BRUSH

Brian W. Brush is a designer and artist whose work explores the phenomenal visual effects that emerge from the interaction of light, material, and geometric structure in art. He is deeply interested in how volume, thickness, pattern, and translucency of material can entangle with light to produce ethereal and illusory beauty. This interest manifests as a distinct form of spatial sculpture that attempts to create visual and experiential atmospheres which extend the material boundaries of art to intersect with the perceptual field of the viewer. Driving the exploration of these effects is a fundamental sensitivity to site, where each piece is a unique opportunity to participate in the construction of meaning in the public domain. Visual signifiers of collective memory and cultural narrative are at the heart of his work as he attempts to artfully embody the indeterminate space between myth and reality that gives rise to the visual identity of place in public consciousness. The result is a vital and dynamic material platform capable of animating the feelings, behaviors, and curiosities of a diverse public which ultimately contribute to cultural resilience.

Through his New York-based creative practice BRUSH he’s twice been awarded the Public Art Network Year in Review Award and his work has appeared in numerous publications including Metropolis Magazine, Interior Design Magazine, The Architect’s Newspaper, ArchDaily, Make Magazine, FastCoDesign, Atlantic Cities, Wired Design, and Phaidon Press's recent book "Room:Inside Contemporary Interiors." Most recently he presented his work in “Mediating the Identity of Place” as an invited speaker at the Media Architecture Summit in Toronto in September 2016.

Originally from Portland, Oregon, USA Brian studied architecture as a Presidential Scholar at Montana State University earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Design. He was awarded the prestigious Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Scholarship to continue his graduate studies at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation (GSAPP) in New York where he received a Master of Architecture and a Master of Science in Urban Planning.

Brian has taught as an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Architecture at Columbia University GSAPP, teaching design, digital fabrication, and Geographic Information Systems and as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Strategic Design and Management Program at Parsons the New School for Design in New York. He is also a PhD candidate and Fulbright Scholar conducting research with McGill University School of Architecture's Facility for Architectural Research in Media and Mediation (FARMM).