The artwork features a striking figure in dark clothing standing against a vibrant green backdrop. The colors and shapes create a bold, geometric composition that draws the viewer's eye. The subject matter appears to be a stylized human form, though the identity is obscured, conveying a sense of anonymity. The distinct, almost surreal aesthetic suggests an experimental approach to portraiture, blending realism with abstract elements. The artist's intention may be to explore themes of identity, individuality, or the human experience within a contemporary visual language. ...
Marcus Brutus (b. 1991, Silver Spring, MD) is a self-taught, New York City-based artist whose paintings explore ideas of power through portraiture by examining Black American identity and civil rights struggles. Brutus, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree from St. John’s University, Queens and previously worked in Public Relations, deftly applies his innate ability of storytelling to art. Culling from a diversity of source material—fashion, film, music, archival photography, and literature, for instance—he fluidly entwines subtle and overt references to the past and present, working between imagined and documented states to create vignettes that collapse discrete eras and context. There is a palpable intensity to his work, reinforced by a radiant palette held in tension with gesso-bare canvas, and dynamically askew lines that wind and fray upon the image plane. “What I’m trying to do is establish a legacy,” Brutus explains. “I want to show these very contemporary issues but show them as having some long past.” ...
