We’re all aware that those around you are the ones that can influence you the most. For Brian Rideout, an artist currently residing in Toronto, Canada, his father did just that. “My dad was a candy pack designer, so ideas on design and communication were always floating around the house,” Brian tells It’s Nice That. As a child, too, he was continuously painting and drawing – “I’ve never really had any other interest in any other work.”
Now, Brian spends the nine-to-five working as a painter at his studio in Toronto. “I collect a lot of books and also a lot of online research – I’m happy to grab an image from anywhere really,” he says. Motivated by the pictures that he finds and their historical relevance, his portfolio – including the recent series, American Collection Painting – is filled with astounding replicas of luxury interiors, architecture, still lifes and, most poignantly, art.
The likes of Mark Rothko, Helen Frankenthaler, Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró are scattered throughout Brian’s work. Placed eloquently in their lavishly decorated setting, it’s a scene that one can only dream of visiting – the colours, composition and reproduction are hauntingly perfect, serving as a harsh yet beautiful reminder that these art collections will most likely never enter the public realm again. Defining his process, Brian says how it’s the art that catches his eye first: “Through these images, we get a chance to see artworks that may never become publicly available again. We gain a deeper understanding of how art and collecting function today.”
