Kim Alsbrooks is a Philadelphia-based artist. She was born in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1961, and lived briefly in Philadelphia during the 1990s.[1] After living in Arizona for 10 years[2] and in Charleston, South Carolina, she returned to Philadelphia in 2007.[1] She has had a number of solo exhibitions, and has recently received considerable attention for her White Trash Family series, which includes over 600 miniatures painted on discarded trash.[3] She is one of the winners of the West Prize.[4]

Education

Career

External videos
video icon "There is a danger in overthinking and over verbalizing", Kim Alsbrooks, Statement: Making Art Philadelphia by Jesse Brass

Kim is currently self-employed, primarily contracted by the Mural Arts Program[6][7] in Philadelphia as an artist.[2] In Charleston, she worked in historic restoration; she is currently the owner of Luxe Painting & Historic Restoration in Philadelphia.[1][8]

White Trash Series

Alsbrook's White Trash series challenges perceptions of the history of the American Civil War and associated class distinctions,[9] by creating miniature portraits of 18th century historical figures in graphite and oil paints on a base of discarded pieces of trash.[10][11][12] Her work was sparked in part by an interest in the tradition of miniature paintings on ivory,[13] and also by the commentary about the historical biases in art by a friend who is a women's history professor.[3] She began developing the series in 2004, while living in Charleston, South Carolina, producing over 600 paintings in the course of ten years.[14][15] So far, her work has been featured in publications such as the Huffington Post Arts, Art Nerd, and Hi Fructose and is displayed in galleries around the United States.[16]

Alsbrooks creates miniature portraits by creating an oval shape that is coated with gesso on trash. Then, she draws the image on the gesso in graphite and paints it in oils before Varnishing it. She says of the process of finding materials, "The trash is found flat, on the street. One cannot flatten the trash. It just doesn't work. It must be found so that there are no wrinkles in the middle and the graphic should be well centered. Then, the portraits are found that are complimentary to the particular trash."[17] One of her favorite times to pick up trash is after the yearly Philadelphia Mummers Parade.[18]

Exhibitions

  • 2015–16 Lost and Found: Kim Alsbrooks and Nikki Couppee, Racine Art Museum, Racine, WI.[19]
  • 2015 The Bigger Picture with Mary Dewitt, Jim Doherty, and Elise Dodeles, Paul Robeson Center for the Arts, Princeton[20]
  • 2014 Last Memories: The End of My White Trash Paintings, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA[2][21]
  • 2013 Portraying Kinship: Work by Kim Alsbrooks and Helen Mirkil, Painted Bride at Center, Philadelphia, PA[22][23]
  • 2012 Recovered Delights: The Inventive World of Found Object Sculpture, group exhibition, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA[18][24]
  • 2010 White Trash, Bambi Gallery, Philadelphia, PA[25]
  • 2010 About Face, with Tilo Uischer (Germany) and Elisabeth Belliveau (Canada) at Two Window Project, Berlin, Germany[26]
  • 2008 Kim Alsbrooks, with Patrick Farell, Third Boat Gallery, Philadelphia, PA[2]
  • 2005 Splendour and Elegance, Lime Blue, Charleston, SC[2][27]

Fairmount Park Map

In 2014, Kim published a small artisan map of Philadelphia's Fairmount Park, reflecting her own years of exploring the park on foot and by bicycle.[1][28]

Awards

  • West Prize, 2012[4]
  • Jobson, Christopher. "Historical Fine Oil Portraits on Crumpled Trash by Kim Alsbrooks". Colossal: Art, Design and Visual Culture. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  • Fairmount Park Map by Kim Alsbrooks

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Maule, Bradley (March 18, 2014). "Fairmount Park: A New Map From An Old Style". Hidden City Philadelphia. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 "Kim Alsbrooks". INLIQUID art+DESIGN. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  3. 1 2 Barnes, Sara (February 27, 2014). "Kim Alsbrooks' Exquisite Portraits Painted on 600 Flattened Beer Cans". Beautiful Decay. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  4. 1 2 Crimmins, Peter (November 14, 2012). "City Hall hosts rare display of West Collection contemporary art". WHYY News. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 "creative face ART Berlin: 'About Faces' with Tilo Uischner, Kim Alsbrooks and Elisabeth Belliveau at Two Window Project". Creative Face Magazine. 2010. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  6. ↑ Kochman, Laura; Fink, Aubrey (August 17, 2018). "Five Murals in Your Neighborhood: Grays Ferry/Point Breeze". Mural Arts Philadelphia. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  7. ↑ Jenkins, Kristina (October 31, 2013). "Join The Mural Arts Program In Celebrating The Restoration Of Keith Haring's Mural We The Youth With Music, Food Trucks And More Saturday, November 2". UWISHUNU'S Philly 101. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  8. ↑ "LUXE Painting and Historic Restoration". Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Historical Fine Oil Portraits on Crumpled Trash by Kim Alsbrooks". Colossal. June 9, 2014. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  10. ↑ Kelly, Tara (October 30, 2011). "'White Trash' Series Portrays Founding Fathers On Beer Cans By Artist Kim Albrooks". The Huffington Post. Retrieved March 9, 2015.
  11. ↑ Jobson, Christopher. "Historical Fine Oil Portraits on Crumpled Trash by Kim Alsbrooks". Colossal: Art, Design and Visual Culture. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  12. ↑ "EN DE My White Trash Family by Kim Alsbrooks". Ignani. Retrieved October 10, 2014.
  13. ↑ ""My White Trash Family" Paintings on Discarded Beer Cans by Artist Kim Alsbrooks". Booooooom. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  14. ↑ Alsbrook, Kim. "Kim Alsbrook's My White Trash Family". Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Snyderman-Works Galleries". www.snyderman-works.com. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  16. ↑ "Kim Alsbrooks Artist Vertical Gallery". Vertical Gallery. Retrieved August 13, 2019.
  17. ↑ Alsbrook, Kim. "my white trash family". Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  18. 1 2 Otterbein, Holly (July 2, 2012). "First Friday Focus: Snyderman-Works Gallery". Philadelphia City Paper. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  19. ↑ "Lost and Found: Featuring Kim Alsbrooks and Nikki Couppee | Racine Art Museum". www.ramart.org. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
  20. ↑ "Princeton exhibit shows everyone has a larger-than-life story to tell". WHYY Newsworks. February 26, 2015. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  21. ↑ Rodabaugh, Mary Anna (February 7, 2014). "Snyderman-Works Galleries First Friday". Main Course. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  22. ↑ Schwartz, Chip (February 14, 2013). "Kim Alsbrooks and Helen Mirkil at Painted Bride". Knight Arts. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  23. ↑ Mangravite, Andrew (March 5, 2013). "Alsbrooks and Mirkil: 'Kinship' at Painted Bride". Broad Street Review. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Recovered Delights: The Inventive World of Found Object Sculpture". Snyderman-Works Galleries. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  25. ↑ Sirizzotti, Catherine (June 17, 2010). "Trash Worth Recognition at Bambi". theartblog.org. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
  26. ↑ "White Trash Art by Kim Alsbrook". Art Nectar. Retrieved December 6, 2010.
  27. ↑ "Lime Blue". Charleston City Paper. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  28. ↑ Alsbrook, Kim. "Fairmount Park Map. Handmade. For biking and other things". Archived from the original on March 9, 2015. Retrieved March 10, 2015.
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