JOHN BROSIO - Sue Greenwood Fine Art

UPCOMING SHOW
Up to 10 works on show
October 2 thru 31, 2006
Sue Greenwood Fine Art
330 N. Coast Highway
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
(949) 494-0669
Ripping through the American
landscape genre in much the
same way as the actual twisters
that serve as the subject matter for these
new works, John Brosio brings an
innovative sense of drama and tension to
a traditional style of depicting scenes
from nature.
“For me the tornado represents
a perfect blend of mythology and
science,” says Brosio. “It is easy to
imagine it alive and unpredictable, to
view it as a god or agent thereof. One sees
this mile-high banshee choosing certain
targets and skipping others like a jittery
reaper with sound and mannerisms so
evocative of a living entity.”
Brosio’s handle on the twisters
he depicts comes from a deep
understanding of the subject gained from
doing field research as an actual storm
chaser and watching the ebb and flow of
these destructive forces as they make
their way across the American prairie.
SHOW LOCATION
LAGUNA BEACH, CA
JOHN BROSIO
Tornado!
“Witnessing its birth, entire life, death
and interim behavior leaves me feeling
privy to the life of an animal greater than
us—the footfall of a giant,” says Brosio.
“And, after all the wonder and
speculation, it is in the end, like me, just
a mass of animated dust.”
However, it’s not just the drama of
the scenes that attracts Brosio to the
subject matter. For him, the paintings still
maintain a very high degree of technical
possibilities that need to be understood to
fully delve into these new works.
“The inspiration for this particular
set of twister paintings is derived from an
exploration of the figure/ground
relationship, a dynamic that pervades all
art,” says Brosio. “In these images, moving
almost 180 degrees from the more
diorama-like depictions of American
scenery, I looked to painters like Mark
Rothko and Albert Pinkham Ryder. Prior
to this pont, the paintings were evocative
of artists like Edward Hopper.

The Collector Says . . .
“John Brosio’s work is exciting and original. It is one of the featured works in our collection
and we’ve followed his career with great interest. What we enjoy so much about his work is
the drama of the painting rather than just the background. So many landscapes are these
pretty little nature scenes, but Brosio’s have drama and contrast as well as a brooding
presence in the sky, with dark clouds that remind me of a Rembrandt.”
– Tony and Phyllis Crowell
American Farm, oil on canvas, 46 x 60"
175

I would like collectors to ‘hear’ these
new paintings to a degree”
While his previous twister paintings
were more content-oriented, Brosio’s
newer paintings are becoming more
allegorical. Brosio has also chosen to
focus more on the shape and
composition of the twister as well as its
abstract properties while still offering the
contrast of it against the small town or
scene below.
“In the earlier work, I wanted to
show people carrying on in front of this
The Rapture, oil on canvas, 72 x 84"
pending disaster and not noticing, in the
same way people, say, live in cities and
don’t notice the rampant crime, for
example,” says Brosio. “In these new
paintings, that dynamic is still there and
I show people next to this larger than life
subject matter and the relationship of
the twister to the environment as
dictated by light and weight.”
While spending time with storm
chasers over the years, Brosio has found
several characteristics that these twisters
share with paintings.
“When you’re pretty close, you can’t see
it at all, it only exists at a distance,” says
Brosio. “And at a distance you see that
they are extremely delineated, much like
a paper cut.”
And, after years of painting
tornadoes, Brosio has found a few
particular effects that create what he sees
as the best time and means to depict
these twisters.
“After dusk you get these cobalt blue
skies that are just fascinating to paint,”
says Brosio. “And, during a hailstorm

with a driving 60 mile per hour wind,
the twister looks like a perfect traffic
cone upended and then you see it
disappear over the horizon as it moves
away, like rolling clouds.”
While some people have questioned
Brosio’s use of such a destructive and
catastrophic act of nature as a subject for
painting, the artist believes that such
views don’t take into account what he is
primarily working towards.
“I see the elements I depict as
inseparable and destruction an
incidental,” says Brosio. “Tornadoes,
like tigers and lions, are part of real
nature. They have an inherent beauty
and unconscious, superior strength
which gives random permission to the
continuation of humanity.”
For a direct link to the
exhibiting gallery go to
www.americanartcollector.com
Eastern, CO., oil on canvas, 60 x 36"
Price Range Indicator
Our at-a-glance Price Range Indicator
shows what you can expect to pay for
this artist’s work.
Medium Large
1995 $2,000 $3,000
2000 $2,500 $5,000
2006 $6,000 $14,000
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