Artist of the Week: Brett Neiman

It's not often that I get to interview an artist that really embodies all that Orange Alert is, but Chicago's Brett Neiman has taken his talent as an artist spread it into all aspects of his life and community. At his core he is an artists, but through his work with Hermit Arts he his able to experience so much more. By integrating different forms of live performance and media, Hermit Arts explores fresh approaches to storytelling. Yet, this is only one aspect of Brett Neiman, and this wouldn't be Orange Alert if we did not talk about music. Brett is also fascinated by music and the many ways to combine sounds. So whether it is working with musicians, stroytellers, video production, or paint and wood, Brett is able to use his creativity and passion to its fullest.

Recently, Brett was kind enough to answer a few of my questions.

OA: You have your hands in so many different genres and projects, it is hard to know where to begin, but I will start with your art work. You seem to work well with mixed media, where do you typically find the items you put in your painting? How do you know when something should be used in a painting?
BN: Ephemera plays a big part in my work. As does mark-making. In my paintings, I collect and edit ephemera -- markings, media and detritus (found paper, patterns, images) -- to create objects. I collage, reappropriate, forgotten or discarded stuff -- which inherently has a place and time associated with it, a memory (I suppose, now, like the way digital photos and such are tagged with GPS coordinates) -- and the marks I make, one in reaction to the other, to create a record (the object). A polaroid of sorts. Sumi-e. A painting is always a painting. The mark-making is nothing like making marks in video, or on stage, or in a song. But my paintings are also landscapes, more or less, so i look for items that are generally patterned or textured to evoke space, and/or are marks in and of themselves.

OA: You attended NIU and while there created a great comic strip called Vanity Slums. First, what do you take away from your time at NIU and second, are there any plans to do something further (i.e. a book, new strips, etc) with Vanity Slums?
BN: Via Dekalb I was able to gain an education larger than what the classroom would hold, which was good. I spent a lot of time outdoors, and in tiny dark rooms making art. I had some very good instructors when I was there (Peter Olsen, Doug Johnson, John Wood, Richard Beard, Charlotte Rollman, Bruce White). What I took away from it most was the vision of the horizon. Where earth meets the sky. The long roads and trains, dotted and plotted landscapes filled with big big clouds both real and man-made.

I worked at the Northern Star, where I illustrated editorials and drew political cartoons (for then columnist, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga). A lot of what came of school was derived from the experience of making those cartoons, and the daily strip -- the insight, conversations and consequences that came out of them. But yeah, the Vanity Slums has been kind of an on-going project. A movie script exists, and I'd love to see it animated one day -- for now it's just living in the pages and margins of my sketchbooks.

OA: How did you get involved with Hermit Arts, and how does their mission relate to what you are trying to accomplish as an artist?
BN: Hermit is a non-profit arts org and collective I co-founded with four other writer/performer/educator/activist friends I know from Chicago. We have similar influences in film and music, and pursued telling stories and such through multi-media performance -- it was theater from people who didn't like theater. For me, theater (we did mostly blackbox stuff) provides a larger canvas on which to collage and make marks -- sets, video, performance -- and collaboratively and in multiple dimensions. Theater is a time and place sort of medium and I'm drawn to it's ephemeral nature. And the community of it.

OA: Not only are involved in the literary community, the art community, but you have also delved into music. Are there any new music projects on the horizon?
BN: Delved is the key word here...I'm a songwriter, not much of a musician, and even less a performer. But I'm excited about some of the stuff I'm doing with an artist friend of mine, Mike Bolsinga, called The Junks. I also collect simpleton's music of written and recorded song. An ethnomusicology of myself ;-)

OA: What are you thoughts on the art scene in Chicago? Is Chicago a good place to be an artist?
BN: I think the art scene in Chicago is incredibly vibrant and diverse. The 'scenes' is probably more appropriate though -- like Chicago and its neighborhoods.

I think it's a fabuous place to be a young artist. Chicago has some great programs and opportunities for young writers, performers and visual artists offered through non-profits and area art centers, and through the City (though it could do better in its schools.) I think it's a tough place to be a professional, working artist or teacher, though. But excellent work is being made here, across the board. I admire and appreciate the creativity and strength of the artists who make the culture here, and love that artists choose to continue their lives and careers in Chicago (because it just isn't as provincial on the media front as NYC or LA, for better or worse). Art is applied like trade here, in many ways. And that work, that labor -- like the work of surviving a winter here -- creates an incredible place of inspiration and creativity for dancers, comedians, artists, musicians, performers, and writers -- with scenes as diverse as the communities and local orgs that nurture and develop them.

OA: What is next for Brett Neiman?
BN: Work, most likely. Updating my website ;-) I hope to be involved in some of the art fairs in Logan Square and on Division St. selling some paintings and handmade goods, and to keep busy with commercial work too -- video, handbills, tshirts, websites...call me. Shooting a short film in May. Otherwise, Summer in Chicago. I post updates on my website when I have dates and events, so please visit. Thanks to you and your readers for the opportunity!

Bonus Questions:

OA: If you could sit down to coffee with anyone (alive or dead) who would it be?
BN: My mother-in-law. (But if not her I might say Stanley Kubrick or James Baldwin.)

OA: What type of music do you enjoy and who are a few of your favorites?
BN: All kinds. But music. Definitely music. My favorites are Bob Dylan, PJ Harvey, Tom Waits, Radiohead, Neutral Milk Hotel, Beatles, Johnny Cash, Beck, Lou Reed. Currently I'm devouring all of The Black Keys on my iPod, Side B of Bob Dylan's Planet Waves on my hi-fi at home, and Ani DiFranco's Living in Clip in the studio. Support local music! (Luna Blues Machine) Support your local record shop! (Laurie's Planet of Sound)