Brooklyn Whelan

Echoes of Brooklyn Whelan’s earlier incarnation as a graffiti artist can be found in his new solo show, Strike Now Riot Later. He demonstrates an understanding of the structural flow and sweeping rhythm of popular culture as, in some works, the clouds float from one canvas to the next. A delicate balance between urban scrawl and gallery, the paintings drift along an ephemeral line between abstract and real, gestural mark making and meticulous rendering, stylistic boldness and nuanced composition. 
But under all of that, there is a hint of something more. Pareidolia – that instinct we have to see significant forms where none exist – kicks in. A hidden message emerges and shapes appear before fading back into the cloudscape.
These are works of a reduced palette, but containing unexpected flashes of colour – they’re so thoughtfully considered that there is both a richness and a subtlety to them, a sense of both instinctual harmony and muted beauty.