ULTERIORI OMBRE

Sep 18, 2014 – Dec 20, 2014

The creation of Ulteriori Ombre began in conjunction with the planning phase for Brennan’s large show, Die Welt, in Chicago. The curator of the Chicago Cultural Center, Nathan Mason, began talking to the art director of Poetry Magazine, Fred Sasaki, about the possibilities for Brennan’s work. Sasaki oversees a large building that is property of The Poetry Foundation, in downtown Chicago. “They have a massive wall, like 20 feet by 40 feet, and Nathan pitched the idea to Fred of me doing a huge mural there in conjunction with a performance / poetry reading by the poet Douglas Kearney. Doug's work was composed in tribute to a recently deceased African-American artist, Terry Adkins, and was incredibly powerful and really loaded” (Brennan 2014). Brennan completed the piece in three days, working from 9am until closing time at 5pm. He worked on a three-story tall scaffolding on wheels – a suboptimal tool at best, but Brennan made the most of it, the process of which resulted in an enormous, dramatic piece that covered the entirety of the wall and cast a powerfully dark mood over the space.

“To me it was a huge risk to have a white boy write a huge mural on a wall in honor of the oppressive Black American experience and these two incredible artists, Doug and Terry... but that's exactly what we did and it was crazy.” (Brennan 2014).

For more information, visit: (http://www.poetryfoundation.org/programs/exhibits)