Innocence & Arrogance - August 15, 2009

Art Whino presents Innocence & Arrogance: The Art of Arabella Proffer and Brandi Read. These two pop-surrealist and neo-realist women artists have teamed up to create an exciting exhibition of Punks, Goths, Muses, Models and Royalty. Both artists’ exquisitely rendered subjects go beyond the typical portrait, encompassing uniquely distinctive vitality and style, and exposing viewers to both of their whimsical insights and flights of imagination.

Saturday, August 15th, from 6pm – Midnight

Location:
173 Waterfront St.
National Harbor, MD 20745

Show end date: September 14th

Music by DJ Rick Taylor of We Fought The Big One

and DJ Sequential of Screen Vinyl Image

The event is FREE and open to the public.

Brandi was born in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 1976. As a small child, she looked at her mother’s colored page with envy with how well she managed to keep her crayon marks within the lines. “All it takes is practice,” she learned, and has been honing her skills ever since. At the age of twelve she lived with her grandparents and twin sister in Bradenton, Florida. Her grandmother took her to weekly art lessons and Brandi soon received her first commission. A neighbor paid twenty dollars for a painting of five California Raisins, complete with names of the family members assigned above each character. The portrait, despite referencing pop culture icons of 1988, unofficially remains the worst family portrait painted by anyone.

Brandi’s experience and education in art has expanded far beyond the lessons at the local art supply shop; she returned to Kalamazoo, Michigan, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Western Michigan University School of Art. In addition to showing in various juried exhibitions and group shows, she has won many awards and scholarships—in particular, a travel grant which enabled her to research a sculpture at the Louvre for her Readdressing Victory series. Brandi currently shows her paintings in cities on both coasts, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Dallas, and Atlanta.

Arabella is a painter whose loose narrative themes revolve around a
fascination with punk rock, aristocrats, Renaissance fashions, aging
socialites, and rock 'n' roll groupies. She attended Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA before receiving her BFA from California Institute of the Arts where she studied art and film. She has participated in solo and group exhibitions throughout North America and Europe. Born in Ann Arbor, MI she has taken up residence in many cities including Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, and Boston. She currently lives in Cleveland, OH with her husband and an evil white cat named Milkshake.