My paintings imply human impact on the environment, depicting remnants of architectural interventions or the aftermath of severe storms. On the surface they can be appreciated as beautiful scenery, but they reference the sublime power of nature to destroy any attempts to shape the landscape to our own liking. Development of wetlands and waterfronts into housing complexes removes the natural protection against flooding, while the increase in densely populated coastal regions makes more people victims of devastating hurricanes. It doesn’t matter if structures are carefully planned and constructed. Wooden piers rot and collapse. Metal rusts out. Brick and concrete crack and crumble. Water and wind go where they want to. Plants grow through the broken foundations, and animals make their homes amid the rubble.
I often include man-made objects as interjections into my compositions. Sometimes I reduce the constructed elements to flattened geometric planes, creating conspicuously empty areas surrounded by areas of careful pattern and detail. The absences underscore the importance of what remains and vice versa. The artificial interruptions in space serve as scaffolding that both unites and divides the composition.
The level of detail present in my paintings reflects a compulsion to make sense of something that seems impossibly complex and chaotic. If you stare at something long enough, the hope is that it will begin to make sense. Sometimes it happens during the making. I start to notice elements that line up in a certain way, and those things intersect with another line of logic such as a change in scale or a shift in color. Once I see the patterns, I understand that small section of the world in a particular moment in time. It is comforting.
Artist Biography
Brooke Lanier earned her Masters of Fine Arts in Painting from Tyler School of Art, where she spent her first year studying in Rome, Italy. Lanier also holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Drawing and Painting with a minor in Art History. She has exhibited her work in Prague, Rome, and across the U.S. In 2007, she received 2nd award in Volkswagen’s “Driven” competition for young artists with disabilities, and had her work displayed in the Smithsonian Institute and the John F. Kennedy Center before going on a two-year national tour.
Lanier teaches watercolor at Tyler School of Art, Temple University and private lessons at her studio. You can view her work by appointment at Brooke Lanier Fine Art.
Education
2011 Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, and Rome, Italy MFA in Painting
2006 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL BFA in Painting, Minor in Art History
Awards & Honors
2013 Featured artist, Philadelphia Open Studios Tours “MADE IN PHILLY” billboard
2012 Artist in Residence, Goldilocks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2007 Volkswagen/ VSAarts: Driven Competition, Second Place
Cover art “Personal Best,” Tinge Magazine: Temple University’s Online Literary Magazine, Issue 1, Spring 2011
2009 Howald, Lindsey, “Round About Art,” Columbia Tribune, January 25, 2009
2008 Terry, Don, “Dark Humor,” Chicago Tribune Weekend Magazine, March 23, 2008
2007 Rorie, Karen, “Vision Problems Opened Award-Winning Artist’s Eyes,” Rochester Post-Bulletin, November 23, 2007
Collections
Corporate
Aramark Global Headquarters, Philadelphia, PA Emory University Hospital, Decatur and Atlanta, GA Honeywell Corporate Offices, New York, NY Volvér Restaurant, Garces Corporation, Philadelphia, PA Panorama Wine Bar, Philadelphia, PA Kellogg Middle School, mural, Rochester, MN
Professional Experience
2017-present Adjunct Professor, Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University Watercolor Foundations and Explorations, Philadelphia, PA
2012-present Owner,Brooke Lanier Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA
Exhibitions
Solo
2020 Unreliable Reflections, Pennswood Art Gallery, Newtown, PA
2017 Theoretical and Concrete, The Bazemore Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2016 Surface Tension, The Cosmopolitan Club of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
2012 YOU ARE HERE: New Works by Brooke Lanier, Goldilocks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2011 Solitude and Solidarity, Temple Gallery, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
2009 Detachment, Three Peas Art Lounge, Chicago, IL
Group
2021 Light, Da Vinci Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
2020 CFEVA Members Show, Center for Emerging Visual Artists, Philadelphia, PA
2019 Perennial Visions II, Da Vinci Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA
2018 Everything Is There: Helen Halstuch, Brooke Lanier, and Kimberly Stemler, River’s Edge Gallery, Upper Black Eddy, PA
The Philadelphia Chambers of Commerce, curated by Genevieve Coutroubis of The Center For Emerging Visual Artists, Philadelphia, PA
2017 Painted-Paint-Painting, Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2017 Collection, Dedee Shattuck Gallery, Westport, MA
2016 Near and Far, Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2015 Focus Forward, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington D.C
24th Annual Juried Competition, Stephen Westfall juror, The Bowery Gallery, Chelsea, NYC
2014 Friends and Neighbors, AIRspace Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2013 Home, Goggleworks Gallery, Reading, PA
2012 Artists-In-Residence: Brooke Lanier, Kate Perkins, and Rebecca Tennenbaum, Goldilocks Gallery, Philadelphia, PA
2011 Small Works Show, Gallery 440, Brooklyn, NY
Hand-Lettered, Abecedarian Gallery, Denver, CO (catalog)
WOOT!, The Icebox, Philadelphia, PA
2010 Art for Kikko: Serious and Significant Works, La _Linea Arte Contemporanea, Rome, Italy
Love at First Sight, Mondelliani, Rome, Italy
2008 Volkswagen/ VSAarts: Driven Competition for Young Artists with Disabilities, The Smithsonian Institute’s S. Dillon Ripley Center and The John F. Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C. (subsequent 2 year national tour)
2007 The Painted Tongue, Union Street Gallery, Chicago Heights, IL
Great Lakes Emerging Artists, Art Forum, State University of New York (SUNY) Fredonia, Fredonia, NY
Two Person Exhibition, New Work by Brooke Lanier and Adam Novak, The Sweatshop Gallery, Chicago, IL
Detachment (BFA thesis exhibition, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago), G2, Chicago, IL
2006 První vyhráni z kapsy vyhráni, Doubner Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic
Curatorial Projects
2018 Unintended Consequences, Brooke Lanier Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA
2017 Try to Understand, Brooke Lanier Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA
2014 Young Artists Exhibition, co-curated with Yang Bin Park and Gina Renzi, 40th Street AIR Artists Residency, Philadelphia, PA
2013 Drawing the Human Form, Brooke Lanier Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA Drawn to Animals, Brooke Lanier Fine Art, Philadelphia, PA