Brandon Mclean: Logos, Lore & Very Much More

Have you ever admired an artist for their work, believing that their soul, beliefs and integrity are being truthfully represented through their depictions, then met this artist and he or she turned out to be a complete ass? It happens all too often in this world, especially with the “entitlement generation” slowly becoming those who are somebody in the world today. Well, you’re not going to find that happening with this man. Brandon Mclean is a self-made and wildly interesting artist, who also happens to be a genuinely nice human being. A self-proclaimed “Dexter” lover, who will gladly choose to wear a pair of Vans Chukka’s (low) for the rest of his life, and who says he prefers to listen to ’80s music when he is stressed (“cause it really brings back the smile to your face, because of the cheesiness of most of it”), Brandon Mclean has accomplished some pretty rad things in his lifetime, and he sure isn’t done yet.

To let you in on a little more of Brandon’s history, think back briefly to the year 2000. While you were riding around on your brand new Razor® Scooter and impatiently waiting for the newest episode of “Survivor” to come on, Brandon Mclean was recovering from a stroke, caused by a blood clot in his brain (it’s highly likely that Brandon was also riding a scooter and waiting for “Survivor” to come on, but I didn’t ask… and that’s not the point anyway). The point is that once Brandon recovered, he had a renewed sense of life and began creating his art. Shoot, scratch that, let’s go back a little farther…Brandon was born, and grew up, in South Florida, and is proud of it. Unlike some of us who have become ashamed of where we grew up, Brandon is not looking to escape his life in any way. (This might, possibly, be one of his greatest advantages in life, and art). He has accepted where he was born, who he is, what has happened to him in his lifetime, and where he will go in the future, and (I believe) all of this has held a heavy hand in making his art speak to people.

Okay, fast forward and let’s get to the artwork. Most of Brandon’s work involves the classic pictures of people and products, layered in a collage style, with paint, words, and photo transfers, done on blocks or pieces of wood. Brandon’s work includes imagery from the 1950s and ’60s that he has found in old magazines from thrift stores, photographs that he buys from various online markets, and his grandparents, who, luckily, had a lot of cool stuff in their attics for him to use. Brandon isn’t your typical, sit-down-with-an-idea-and-work-it-out artist. Instead, he gets his inspiration from the pieces that he has attained from these markets. Sifting through piles of this old imagery lets his imagination wander, allowing Brandon’s creative out whenever it pleases to show itself, thus giving his art a more truthful, childlike honesty than most things in existence today.

Very recently, July 2009, Mclean did a window installation for an Urban Outfitters in Ybor City (in Tampa, Florida). The installation was entitled “Logos, Lore & More” and featured many small pieces of Brandon’s mixed-media artwork, arranged in his own manner. Prior to being offered the gig at Urban Outfitters, Brandon had done two other installations and had been doing art on the side, as well as updating his website. Brandon has recently opened a storefront on the relatively new, but very popular site Etsy.com (go look at his stuff and support him by buying something… if you find something you fancy that is). As a person, Brandon Mclean is just a regular guy, as an artist, he is a man who has a talent for seeing the past in a way that allows him to bring it to the future. Brandon’s art awakens the part of all of us who watches movies like “The Sandlot” and “Grease” and wished that we had been born back in the days when summer actually smelled like summer, cans of Campbell’s soup were ten cents each, and life seemed simpler and happier (come on, let’s face it, ALL of us have wished we could have been alive for the ’50s at some point). He doesn’t pretend to be anything he isn’t, and he doesn’t ask for favors. Mclean owns who he is, and simply hopes that you do too. To check out his work visit www.elus1v.com, or to support his art habit, check out his etsy.com store here.