Her formalist approach entices my attraction to clean, orderly design. The humorous side of the work gives it life, air, approachability. Like much humours work, the funny of it allows the viewer to draw near to the work, to let down their guard, and ultimately allows the piece to speak more clearly and effectively. This kind of wit, balanced with depth, is something i'd like to achieve.
An American artist, born 1970, Her work uses written word, stripping down the comedic gesture to linguistic games and turns of phrase, offering subtle infiltrations into the signs and devices that sructure our everyday life as well as language in general.
"[Brooks's] witty representation of an instinctually unconscious thought process as a simple visual equation prompts a unique consideration of how language and socialized behaviour interrelate."
Comedy is not Pretty, Molon & Rooks, Independent Curators International, 2005, ISBN 0916365727
"I'm as concerned with the formal properties of the work, scale especially, that I have to insist that they are both formally and conceptually driven. Formalism is the vehicle that drives the idea home, pardon the auto metaphor. In the academy, there seems to be this notion that the two terms, formal and conceptual, are oppositional. I've been discouraging this way of thinking for years, but recently in my work I've begun to recognize just how important the formal aspects of my work are and I'm trying to pay more attention to them in studio practice and discourse."
-Stephanie Brooks, interview with Beverly Rauenberg, fnews magazine, November 2004
Link to an interview with the artist.
Link to gallery representing artist - Rhona Hoffman Gallery
Link to artist website
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