SOUTHERN BOY WEARS HIS HEART ON HIS SLEEVE Painting

bmoodyart_ 2014 O this crushing burden – these sins of my fathers what fetid weight this melancholy we call the deep south surely the day of reckoning is upon this land of cotton for behold: the conversion of St. Stonewall on the road to Damascus, Georgia Ode to my boy…bmoodyart c.2013 The beloved Deep South, teeming with mythologies and rife with contradictions: simultaneously amusing yet horrifying, both historic but still frighteningly current – welcome to the world of b. moody art! Brad Moody’s work is narrative, frequently drawing upon a personal, as well as regional, consciousness where each work tells a separate story or struggle, often evoking emotion with the loaded imagery of Southern iconography and stereotypes. The titles of many of his works “On Fields of Cotton and Chanel No. 5”, “Welcome to 1st Baptist Church”, “Junky Gay Boy”, “…they said it was In The Blood” – hint at the depths of the artist’s continuing exploration of the social issues of race, religion, gender, matriarchal power and redemption that he confronts and that fuel his passion (and that he started with in his 2012 collection “Welcome to Cotton County”). Educated as an architect and designer at Rice University and London’s Architectural Association during the 1980’s, Brad Moody continues to be profoundly influenced by the thought processes of that era: attitudes of “both/and”, “less is a bore”, combining and contrasting perceived “high” and “low” cultures and a continual questioning of self-referencing art worlds – all are front row and center in his works. The paintings are known for their expressive intensity. Frequently using vivid colors and bold strokes, with a signature frenetic style, there is a decidedly raw, outsider edge in their appeal. Always involved in the fields of design, fashion and architecture, Brad Moody has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors. While working in NYC as a fashion designer, he was featured in countless magazines and editorial pages – People Magazine, Elle Magazine, NY Times, and Texas Monthly with his designs gracing the covers of Cosmopolitan, Hamptons Magazine and Shape. After moving to Savannah, GA, he returned to architecture and real estate where he received numerous “Salesman of the Year” awards. b. moody art was born in 2009, when he first picked up a paint brush.