Material World

Material matters. For an Inside Out artist, paint and pens and pics are just a place to start. Check out the Materials section, where more than 825 works in 36 series make innovative use of stranger stuff.

The Mixed Media Is the Message

The Mixed Media Is the Message series: 85 works where the what is the why.

“The Mixed Media Is the Message #1” by Bryant Rousseau: Acrylic paint, sandpaper, tape, sticker, cloth on 11” x 8” paper; signed; matted; framed (14” x 11” frame); $169.99

Mammalian Aliens

“Mammalian Alien #19” by Brant Rousseau: Body hair and ink on 4” x 6” paper; signed; matted; framed; $179

They’re not like us. Except for the hair.

Elementals

“Elemental #7” by Bryant Rousseau: *Red dirt, watercolor, fire, artist’s breath. on 12”x 9” fine paper; signed; matted; framed; $199.99*

Humans, and our cousins, have been making art for hundreds of thousands of years, but never, in all that time, has art been created solely from the elements: earth, fire, water and air. It’s elemental, and undone. Until now.

“Elemental #25” by Bryant Rousseau: *Red dirt, watercolor, fire, artist’s breath. on 12”x 9” fine paper; signed; matted; framed; $199.99*

Jackson the Ripper

Think of Jackson Pollock, and you immediately think of his iconic white T-shirt, dripping with paint splatter. Unbeknownst to most art historians, when he was done with a day of drip painting, Jackson would whip off his shirt and rip it to shreds, saving the scraps in a plastic bag. After he died, his wife, Lee Krasner, gave the colorful fragments, now in a dozen bags, to a family friend, who stored them in the back of a closet in his apartment in the West Village of Manhattan, an apartment that I would move into some 40 years later, where I discovered these essential relics of art history. After careful assembly of these near-holy objects, I present them now to you, as Jackson the Ripper.

“Jackson the Ripper #5” by Bryant Rousseau: *Acrylic, torn white cotton T-shirt and staples on 14” x 11” canvas; signed verso; $179.99*

Chamber Of Warh

When a John Chamberlain sculpture smashes into an Andy Warhol painting. (The only contemporary sculpture endorsed by SSNA, the Survivalist Society of North America: Art you can eat, in an emergency.)

“Chamber of Warh #18” by Bryant Rousseau: Soup can and acrylic paint displayed within a a bell jar; $179

Suicide Note

Play it ‘til it hurts.

“Suicide Note #2” by Bryant Rousseau: Human blood on 6” x 4” paper; signed; matted; framed; $169.99. The copyright symbol is a digital watermark only; it does NOT appear on the actual artwork.

Whiteout Wipeout

Whoops. I did it again: knocked over a bottle of Wite-Out onto a nearby canvas.

“Whiteout Wipeout #11” by Bryant Rousseau: Wite-out and acrylic on 8” x 11” canvas; signed verso; $139.99. The copyright symbol is a digital watermark only; it does NOT appear on the actual artwork.

Joey Harvard’s Buffet Box

In any art collection: Some assemblage required.

“Joey Harvard’s Buffet Box: All In” by Bryant Rousseau: Poker chips and playing cards *in 8” x 8” transparent plastic clamshell container*; signed on bottom; $149.99

Coffe Klutz

*“Coffee Klutz #9” by Bryant Rousseau: Spilt coffee on 4” x 6” paper; signed; affixed to 8.5” x 11” heavy paper; framed (8.5” x 11” wooden frame); $139.99.* The copyright symbol is a digital watermark only; it does NOT appear on the actual artwork.

Brew-hoo-hoo.

*“Coffee Klutz #3” by Bryant Rousseau: Spilt coffee on 6” x 4” paper; signed; affixed to 11” x 8.5” heavy paper; framed (11” x 8.5” wooden frame); $139.99.* The copyright symbol is a digital watermark only; it does NOT appear on the actual artwork.

Hacking the Grid

The grid, long the mainstay of Minimalist Art, hacked by a hooligan.

“Hacking the Grid #32” by Bryant Rousseau: *Acrylic paint, ink and construction paper on hacked 8.5” x 11” graph paper; signed; matted; and framed (11” x 14” wooden frame); $169.99.* The copyright symbols are digital watermarks only; they do NOT appear on the actual artwork.

Bleach Bum

Dude! Making paintings is surprisingly hard work! All those decisions about subjects and compositions and colors can seriously cut into beach time. So sometimes, when I’m feeling a little lazy and eager to catch some rays, I’ll put on my flip-flops, grab my board and just slosh some bleach onto a canvas before I head down to the sand. And by the time I get back, I have a beautiful abstraction waiting for me, all courtesy of chlorine.

“Bleach Bum #1” by Bryant Rousseau: Bleach on 12” x 9” linen canvas; signed; $149.99. The copyright symbol is a digital watermark only; it does NOT appear on the actual artwork.

Luck of the Draw

If the art doesn’t make you rich, maybe the lottery card will.

“Luck of the Draw #1” by Bryant Rousseau: Pastels on 6” x 4” paper; paper clips; unscratched lottery card (from South Korea); presented on 8:.5” x 11’ heavy paper; *signed; matted; framed: $177.77*

Chill

The coolest colors ever, achieved from the water of melting ice.

“Chill #30” by Bryant Rousseau: *Food coloring and water frozen into ice cubes, which melt slowly as they brush across the 11” x 8” heavy paper; signed; matted; and framed (14” x 11” wooden frame); $119.99.* The copyright symbols are digital watermarks only; they do NOT appear on the actual artwork.

Honey, I Shrunk the Earth Room

Mini De Maria memento.

Foursomes

“Foursome #3” by Bryant Rousseau: *Acrylic paint, white cotton T-shirt, colored pencil, ink, color photograph, tape on 14” x 11” canvas; signed; framed (14” x 11” wooden frame); $169.99.* The copyright symbol is a digital watermark only; it does NOT appear on the actual artwork.

The Pu Pu Platter of Contemporary Art: A painting, drawing, photograph and poem.

“Foursome #2” by Bryant Rousseau: *Acrylic paint, glue mouse trap ink, coffee grinds, dirt, color photograph, tape on 14” x 11” canvas; signed; framed (14” x 11” wooden frame); $169.99.* The copyright symbol is a digital watermark only; it does NOT appear on the actual artwork.

Tacky Painting

Need I say more?

“Tacky Painting #1” by Bryant Rousseau: *Thumbtacks on 11” x 14” canvas; signed; $129.99*

Rorschach-Horshack HaHaHa

What do you see? That’s what I thought.

“Rorschach-Horshack Ha-Ha-Ha: Sumo Stroll” by Bryant Rousseau: Sumi ink on 5.5” x 8.5” paper towel; signed; matted and framed (9” x 12” wooden frame); $139.99. The copyright symbol is a digital watermark only; it does NOT appear on the actual artwork.

Spill Life

How to make a modern masterpiece: 1) Make mess with food coloring; 2) Mop it up with paper towel; 3) Think up great title; 4) Welcome to museum wall!

“Spill Life: Ritual Roulette” by Bryant Rousseau: *Food coloring and thumbtacks on 10” x 11” paper towel displayed on 11” x 14” canvas; signed; $139.99.* The copyright symbol is a digital watermark only; it does NOT appear on the actual artwork.

Bar Band Hand

Placards for the best (fictional) bands playing live at the greatest (invented) bars, showing the (handcrafted) hand stamps given for re-entry.

“Bar Band Hand: Suave & Mauve @ The Sonic Tonic” by Bryant Rousseau: *Acrylic paint, ink and Campbell’s Soup can label on 8.5” x 11” paper; signed; matted; framed (11” x 14” frame); $139.99.* The copyright symbol is a digital watermark only; it does NOT appear on the actual artwork.

P.O.O.P.S.

Paintings of other planets’ sunsets (POOPS): As part of its interplanetary documentary program, NASA invited artists to accompany its missions to distant galaxies so they could paint these magnificent new worlds. But there was a problem. No traditional artistic media could survive the grueling effects of space travel: oil paint, acrylic, gouache, pencils, crayons, pens and even photographic film all deteriorated beyond use.

But after trial and error, one medium that could withstand the lightyears-long flights was discovered: Frozen ice cubes, dyed with food coloring. So NASA knew it had no choice but to recruit Bryant Rousseau, the foremost ice cube artist of our age, to use these chilly blocks of color to depict the alien landscapes at dusk.

Each painting records both the planet’s local name (closest pronunciation possible in human sounds) and its NASA-designated space number.

“POOPS #9” by Bryant Rousseau and NASA: *Melting ice, dyed with food coloring, and ink (added after return to Earth); on 11” x 8.5” NASA-approved heavy paper; signed; matted; and framed (14” x 11” wooden frame); $129.99.* The copyright symbols are digital watermarks only; they do NOT appear on the actual artwork.

Dam Flavorins

Painted lightbulbs. Plug and play.

“Dam Flavorin: Umami Ecru” by Bryant Rousseau: Standard lightbulb; watercolor; lamp stand (stand dimensions: square wood: 3.15"D x 3.15"W x 3.15"H); signed on bottom; $199.99

Fixing Fontana

In the 1950s, some Italian-Argentine artist named Lucio Fontana moved into my studio apartment in Greenwich Village, but it was too small, and he soon left, looking for more spatialism. But he left behind a stash of paintings, hidden beneath the foyer’s floorboards. I guess he ditched them because didn’t like them: They were all slashed up by a knife or boxcutter. But I thought they were pretty good, and feeling bad for him, and in his memory, I decided to fix them up and sign them on his behalf.

“Fixing Fontana #8” by Bryant Rousseau: *Acrylic paint and staples on 11” x 14” gashed canvas; signed; $149.99*

Kashmir Male: Which?

“Kashmir Make: Which? No. 1” by Bryant Rousseau: *Rubber and foam sound absorption panels on 11” x 14” canvas; signed; $179.99*

These incredibly rare and precious artworks, dated to around 1915 B.C.E., are widely believed to be the first abstract art ever created. Found preserved in a cave in the foothills of the Himalayas, we know the where and the when. But not the who, other than knowing, thanks to ideographic inscriptions, that they were created by a man. So for the identity of this artistic giant, we are left to ask: Kashmir Male: Which?

Dam Flavorins

Fixing Fontana

Kashmir Male: Which?

The 23 series above are just a selection; check out all three dozen series in the Materials section of the site.

Two Figures: Art Under $100

Language Arts