STARSKY BRINES

The frown-like smiles on the faces of his unique characters are silly and ridiculous but also evoke a sense of deep sadness. As humans we are violent in nature, but we choose to conceal this instinct from others. Starsky Brines does not. The savage and violent nature we possess as humans are expressed in his work freely and without reservation. Through his characters, the ambivalent feelings we may have towards someone, loving but also hating them, are portrayed in a frank manner. The artist encourages viewers to communicate with his work; to stumble upon a kind of a fight with themselves and discover the angry child they have within.

Brines’ work illustrates the characteristics of graffiti and primitive art, which represent the conflicts of the society he was born into; Caribbean and Latin American culture being two prevalent forces in his hometown of Caracas. The happy yet bitter smiles of the masked animals in his work act as a form of paradoxical humor, embodying irony with wit, and also as a look into Latin American culture and identity.

Starsky Brines held his first solo exhibition in Venezuela in 2006, and since then, he has had solo exhibitions in Spain, Columbia, and Germany. His unique artworks are included in various organizations such as China’s National Museum in Beijing, Acarigua Art Museum in Venezuela, Burger Collection in Hong Kong, and Sanders Collection in Germany and Switzerland.