Introducing... Brian Batt

"I think most paintings are a record of the decisions that the artist made. I perhaps make them a little clearer than some people have." - Chuck Close, Batt's inspiration.

"Jackie Robinson"

"Dance"

"Frida Kahlo"

A few weeks ago I was set on an adventure through New York City’s Lower East Side to interview artist Brian Batt. I know, I know, he isn’t technically a music-news related piece, but he was too good to not include in my blog.

I am able to somehow tie it into music, nonetheless. I think a huge reason why I respected his work so much was because his pictures were mostly of rock-gods throughout the ages. I was looking at life-sized canvases of Pete Townshend, Paul McCartney, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Russel Simmons (even though he is more hip-hop) and so much more. He also had two pieces of JFK, which particularly caught my eye. I have gone through my own Kennedy-obsession stages—and who doesn’t love Jackie O?

Besides his celebrity appeal (he has sold paintings to Reese Witherspoon and John Krasinski, his buddy’s old college roommate-so cool!), his images were so different, warped and trippy that I was immediately pulled.

You see, all his photos were pixilated. If you are familiar with art, Chuck Close, who took the form of pixilation to the extreme but in a much more colorful and unique way, inspires him. I highly recommend checking him out, and Batt’s other inspiration Shepard Fairey. Many are more familiar with Fairey’s street name, “Obey.”

But it wasn’t just his subject matters that drew me in (he didn’t just paint celebrities- he also painted his nephew, athletes, ex-girlfriends, strangers and friends), and it wasn’t just the pixilation that allowed him to be able to separate himself from all other artists. It was his ability to do something so weird and bizarre looking, but to be able to pull it off in a way that so surreal and real at the same time… if that makes sense.

Let me try to interpret what I just said. I felt like I was looking at an image that looked real—too realistic, like the image was an actual-sized three-dimensional human being—but then you look at the other side of their face and its like, woah, completely computerized and unrealistic.

Batt explained his artistic process. He takes the canvas (as a completely uneducated guess, I would say they are 2-3 feet each) and grids it out in small squares. Then he goes through and paints it over once, paints it over twice, paints it over three times and, if necessary, a fourth-fifth-sixth-seventh-etc. time. Each canvas can take up to 3 months to complete, but Batt explained that patience is necessary to get the perfect blend.

Interested in more Brian Batt? Check out his website (and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. He’s experimenting with the realms of social media-as am I), and click here to see my exclusive interview with him on Dualshow.com!