Viewing page 7 of 80

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

Brooks glued paper on top of the painting, came through the linen in interesting shapes which influenced him in his series of stain paintings (lyrical abstraction, it is not called). These strange accidents on the surface forced him into a new inventive style. Examples included in this exhibition are: the Whitney Museum of American Art, "R", 1953 lent by the Chase Manhattan Bank, and "g", 1953 lent by the Martha Jackson Gallery.


His first one man show in the 1949 at the Peridot Gallery included some pieces obviously affected by Jackson Pollack's drip painting although more controlled. Some contained hints of the cubists' grid. The evolution from earlier styles and interests is clear rather than any sudden adoption of an unrelated approach.
His interest in abstract expressionism continued to dominate his work, by now distinguished by color refinements reminiscent of oriental art when coupled with understated masses. Transient form and vibrant color became key points until the end of 1952. By then Brooks had begun a more direct and dramatic expression. In "J" monochromes, not vivid colors, were used and his forms became more assertive. His No.3 brought Willey de Kooning to mind with full forms and vivid colors. For a number of years Brooks had two alternating color groups: brown, grays, and blacks or strong colors. Then experimentation and improvisation again became dominant resulting in many examples of technique but no definite adoption of a single style. 
Brooks continued his experimentation in a variety of forms and media with an interesting interplay between them but with no primary or dominant method developing. He tried thin paints, gouache, bright colors, paints over various backgrounds including crayn. The net result of the experimentation was a clear demnonstra-