CANDYLAND
♥️,2022
Oil ,spray paint,pigment stick, chalkpastels and pigment powder on canvas
72 x 60 inches
The enigmatic artist Brandon Tellez returns to grace the walls of Black Wall Street Gallery with his latest exhibition filled with his signature blend of tormented beauty, dichotic themes, and richly textured figurative abstractions. In the past, we've seen Tellez's darkly distorted images of prolific artits, enviromental transformations, and inklings of a need to delve deeper and farther away from realism. Over the course of months, Brandon's work opened its horizons to become more abstract and more difficult to define. Textures become thicker, palettes become richer, and the subject matter becomes more intimate. Brandon has never bogged down by expectations of his work. In a near mantric mentality, Tellez is obsessed with "giving his viewers somethng new." More for him than for you, really. He must continue to grow. And funny enough, he enjoys it when people dont really get it. He likes for things to be a bit of a puzzle. So much so that i hestitate in contextualizing these pieces. Alas, I must, for even though the artwork needs no explanation, they are even more emotive with his added commentary. Brandon's disregard for an outside perspective on his work can be seen in the central subject of his latest series.
"First and foremost, this show, Candyland, is a show just for my family." Brandon is the eldest of his siblings and the farthest from home. Living in the chaos of New York is its own battle, but, as many transplants may testify, looking back home through a screen can make things even harder. It can make you realize your family is growing up without you. That painful reality fuels this batch of Brandon's work. Yearning for his family made his love for them sweeter. It drove him to create a paradise on canvas, where he could be with them and express his passion without the sacrifice of going home and giving up his dreams. In a sense, that's what Candyland is about. Brandon paints odes to his Kansas while standing in his Oz. Now it wouldn't be a Tellez exhibition if he didn't pay homage to his creator.
Dios is the cleanest and most visually distinct piece in the series. Sky blues and ocean indigos surround the body of Christ, placing him in a vastness found nowhere else in the exhibition. Brandon sees Jesus as the protector of his family and thus, Dios furthers the depth of his familial bond. The piece begins the dialogue on the running theme of sacrifice. So much so that Brandon employs the use of synthetic blood in its creation. A symbolic tool to represent the dedication he feels for his people. In a sharp turn, we turn our attention to Brandon's self portrait, Diablo. Brandon's need for a balance regulates him to painting this reddish silhouette surrounded by chaos. Horned and impure, the direction of the figure cannot be deciphered. Is he facing the entropy, willingly embracing it, or looking out toward the viewer begging for an escape? Why would Brandon paint his likeness in a landscape of increasingly complex lies as opposed to the simplicity of truth in Dios? Why portray himself in this madness? Brandon sees it as a sacrificial. If soemone has to be in the chaos, if someone must feel pain, he feels it is his responsibility. It's his duty to go through the fire, to spare his family the pain, and to show them they can chase their dreams too. he wants them to realize the resilience in their blood.
"Never give up. Do what you love. Dont ever let anyone stop you."
In his family portraits, Brandon works with an extended palette widening his earthy tones to fully encapsulate the love he feels for his subject and their distinct personalities. The clearest example is the sugar- coated colors and harmonizing hues found in '<3'. Brandon's cathartic technique is soaked in simplicity and child-like admiration when painting the women in his life (his mom, 4 sisters and two nieces). His choice of materials reflects his chase for joyful childhood in his process. These large uncomplicated brush strokes allow Brandon to time-travel and rediscover that juvenile pureness- that unabashed and untainted love that exists only in family. Sometimes, only in youth. We can see the contrast in how Tellez chooses to show the men in his family, himself included. There's a similarity in composition, texture, and palette. With El Soldado and Pescando. The pose is nearly the same, but if look at the reference photos, they couldn't be less related. One is a prideful moment in a career made for assault and defense- a vignette in a violently patriotic path. The other is a joyous excersise in smiles and silence practiced in the meditative and connective sport of fishing. Both are equally powerful to Brandon, exposing how he chooses to think of his father and baby brother.
Brandon has found a beautiful balance between figurative work and abstractions. This combination makes his goal of creating a universe for his audience and himself an unhindered process. As his visual launguage continues to mature, so do Brandon's plans for implementation. His previous installations have set the pace for what can be done with the presentation of his work. Brandon plans to create those micro-universe on canvas and expand them enviromentally, and in time, will entirely transport his audience into the subject of each of his works.