SOON THIS WILL NOT MATTER

Soon This Will Not Matter comprises of three large, site-specific wall drawings in SPACE by New Orleans artist, Kyle Bravo. Bravo’s figurative wall drawings touch on the ideas of internal and external by portraying autobiographical figures that must work within the architectural parameters of their environment. The drawings often inflict a sense of anxiety, as if the figure is trying to escape its two-dimensional prison yet they remain balanced with a touch of dark humor. Kyle explores the grey area between the everyday-mundane and the ceaseless search for existential meaning and purpose. He writes, “Ultimately, the work is a playful attempt to cope with and endure the present, while acknowledging and accepting the inevitability of failure and the eventuality of death.”

In his artist statement Kyle notes, “My recent drawings confound how we understand the depiction of dimension, seeming at times flat, other times dimensional, but ultimately both and neither at the same time. I’ve taken a particular interest in the fuzzy area between the 2nd and 3rd dimensions. Much 2D work also has dimension in space, for example the layers of a collage, the thickness of a piece of paper, or the volume of a stroke of paint. I’m interested in this subtle three-dimensional building that often goes unnoticed in the making of 2D work.” His work visibly draws inspiration from a background in the DIY and punk subculture, including editing and illustrating the book “Making Stuff and Doing Things: A collection of DIY guides to doing just about everything,” based off of his “HOW2” zines. Kyle also has a formal background in graphic design and printmaking, receiving his BFA from Louisiana State University and MFA from the University of North Carolina. His comprehensive experiences have developed into a style that is “crude, raw, and abrasive, yet simultaneously minimal, economical, and direct.”

Kyle Bravo lives and works in New Orleans’ upper 9^th Ward, where he has lived since before hurricane Katrina. He is a founding member of the artist-run gallery The Front and also co-founder of Hot Iron Press, both hand-in-hand with his wife, artist Jenny LeBlanc. Kyle’s most recent musical projects include fiddling with his 4-track in his garage and also Kay Swiss and the Keddz and Okay Failures. Check out some reviews of his wall drawings, other work such as his billboard drawings, and a write up and interview with New Orleans art site, Pelican Bomb.

Read Britta Konau’s review from Dig Portland here:
http://www.digportland.com/feeling-dwarfed/