Primary is pleased to present Life in a Picture of a Newtown Junkie, a solo exhibition introducing the New York-based artist Bradley Sizemore. Opening Saturday, September 2, the exhibit will remain on view through September 30, 2023.
The remarkable tableau and complex narrative that makes up the American Rust Belt. The myriad of small-town voices steeped in the grit of generations. The nature of rebellion and its ongoing social depictions. A landscape of industrial structures in decay, ready-made makeshift playgrounds that were once beacons of progress. Steel backbones carry on to where the relentless spirit endures; enter the work of Bradley Sizemore.
Raised in Marianna, Pennsylvania, Sizemore's work responds to his formative years in a town once known as the most modern and well-equipped mining operations worldwide. Today many cities grapple with the aftermath of industrial decline, leaving factories empty and communities fragmented; Sizemore's work encapsulates the resilience and the challenges of this evolving narrative.
Constructing a balance through varying influences of American culture between those that make up his region's iconography and the feverishly documented styles that make up traditional tattooing, Sizemore explains, "Everything from Dutch Pennsylvanian barn stars, the derelict leftovers of the Rust Belt to years of traveling for tattoos makes its way into my work. By manipulating these sources and presenting them in a contemporary context, I aim to tell my story in a way rooted in the past and relevant in the present."
Hundreds of thousands migrated from what was once the flourishing Factory Belt in search of work and more outstanding wages. As large middle-class segments moved on, these cities saw increased poverty, crime, and addiction. Sizemore's paintings and sculptures attempt to poetically illustrate these stark realities in contrast with deeper familial characteristics, the struggle with a decline in industrialism, and the sharing of a strong work ethic that makes up these cities' social fabric.
Opens
Saturday, September 2, 2023
5 PM
About the Artist:
Bradley Sizemore (b. 1984, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) attended the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania for fine arts and, following college, began tattooing extensively. After years of traveling around the United States and Europe, tattooing on the move, Sizemore settled in New York City and established his home base. At his private studio, Tear Drops, Sizemore continues to tattoo alongside a consistent pursuit of fine art painting and sculpting.
Primary. (Est. in 2007) is a context & research-driven curatorial collective with a focus on public arts. Located in Little River, Miami, our private residence explores modern ideas on the subject of live/work, connecting new voices in contemporary art with growing audiences & collections.
For further information, please contact info@thisisprimary.com
