Learning to Paint
assume vivid astro focus
This episode of Art21 Exclusive provides an in-depth look at the painting process of Eli Sudbrack, a principal member of the artist collective assume vivid astro focus. Painting on canvas for the first time in his career, Sudbrack and his assistants work with Krink K-60 paints (commonly used by graffiti taggers), though the fast-drying medium poses a challenge when it is applied to canvas.
Sudbrack has devised a solution: he paints on layered transparency sheets and replicates the final image on stretched canvas. This two-part process allows him to experiment with different colors, shapes, and patterns—many of which reference the works of other artists such as Marcel Duchamp. Sudbrack’s painting Cyclops Bride (2014) is shown throughout its evolution in his studio, and as a finished painting at The Suzanne Geiss Company in New York, NY.
Featured artists
About the artists
The collective assume vivid astro focus (avaf) was formed in New York City in 2001 by principal members are Eli Sudbrack and Christophe Hamaide-Pierson. Avaf fuses drawing, sculpture, video, and performance into carnavalesque installations in which gender, politics, and cultural codes float freely. A study in visual adaptation and modification, avaf’s work recycles and transforms imagery from one project to the next—often in the form of densely patterned wallpapers and graphic signage.
