Brenton Good (US)
Text/Translation GHA

American artist Brenton Good’s artworks consist of a series of monotype relief prints that pair a severe grid with the structure of a Chinese scroll painting. The grid itself is heavily embedded in Western Art History but this familiar structure is intentionally paired with the equally rigid Eastern geometry of a Chinese scroll, but with a vast and alternate symbolism. When joined together these two forms inherently create tension (reflective of larger cultural tensions) but also generate new symmetries and parallels as a new holistic unit. This synthesizing of the forms invents a new dialogue in the space in which they meet.

The nature of a reduction print is that at each step, for each color, the block is slowly carved away. As the printing matrix disappears, the fragility of the image is heightened. Each decision made about color, transparency, weight, etc. becomes irreversible. With the carved elements eliminated, it is impossible to return to an earlier decision and rework or reprint it. His monoprints represent the simplicity found in architectural structures, like glass paneled office buildings, that we so often see in our cities. Good plays subtlety with color, blue being the leading color, contrasting with warmer brick tones.