The American Visionary Art Museum defines Visionary Art as “art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself.” Northeast Los Angeles is home to such an artist--Brian Tolley (briantolley.com).
When Brian was three-years-old, he was looking for something to do and picked up some loose twist ties and started to bend them. At first he made simple 2-dimensional pieces. Something about the twist ties really intrigued him and he just kept twisting. Eventually, he started to make 3-dimensional objects. In his early teens, he started to get more serious about this twisting thing, encouraged by his aunt May. A few more years of honing his very unique art form resulted in his use of only white twist ties which he would color with markers. The resulting figures and objects became more detailed and complex; some have removable components.
Each of the twist tie art pieces is made without glue or armatures, then painstakingly hand-colored and detailed. The small pieces take 1-2 weeks to complete. Larger pieces, such as his size 12 Converse high-top tennis shoe, are amazingly detailed, down to the labels and tread.
Future Studio Gallery is incredibly proud to exhibit Mr. Twister's Twisted Art Show, and introduce Brian, who resides in Eagle Rock, to the Northeast Los Angeles art world and beyond.
After the opening, the exhibit is available to view by appt. to Sept. 1.
