For Wyoming artist, Brian Haberman, part of the process of creating art is making time to reflect and question life. His work can be viewed this week at Gallery 234 in the basement of the Wyoming Union.
He wakes up with coffee and a sketchbook to keep his hands and artistic eye intact, practicing and perfecting traditional sketches. Inspiration does not necessarily come to him; he just works. After his morning session, he heads off to his day jobs. Brian Haberman has chosen one of the more difficult places to be an artist: Wyoming.
Despite the struggles of balancing other jobs and a busy schedule, Haberman secured an exhibition spot in Gallery 234 in the basement of the Wyoming Union with an opening at 5 p.m. Thursday.
When Haberman received the gallery space for his exhibition, he mentally mapped everything out so he knew what to include and what to leave behind. As he puts it, “I didn’t want to make the beginning mistake of overfilling the gallery. I want the pieces to breathe.”
Only three or four medium to large sized paints made the cut for the exhibition, “Barrier Paintings.”
“An artist’s job is to provoke thought and bring up something, whether it’s a thought or a question, but they shouldn’t talk down to the audience.” Haberman said.
With these words as the focus, he explains his work. Large 3-D paintings with hints of graffiti make up a piece of his work. Coming from a sculpting background, Haberman’s pieces contain a level of physicality and “touchability.”
Haberman incorporates items such as panty-hose, straps and found items into his pieces. In some pieces he paints puns.
In this exhibition, he uses the corners of the room as well as the security cameras, which most artists tend to avoid. Compromising is sometimes necessary to accommodate the space and be able to show it. However, Haberman said, “Once you compromise, you’re down the creek because you’re compromising with the audience as well.”
Wyoming is a unique region with a low population, leaving picturesque landscapes seemingly untouched for artists like Haberman. But the low population has its fair share of downsides as well, one of them being a lack of places for artists to show their work.
With so few places to show art, Haberman had to compromise a few times, including his desire to paint on the gallery walls.
“Barrier Paintings” is the keystone for the exhibit. Haberman believes working constantly is not the greatest approach, and makes sure to make time to reflect and question life. That is when barrier came into the picture, he said. A barrier of the mind.
His paintings, which contain tagging and graffiti, are not “comfort food” he says.
“Graffiti art is in your face, hopefully provoking a thought,” he said. The paintings in the exhibition are drastically different from his early morning traditional sketches while having a cup of coffee.
