Review: Still Looking for Connection: An Exhibit for Everyone

By Monica Healy

Jeffrey Equality Brooks’ exhibit this Fall is for everyone! 

The exhibit is titled “Still looking for connection” and encloses thirteen different pieces of similar mediums. These are paintings that range from created using automotive paint and stencils, to twenty-four carat gold leaf and carved walnut. All these elements are used to create a showcase that can be enjoyed and understood by the masses.  

Jeffrey Equality Brooks is a UIC graduate who creates art that is both dynamic and engaging for the eye and mind. 

Something that is a common theme in his work as well as the current exhibit on display is the use of text in his work that typically doubles as the title as well. 

The use of text is a technique that could be labeled as too repetitive or redundant. But, it can also be said that although the exhibited pieces are similar in technique and medium usage. The usage of text and title in the artwork also aids in its ability to be understood by its audience, like subtitles for a movie. The incorporation of text in the compositions acts as a prompt for the mind of the viewer to begin their own unique interpretation.  

Each piece truly speaks for themselves and sets its own unique impression on the viewer. This impression has been part of Brooks’ purpose in his process of painting, to have “oodles of candies and textures that you just can’t get a sense of on your phone or in prints”. 

What sets the “Still looking for connection” exhibit apart from others is its accessibility. The exhibit is not only accessible in the common sense, due to being located on the second floor of the college in room 2L1A. As well as being accessible due to  admission being free for all students and staff as well as the general public. 

It is accessible because it can be interpreted by any audience, regardless of their gallery going experience. Due to the fact that the pieces seem to explain enough on their own, with the aid of text in the piece matching the title. 

Yet the pieces in the exhibit still maintain mystery that can be understood in the viewer’s own unique way. Viewers won’t have to tint their heads or squint their eyes to see the intended focus of each piece. The exhibit isn’t an experience that requires hours of undivided concentration to leave an impact on its audience.    

“My art is about you, it’s about us, it’s about our friends, it’s about honesty”, Brooks explains perfectly in his artist statement. “Still Looking for Connection” is an excellent display of that art that can be understood regardless of interest or experience. 

This exhibit is open now until November 2.