A great big thank you to everyone who came to the opening yesterday! The paintings will be up through January. If you're interested in a piece, let me know so I can set it aside for you, but all sales go through the cafe, not directly to me. Prices are listed below. My email can be found in "About Me" at the bottom of the right column. I'm going to donate half of everything I make (after the cafe's commission) to Joaquin Miller Elementary School. Happy Winter!
The Kingdom Is Within
An Exhibit of paintings by Brian Strang, "The Kingdom Is Within," is now hanging at Awaken Cafe through the end of January. Come check it out!
Awaken Cafe
1429 Broadway (@15th Street) Oakland, CA 
Brian Strang
About Brian Strang’s painting, the SF Bay Guardian has said, “Strang’s work... suggests a more
romantic pleasure in and response to visual phenomena. It betrays a rhythmic sensibility not unlike
that found in a sketch by Matisse” (6/13/07).
His paintings, which all contain written
poetic text, have been exhibited many times over the last ten years in solo and
group shows, have been republished in magazines and currently reside in many
private collections. He has lived in
East Oakland for fifteen years and teaches English at San Francisco State
University. His most recent poetry collection, Dark Adapt, is available at Duration
Press. His artwork, poems, reviews, essays and translations have appeared in
many journals including New American
Writing, Five Fingers Review, The Denver Quarterly and Caliban.
He plays guitar in Crow Crash Radio.
The Kingdom Is Within
The
relationship between the human and natural has been ingrained in our psyches
for centuries as an adversarial one. But
while each of us leaves footprints on the ecosystem, we exist within it. After all, who is not a part of nature? Ashes to ashes. We are all part of what poet Gary Snyder has
called “one vast breathing body.”
Imagination and
dreaming provide deep connections with commonality. They provide direction and context. We must learn to be guided by nature more
accurately, to listen to its myriad complexity, its interconnection so
pervasive that it exceeds our limitations.
We must listen with imagination and follow the ancient elemental poetry
of the world, even when it seems perilous.
Poetry is encoded within
the forms all around us; one only has to look closely to see it. I
paint to discover the world and to imagine it anew.
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The Kingdom Is Within
Gouache and pen on paper.
18” x12” 2016
$120 (framed)
SOLD
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Holy
Gouache ink and glitter on paper.
18” x12” 2014
$120 (framed)
SOLD |
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Outside Now
Gouache and pen on canvas.
18” x 36” 2017
$200 (framed)
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We’re Here
Gouache ink and glitter on paper.
Size 15.5” x 11.5” 2015
$150 (framed)
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Europa
Gouache and pen on paper.
Size 9” x 12” 2011
$100 (framed)
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Across
Gouache and ink on wood.
Size 20” x 16” 2013
$150
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Shimmers
Gouache ink and glitter on paper.
Size 13.5” x 10.5" 2016
$150 (framed)
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Sun Burns
Gouache and ink on paper.
Size 13.5” x 10.5" 2009
$150
(framed)
SOLD |
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The Wasp
Gouache and ink on paper.
Size 15.5” x 11.5” 2015
$150 (framed)
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The Four
Gouache, ink and glitter on canvas.
Size 38” x 38” 2017
$1200
SOLD |
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The Land
Gouache, ink and glitter on wood.
Size 20” x 16” 2017
$200
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Garden of the New Year
Gouache, and ink on canvas.
Size 20” x 20” 2010
$200
SOLD |
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Atlantis
Gouache and ink on canvas.
Size 20” x20” 2009
$200
SOLD |
