Breakbuilding, Daryl Brown’s second solo exhibition at The Residence Gallery, presents new sculptures combining an eclectic range of materials and forms with a technique that is as playful as it is considered.
Deeply immersed in the pursuit of process and the metamorphosis of materials, the work bears the scars of its production... as does the artist. An accidental injury to Brown’s hand caused by a sander during production of this work posed no setback for Brown who can simply “work around it.” After all, this is “Breakbuilding”. Brown powers on.
Built up over time from an accumulation of structural ingredients, the detritus of his landscape fuse with more traditional materials to create dualistic forms. Spatially involving, and founded in a formal approach, the objects strive for gravitas while almost careering into ruin.
The leftovers and off-cuts of everyday life are channelled through Brown’s radical visual vocabulary and calibrated to command a rhythmical presence and personality.
They bring to mind the offspring of the natural world impregnated by industry, future remnants of a post-apocalyptic modernism, and remind us what we might consider calm is really carefully composed chaos, ready to rock and roll.