Saturday, January 19, 2013

The Women of Troy

Tough, edgy, tender, allusive, challenging, ethereal. All these adjectives can describe the stunning works and alter egos of Canadian self-taught artist Troy Brooks. As a young man he found strength in these female forms, which emerged in his earliest drawings. They became a safe haven from school bullies. They have transformed into an army of conquerors as Troy enters his forties. After just two years of showing these oil paintings, Troy had become a full time artist, with strong sales in still tentative times for the art world. It's no wonder!

A Toronto paper wrote these words. "Blending mannerist elements of figurative pop art, surreal distortion and symbolism, Troy Brooks presents an elaborate pageantry of female characters observed in allegorical settings. These towering yet fragile women play out scenes that explore the fringes of an internal landscape; caught in moments where something transformative has or is about to happen."