Curatorial project, ‘Midpointness’. He is Programme Leader of MA Fine Art at The University of Lincoln, England.
Andrew Bracey is based in Waddington, Lincolnshire. He has exhibited extensively with solo exhibitions including: Project Space Plus, Lincoln; General Practice, Lincoln (2019); Isherwood gallery, Wigan (2017); Usher Gallery, Lincoln (2014); Nottingham Castle (2014); Manchester Art Gallery (2009); Transition Gallery, London (2007) and firstsite, Colchester (2006). He has also exhibited in over 150 national and international group shows. Curated exhibitions include ‘Enough is Definitely Enough’, General Practice, Lincoln and touring (2019-20); ‘Midpointness’, Airspace Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent (with Steve Dutton, 2016); ‘(detail)’, H-Project Space, Bangkok and touring (2014-15); ‘Misdirect Movies’, Royal Standard, Liverpool, and touring (with John Rimmer, 2013); and ‘Unspooling: Artists & Cinema’, Cornerhouse, Manchester (with Dave Griffiths, 2010).
Andrew Bracey’s work questions the role of the original, the reproduction and exhibition display. His current PhD by Practice is exploring how contemporary artists use historical paintings to initiate a dialogue between the past and the contemporary, through the metaphor of the parasite and mutualism. Bracey is also currently working on solo projects, a research project ‘Bummock’ with Danica Maier, and with Steve Dutton on a Curatorial project, ‘Midpointness’. He is Programme Leader of MA Fine Art at The University of Lincoln, England.
Andrew Bracey is based in Waddington, Lincolnshire. He has exhibited extensively with solo exhibitions including: Project Space Plus, Lincoln; General Practice, Lincoln (2019); Isherwood Gallery, Wigan (2017); Usher Gallery, Lincoln (2014); Nottingham Castle (2014); Manchester Art Gallery (2009); Transition Gallery, London (2007) and Firstsite, Colchester (2006). He has also exhibited in over 150 national and international group shows. Curated exhibitions include ‘Enough is Definitely Enough’, General Practice, Lincoln and touring (2019-20); ‘Midpointness’, Airspace Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent (with Steve Dutton, 2016); ‘(detail)’, H-Project Space, Bangkok and touring (2014-15); ‘Misdirect Movies’, Royal Standard, Liverpool, and touring (with John Rimmer, 2013); and ‘Unspooling: Artists & Cinema’, Cornerhouse, Manchester (with Dave Griffiths, 2010).
