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<\/a><\/p>\nBradley Wood, The Gardens, 2018, oil on canvas, 89″ x 65″<\/p>\n
In the exhibition, titled The Spoils<\/em>, it is apparent that Wood\u2019s has ambivalent feelings about the grandiose environments he creates. In The Gardens<\/em>, many exotic birds perch in a bright green room, while in Wisteria Manor<\/em>, the extensive use of embellishments and dramatic lighting goes over the top. People always wish for abundance, but Wood poses the question if there is such thing as too much. However, as a viewer, one does not complain as the plenitude of animals, patterns, colour, furniture and more, allow the artist to demonstrate his talent many times over.<\/p>\n Bradley Wood, Wisteria Manor, 2018, oil on canvas, 84″ x 65″<\/p>\n Littered in Wood\u2019s paintings are lounging, blas\u00e9 <\/em>figures. Their elongated limbs accentuate their leisure, while their plain facial expressions suggest an indifference to the grandeur around them. The facial expression found on Wood\u2019s figures can be compared to the \u201cpublic, outward, blas\u00e9<\/em>,\u201d found in Edouard Manet\u2019s 1882, A Bar at the Folies-Bergere. Identified by British Art Historian and writer, T.J. Clark, similar expressions of boredom and indifference were explored in various art forms at the turn of modernity, when ideas such as mass consumerism began. The blas\u00e9<\/em> attitude seems appropriate for Wood\u2019s subjects who are underwhelmed by affluence.<\/p>\n Bradley Wood, St. Tropez, 2018, oil on canvas, 66″ x 110″<\/p>\n Wood\u2019s attention to social environment could be easily related to important 20th Century German Expressionists like Ludwig Kirschner and George Grosz who depicted the social milieu of their time. Wood, however, doesn\u2019t openly criticize the lifestyle of his models but focuses more on the use of colour and form in order to create beautiful paintings, inviting the viewers to immerse themselves in.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n