Hello
Brent Ridge moved to the Berkshires in 2022 after spending a decade in Boston and New York City, where he was active in both art communities. He holds an MFA in Painting from the Glasgow School of Art and has taught for ten years, currently serving as the art teacher at Reid Middle School in Pittsfield. A member of NUarts Gallery and Studios in Pittsfield, he has participated in First Fridays Open Studios. Originally from the post-industrial landscape of Flint, Michigan, Ridge’s background influences his artistic perspective and continued investigation of reclamation and renewal of materials and surfaces.
Artist Statement
My works of painting are often reworked over time, using a process of accumulation and excavation; and sometimes resort to power sanding to create the patina of time as well as cutting and sewing to manipulate a collapse of the artwork’s space. In the development of my work, I often use strategies of cut-and-paste imitating digital manipulation that is evidenced by the hard edges incorporated in these works using sewn, taped, glued, and painted. Looking to excavate from the post-industrial landscape, my abstract works transform found architectures of decline in the breakdown lane of transcendence. Mining the debris of the post-industrial through abstraction and industrially produced patterns and fabrics, as well as photographic encounters with the mundanity of everyday life found quietly underfoot, these works investigate a fractured landscape and gives new life to recycled materials through mechanical and analogue means through a series of paintings, drawings, and collages.
Contact
I'm always looking for new and exciting opportunities. From sale to commission to exhibit - let’s connect!