ART FOR CHANGE and Prospect Park Alliance present Park of Dreams, a public art exhibition featuring larger-than-life work by leading New York-based contemporary artists, on view now through Spring 2024. Included in this exhibition is Brooklyn-based artist Marcus Brutus.
Marcus Brutus is a self-taught artist whose practice explores, in his own words, “ideas of power through portraiture.” Drawing inspiration from diverse source materials culled from the realms of fashion, film, music, photography, art, and politics, he fluidly interweaves subtle and overt references to the past and present, the real and imagined, to create vignettes that seem to collapse discrete eras and context. “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.” There is a palpable emotional intensity to his practice, reinforced by his saturated use of color and dynamically askew lines.
Marcus Brutus’s Li Dous Konsa is available for purchase at artforchange.com, with 5% of the purchase price, up to $15,000, of each limited edition print sold being donated to the Prospect Park Alliance. In keeping with all ART FOR CHANGE releases, artists will receive 50% of the net proceeds from each print sale.
SHOP THE PRINT
Centered on two figures bicycling alongside a body of water, Li Dous Konsa captures a serene, quotidian moment in time, as a way of challenging centuries-old, negative depictions of Black people around the world. One of the figure’s hair glides through the wind as the couple cruises through a grassy field lined with yellow and white flowers, in a deliberately carefree manner intended to highlight positive histories of the global African diaspora. In an homage to the Haitian song that this work borrows its title from, the other figure dons a blue, red, and white outfit that mirrors the colors of the Caribbean nation’s flag. For this edition, Brutus will hand embellish twenty prints by using acrylic paint to add new details and color combinations.
On his participation in the exhibition, Brutus notes: “The Prospect Park Alliance is important to me. I’ve lived in New York since 2009, and have spent a considerable amount of time in Prospect Park, whether it be during casual picnics with friends or at larger events held during the spring and summer months.”
Marcus Brutus pictured in his Greenpoint studio. Image courtesy of Stephen Velastegui.
Recently, Marcus Brutus sat down for an interview with Interview journalist Christopher Bollen as the artist prepared for his first show in Paris. Brutus explains that the groups of works he creates are always inspired by a piece of literature– if even just a fragment. When asked about his color palette, Brutus explains, “color is just as important as the subject or narrative within the work.” On when he’s struck with his best ideas, Brutus notes, “if I have bad ideas at reasonable hours, 1 a.m. is when the best ones come.”
Two works by Marcus Brutus. Images courtesy of Stephen Velastegui.
SHOP THE PRINT
Centered on two figures bicycling alongside a body of water, Li Dous Konsa captures a serene, quotidian moment in time, as a way of challenging centuries-old, negative depictions of Black people around the world. One of the figure’s hair glides through the wind as the couple cruises through a grassy field lined with yellow and white flowers, in a deliberately carefree manner intended to highlight positive histories of the global African diaspora. In an homage to the Haitian song that this work borrows its title from, the other figure dons a blue, red, and white outfit that mirrors the colors of the Caribbean nation’s flag. For this edition, Brutus will hand embellish twenty prints by using acrylic paint to add new details and color combinations.
On his participation in the exhibition, Brutus notes: “The Prospect Park Alliance is important to me. I’ve lived in New York since 2009, and have spent a considerable amount of time in Prospect Park, whether it be during casual picnics with friends or at larger events held during the spring and summer months.”
Marcus Brutus pictured in his Greenpoint studio. Image courtesy of Stephen Velastegui.
Recently, Marcus Brutus sat down for an interview with Interview journalist Christopher Bollen as the artist prepared for his first show in Paris. Brutus explains that the groups of works he creates are always inspired by a piece of literature– if even just a fragment. When asked about his color palette, Brutus explains, “color is just as important as the subject or narrative within the work.” On when he’s struck with his best ideas, Brutus notes, “if I have bad ideas at reasonable hours, 1 a.m. is when the best ones come.”
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