PARTY ANIMALS

M FINE ARTS, BOSTON, MA 2018

Brian Keith Stephens current exhibition, Party Animals, is a captivating culmination of several magnificent vignettes. Animals tease glimpses of their lives, revealing their very essence, as the viewer voyeuristically shares a moment in time. Stephens weaves ever animal into the background, inviting the observer into the enchanted creatures habitat - whether they be air, land, or sea dweller. Like a Polaroid snapped at a fantastic party, individual strong personalities emerge, where potential energy becomes kinetic energy within the mind. Colors illicit a romantic fantasy pastiche, a virtual fairytale land where each exquisite image reveals playfulness, hope and survival. Using multilayered, expressive brush work, Brian's vision manifests to convey a simple message, "you are what you are". Animals are instinctual, but by no means predictable and that is what is intriguing about the body of work, it stimulates imagination. Positive energy exudes from these images, curiosity contagiously abounds as the viewer contemplates what each individual beast is thinking, they have invited you in so enjoy a world far removed from human foibles.

What makes an animal, an animal, as one gazes upon the menagerie that is the show, Party Animals, it is hard to not see humanity in every portrait. Each snapshot suggests an intelligence on the part of the subject matter, to them we are the animals, perception is reality and reality is illusion to the enlightened. At this soirée no party goer is superior, in this jungle, each merely enjoys their majestic surroundings revealing a moment in time. Background and foreground often contain bright colors that are ephemeral, magic, these delicate paint passages bathe flesh, feather, or fur - alluding to the glimmers off of a spinning disco ball. Costumes and high couture are worn at this grand ball as well, each connoting the charm of true personality, as canvas position and brush stroke weight reveal shyness, strength, or contemplation. Ready? It is time to partake in the fabulous, as Brian Keith Stephens personally invites you to invision yourself at this after party of the year, observing and ingesting the energy released as partygoers bare their souls without any feelings of apprehension.