Steel, concrete, brick: They have hard, austere lines, yet they are semipermanent. They decay and crumble, but they have a certain dignity. However, these once-proud man-made structures also remind us of our own impermanence.
Hailing from Music City, USA (that’s Nashville, y’all), Brad Blackman creates oil paintings depicting urban/industrial structures in various states of decay. His background and interest in advertising design and typography informs his work with strong, dynamic compositions.
Blackman’s urban landscapes tend toward realism but border on abstraction, putting them in the realm of abstract realism. He is influenced by early twentieth-century American painters such as Georgia O’Keefe and Edward Hopper.
Brad Blackman's urban landscapes depict the dignity of industrial/architectural structures in varying states of decay. Yet those powerful structures belie man's own impermanence and mortality.