ARTIST: BRIAN LATHAN

Born and located in St. Louis, Brain Lathan is an artist and educator who explores printmaking and sculpture as his primary forms of art creation. By examining the dynamics of print, digital illustration, and sculpture, he persistently explores these mediums as means to express personal and subjective commentary and narration.

Powerful statements rendered in vibrant color; his prints grip the viewer in a way that challenges our perception of the world. Unafraid to tackle strong themes, he dives headlong into the relevant topics of the day, such as oppression, imperialism, and environmental stress, as well as universal themes of grief, loss, and the hope that follows.

In addition to his personal art practice, he also works on a collaborative printmaking practice, Free Press Project, working with other St. Louis artists to create prints and print ephemera. The proceeds from the Free Press Project are donated to mutual aid projects around St. Louis. Brian also works as an instructor of printmaking at multiple universities around St. Louis, including STLCC, SLU, and WashU, and has exhibited widely around St. Louis.

My mural explores beautiful parts of St. Louis through its bright colors; the uniqueness of St. Louis is represented in the characters; the complexity of St. Louis represented through the fantastical elements of the characters and composition; and darker sides of St. Louis represented through the two characters inability to connect with each other.

The mural with its characters, colors, and stylization aims to be weird and beautiful, sad and fun, magical and introspective, exciting yet somber and I think that is descriptive of Cherokee Street and 7th Ward.

Overall my mural explores the idea of connection, self, and the things that we dwell on while also exploring the idea of escapism and indulgence. My work oftentimes explores harsh realities masked through the use of bright colors and magical realism. For this image the things the characters dwell on become the things they dwell in. As the big character seeks solace and/or escape through consuming, their internal self seeks to heal/escape/nourish through the same means.

As the viewer, we get to see this external/internal tension within each character knowing that the external character may ruin the chance for the internal character to do the same. While each character goes through their dilemma, utility poles surround them as a reference to connection, community, and support.