by Robin Newman
Kimberly Brooks’s solo exhibit Thread opens September 10 at Taylor De Cordoba in Los Angeles. Thread marks a departure for Brooks from the realistic style and direct portraiture of her previous work. The new paintings present distorted figures against broad, abstract landscapes. In the past Brooks has used stylists as models as a way to address issues of fashion and femininity. Here again fashion and costume play an important part in the work. As the body has been disfigured in the paintings, clothes too are deconstructed and loosely rendered. Through abstracting and distilling the representation of the dressed female body, Brooks engages the way in which beauty and fashion are seen.
