Articles / Press

Wallpaper Magazine

Marc Newson, Erdem and Don McCullin immortalised in hyperrealist paintings

Marc Newsom, Sir Don McCullin and Erdem Moralioglu were in for a shock, when Jason Brooks unveiled his latest realist portraits at Marlborough Fine Art in London. Having sat for hundreds of source photographs snapped by Brooks, and not been present while he painted the work, none of these percipient cultural figures had seen the finished, highly realistic results until opening night.

‘Some people might be more enamoured than others,’ laughed Brooks prior to the private view. The group of sitters – which also includes Tim Marlow, Will Self, Malcolm Venville and Sue Webster – are all friends of the painter, and were ‘pleased – in varying degrees – to collaborate on the project’.

‘I picked them because they each have a very discerning eye,’ Brooks continues. Each figure, cropped tightly around the face, is hung at eye-level in the London gallery, so that ‘the viewer becomes the subject – the paintings examine you.’

February 2018

Blouin Art Info

The language of painting in Jason Brooks’ ‘The Subject Is Not the Subject’ at Marlborough Fine Art, London

The third solo exhibition of the gallery with Jason Brooks is the artist’s largest show till date and the first time Marlborough has displayed one artist across both floors of its exhibition spaces. Titled “The Subject Is Not the Subject,” Jason Brooks looks at how the language of painting can take one art object and, via a journey of exploration, turn it into another. The works show the transformation of three different sources of art: hobbyist paintings collected by the artist from junk shops; 18th-century romantic paintings bought at auctions; and composited photo images taken by Brooks of fellow image makers from within his circle of friends.

For over 20 years Jason Brooks has made works that explore the ways in which painting has the power to transform the way we see the everyday. His works can be found in major museums and public collections including Walker Art Gallery, Harewood House, The Saatchi Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Dakis Joannou/Deste Foundation Collection, The Berardo Collection, ABN AMRO Collection, and Unilever Collection.

February 2018

Wall Street International

In this exhibition, Brooks looks at how the language of painting can take one art object and, via a journey of exploration, turn it into another. The exhibition shows the transformation of three different sources of art: hobbyist paintings collected by the artist from junk shops; 18th century romantic paintings bought at auctions; and composited photo images taken by Brooks of fellow image makers from within his circle of friends.

Through three groups of apparently un-connected works, Brooks unifies a variety of inspirations across all the works in this show creating his own painted language. He uses that unification to tell the story that is at the centre of his work: the subject is not the subject.

February 2018

The Art Newspaper

Ready for your close-up Mr Marlow? RA’s Tim is capture by Jason Brooks

Jason Brooks turns his forensic gaze on art world luminaries in an exhibition at Marlborough Fine Art in London next year (Jason Brooks: The Subject is not the Subject, 9 february-March 10 2018). The Royal Academy’s artistic director Tim Marlow, the artist Sue Webster and high-profile architect David Adjaye are all portrayed in a realist fashion by the Rotherham-born artist.

“The source materials for the portraits are composited images from hundreds of photographs taken of the sitter by Brooks,” a press statement says. Another section of the show will include large-scale paintings inspired by amateur artists, which are titled after poems by the 19th-century poet John Clare.

Brooks also reimagines devotional paintings, focusing on the allure of the painted icon (the intention here is to re-evaluate the original images in an affectionate and incisive way, prompting the viewer to consider how the “subject is not the subject” – hence the title).

December 2017