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Andrew
Bracey's making a name for himself (sometimes literally,
he's created his signature in neon) through his prolific
passion for painting. Bracey takes everyday materials
and turns them into abstract paintings but according to
Bracey he fails to do this. "It isn't a problem to
me as they become something else, often more interesting."
Bracey likes to tread a fine line, his work lies somewhere
between the real and the abstract. Currently he is painting
hundreds of nail heads with different painting styles.
"They can be viewed as a load of nails, " he
explains "individually as separate paintings or on
mass as a big dot painting."
Bracey is keen that his work is seen in the context
of painting in order that it can be discussed in that
language. "It's similar to the way Stockholder
(Jessica) says her work is painting rather than sculpture."
Whilst retrogressive, this is not a problem for Bracey,
and of course he absorbs many facets of contemporary
art. "This filters into my work in an organic way."
For Bracey the title of a piece is almost a necessary
evil, a means to an end, in guiding the viewer to his
perspective. "The important thing is the ideas
and the way the work is made, the title often comes
at the end of the process, a good piece of work should
hopefully hold up above the title."
Bracey like many artists before him has suffered for
his art; he put on weight (that he just cannot lose)
after spending a year eating a packet of pistachio nuts
every day to paint on and he also slipped a disc after
bending over a painting all day. "I couldn't move,
I had to crawl around for about 3 weeks and mucked up
my back for life. Talk about suffering for your art!"
Mike Dawson,
Flux magazine, issue 40.
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