Bradley Emerson studied at Herron School of Art & Design in Indianapolis, Indiana from 2009 to 2012
before transferring to the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf in late 2012. He was a guest student of Professor
Herbert Brandl before officially joining his class in 2013. He received the Master Student Title from Prof. Brandl in 2018 and graduated in summer 2019 from the Kunstakademie Düsseldorf. He has exhibited works nationally and internationally.
Fundamentally focused in painting, his works are generally a combination of a variety of personal experiences and cultural interests. His paintings develop from imagination and are later collaged with memories, found imagery, and his own photographs. They take direct elements from history, literature, cultural reference, folklore, mythology, travel through Latin America and Europe, and everyday life and blend them together. A visual blending is also shown by the use of a wide array of painting mediums. They exhibit a connection through symbolic detail, narrative, and naïvety.
His pieces display an aggressive linear quality that shows a fondness of drawing as well as a playfulness in how subjects and themes are handled. The images are primarily figurative, but demonstrate abstract qualities such as wild and vibrant color palettes, use of pattern, and overly exaggerated forms and proportions. The artworks incorporate aspects of humor, often masking the darker undertones. Many portray isolated figures, vast and exotic landscapes, objects of historical reference, and a sense of solitude. Through these collected methods in the use of exploration, via the art of painting, an overall narrative that relates back to his foundation in storytelling develops.
Bradley Emerson currently resides and works in Essen, Germany.
