APRIL 2022 – brutjournal

TRAINED IN THE 1960s AT THE LEGENDARY RUDOLPH SCHAEFFER SCHOOL OF DESIGN IN SAN FRANCISCO, THE ARTIST MICHAEL NEWMAN SPENT MANY YEARS TRAVELING IN ASIA AND LIVING IN JAPAN. TODAY, HE IS BASED IN TAIWAN. HE HAS DEVELOPED A PAINTING TECHNIQUE THAT POWERFULLY BLENDS WESTERN GESTURAL ABSTRACTION AND EASTERN CALLIGRAPHIC BRUSH WORK. SEE OUR REPORT, HERE.

IN THIS ISSUE, DON’T MISS THESE FEATURES

An exhibition at the DePaul Art Museum examines connections between torture, tea, and art as a means of dealing with painful memories.
by Sarah Fensom

Introductions to several artists’ strange creations by a young Japanese researcher-curator who is a leading promoter of outsider art in his homeland
by Nobumasa Kushino

England

Our review of England on Fire by the image collector-curator Stephen Ellcock and the writer Mat Osman; this new book offers a portrait in unusual, unexpected pictures of its authors’ native land. Coming Soon.

Editor’s letter

What the heck is brutjournal?
by Edward M. Gómez

WHEN ART CASTS AN EYE ON NATURE’S FORCES

Nature has long seized the imagination of artists who have been intrigued by its beauty, mystery, diversity, and power, and who have felt compelled to represent these phenomena in their work. This month, we check in with a group of artists who have examined such subjects as the wind, the pyschic meanings of the human pulse, and the sense of smell. Mama Nature! Free access to this article.

CHICAGO EXHIBITION: TORTURE, TEA, AND ART

In Remaking the Exceptional: Tea, Torture, and Reparations | Chicago to Guantánamo, an exhibition on view at the DePaul Art Museum in Chicago, the themes of torture, tea, and art as a vehicle for documenting the past and sharing painful memories come together in dramatic ways — and sometimes with a chilling impact. Sarah Fensom reports.

OLFACTORY ART KELLER, SPECIALIZING IN SCENTS

In New York, Andreas Keller’s gallery, Olfactory Art Keller, specializes in unusual art that calls attention to the sense of smell and incorporates it into the ways in which it is meant to be experienced and understood. Introducing the smell- and aroma-evoking work of Luiza Gottschalk and Gayil Nalls. Breathe in!

ANN CECIL-STERMAN’S PAINTINGS: TAKING THE PULSE OF PSYCHIC CURRENTS IN VISIBLE, ABSTRACT FORM

In New York, Ann Cecil-Sterman, a specialist in acupuncture and an ancient Chinese healing technique based on multilayered readings of the human pulse, gives vivid expression in richly patterned paintings to her research findings, about which she leads workshops and has written extensively.

ALMA REALM'S BOLD PAINTING: ITS OWN FORCE OF NATURE

In response to our exploration this month of the art and ideas of certain artists who have been inspired by the forces of nature or who in some way make such forces the subjects of their work, we heard from the Minnesota-based painter Alma Realm. Although a comment she shared with us was cryptic, the examples of her pictures that she also sent our way were powerful. Here's a small portfolio of these bold images. Free access to this article.

JOEL SIMPSON’S PHOTOS: ROCK-SOLID WONDERS

The photographer Joel Simpson has traveled around the United States and overseas in search of the most unusual-looking, natural-rock and other geological formations. His images of these remarkable expressions of nature’s energy and powers have been assembled in a new edition of a book featuring his striking photos.

VIEW THE FILM: “VALTON TYLER: FLESH IS FICTION”

The self-taught artist Valton Tyler (1944-2017) lived and worked in Dallas, Texas, and its environs. He created remarkable works — oil paintings, ink drawings on paper, complex etchings — that remain hard to classify according to existing style or genre labels. In 2017, Edward M. Gómez (brutjournal’s founder) and cinematographer Chris Shields made the first-ever film about Tyler’s life and art, which the artist saw before he died. This 42-minute-long film will reside permanently here, on the magazine’s website. It may be viewed in its entirety, free of charge. Watch it and get to know the bright, bizarre world of a techno-baroque visionary. Free access to this article and the film.