The Skinny Showcase: Oliver Braid

Gallery by Rosamund West | 02 Sep 2011

Oliver Braid makes work which is a true rarity in the art world: it is actually enjoyable to experience. It could be perceived, sometimes, at first glance, as a little silly; yet it subtly asks bold questions of the contemporary world and forces us to address the weirdness of our 'normal' behaviour. He uses subject matter drawn from daily life, and twists it to create multi-layered artworks that can be appreciated for both their superficiality and their profundity. They can inspire questions about the ethics of social networking, of love and obsession in the modern age. They can arouse a cringe at the artist’s unashamed self- exposure, and a laugh at the sheer audacity of, for example, bringing together 100 artists to make work inspired by information gleaned from Facebook stalking a high school crush.

Next month he will be showing at Vault in Glasgow (9-11 Sep, The Briggait) with The Mutual and Ironbbratz. After that, he’s in New Work Scotland at the Collective in Edinburgh with a new project called I’ll Look Forward To It: A Visual Essay on Expectation (www.collectivegallery.net/nwsp.html) where he is "aiming to advance as an artist who uses practical tactics to handle the study of happiness." He’s doing the Collective’s Christmas window, coinciding with a live music event. And in 2012 he has a solo exhibition called My Five New Friends at The Royal Standard, Liverpool. For the Showcase, Oliver presents a brief overview of his past projects, as told through the different areas of his studio. He wanted to make the background pink, but we stopped him. You can find out even more about him on his website at www.oliverbraid.com and on tumblr at www.oliverbraid.tumblr.com